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Columbia River Tanto Knives
A Tanto is a Japanese blade or small sword. It is a smaller version of the Katana, with a blade length of about 15 - 30 cm (6" - 12"). The Tanto differs from the others as it was designed primarily as a stabbing instrument, but the edge can be used to slash as well. Tanto are forged generally in hira-zukuri, meaning that they have no ridge-line, unlike the shinogi-zukuri shape of a katana. They were generally very thin and therefore would cut soft targets very, very well.



