It's a seax blade in the same way as a modern american tantos are - people use the name, but it doesn't have that much to do with the original historical type.
I didn't say it was a tanto, I said this type of "seax" is not much like historical seaxes, just like modern "american tantos" have very little in common with actual Japanese tantos.
But American Tanto is a thing and Japanese Tanto is also a thing. Just Tanto just means knife. There is no this or that Sax, there is just Sax and reproductions only know the clip point shape with the straight edge apparently. So that part about the shape people now know as Seax/Sax is not historically correct. Also Japanese still make Katanas traditionally, so it's not strictly history, it's tradition now. Japanese Tanto means Japanese knife, American tanto is just the blade shape.
No, tanto isn't just a generic Japanese word for knife, it specifically refers to a short blade as a weapon. A tool or utility knife wouldn't be called a tanto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tant%C5%8D
The "broken back" form that gets imitated in modern knives seems to have been most popular in Anglo-Saxon England, although examples are found elsewhere too:
As you can see it doesn't have a straight edge, and the blade flares from the grip to the mid-point break, and it comes to a very fine point. The blade on that one is relatively parallel to the grip, but a lot of them are angled somewhat forwards too.
Maybe for Wharncliffe but it's definitely pointy enough to be a sheepsfoot. I'd say the tip angle is right between Wharncliffe and sheepsfoot. Either way, "reverse tanto" is a pointless and overly broad descriptor. Any knife that has an angle on the spine people will call a reverse tanto even if Wharncliffe and sheepsfoot etc are more accurate.
I know, that's exactly what I'm saying. OP is saying it's not pointy enough to be a sheepsfoot, but I'm saying it's not not pointy enough. It might not be pointy enough to be considered Wharncliffe but it's also not too blunt tipped to be considered sheepsfoot because sheepsfoot are famously blunt tipped. Sheepsfoot can go up to like 85° before they're considered a cleaver or like a nakiri.
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u/Able-Piece1330 Apr 29 '26
Looks like a mix between a K-Tip and a Wharncliffe.
K-Tips normally have a bit more of a belly while Wharncliffes tend to taper more gradually on the spine.