Let's revisit the Tatanka

[ThrottleCable]

I'm a fan of the Tatanka. I ended up buying three, one for me, one spare, and one as a gift for my knife buddy. I carry it when in the woods and when hunting. Partially for LARPing purposes , but it IS a much better machete for thorns or thin branches hanging into trails than any other folder I have. Kind of the folder I carry when I should be carrying a fixed blade, but I just find folders easier to live with in practice.

I requested a slightly smaller Tatanka (Calf?) a few years ago, maybe 7/8th size or a tiny bit smaller than that, but NOT made thin. I like the blade shape/grind and balance of the knife. Also, the beveled edges on the G10 are just right, not as round in the hand as the shaman, but not sharp and square like un-beveled G10 can be.

I'd probably buy a couple more if it was made in a high toughness steel, like 3v or AEB-L, but mostly for theoretical reasons, the current VG10 has been good for me, and easy to live with.

[sal]

Thanx for the thread, David,

Talkin Story;

On the Tatanka model. Truth be told, I was getting a number of requests for a 5.0"+ folder on this forum. (It's Vivi's fault ) I really didn't know how large the market would be, but thought to try to honor the requests. One of the Sakai boys had recently invented the Power Lock, which was patented, so I saw an opportunity to serve two concepts. They did a nice job building it and I'm glad we made it. Part of the Spyderco history that became extinct, like; Dodo's, Q's, Renches, Jumpers, Solo's, etc.

I remember reading in Larrin's book that one of our past Marketing Managers said; "Sal is crazy. He does these odd things in a short amount of time, and expects me to market them".

To my way of thinking; "We re alive such a short time, and we are dead such a long time, that we should take advantage of the living time, which is limited". Many of my ideas might be far out, even too far out, but that's what I was told by the experts when I wanted to make a knife with a clip, a hole in the blade and serrations. So you never really know until you try? I think if you believe in it, you should GO FOR IT! Even in failure, we learn. The last think you want is to be sitting on your porch in a rocking chair at 90 years old and say, "Nothing ever happened to me".

sal
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"We are tiny drops of life stuck on the side of a round rock whirling through Space".

[WilliamMunny]

Thanx for the thread, David,

Talkin Story;

On the Tatanka model. Truth be told, I was getting a number of requests for a 5.0"+ folder on this forum. (It's Vivi's fault ) I really didn't know how large the market would be, but thought to try to honor the requests. One of the Sakai boys had recently invented the Power Lock, which was patented, so I saw an opportunity to serve two concepts. They did a nice job building it and I'm glad we made it. Part of the Spyderco history that became extinct, like; Dodo's, Q's, Renches, Jumpers, Solo's, etc.

I remember reading in Larrin's book that one of our past Marketing Managers said; "Sal is crazy. He does these odd things in a short amount of time, and expects me to market them".

To my way of thinking; "We re alive such a short time, and we are dead such a long time, that we should take advantage of the living time, which is limited". Many of my ideas might be far out, even too far out, but that's what I was told by the experts when I wanted to make a knife with a clip, a hole in the blade and serrations. So you never really know until you try? I think if you believe in it, you should GO FOR IT! Even in failure, we learn. The last think you want is to be sitting on your porch in a rocking chair at 90 years old and say, "Nothing ever happened to me".

sal
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"We are tiny drops of life stuck on the side of a round rock whirling through Space".

Great words to live by. Always tell my kids, “If you don’t fail occasionally, then your not trying”.

[bdblue]

I like the design. I would like to feel one in person to see how if felt and how it handled. It is larger than what I would normally carry and use, the Military is my normal limit but I usually carry a PM2 or Manix 2. 10 years ago the law in my state had a 5.5" limit so I thought I would buy a Tatanka to maximize what I could carry but never had the opportunity to buy one. Since then our state law chaged to mostly remove the blade length limit.I like the design. I would like to feel one in person to see how if felt and how it handled. It is larger than what I would normally carry and use, the Military is my normal limit but I usually carry a PM2 or Manix 2. 10 years ago the law in my state had a 5.5" limit so I thought I would buy a Tatanka to maximize what I could carry but never had the opportunity to buy one. Since then our state law changed to mostly remove the blade length limit. I always regret not buying one when I had the chance but I can't guarantee I would use it very much.

[yablanowitz]

I first handled a Tatanka in Tokyo back in 2016, i found it intriguing, more so than practical :)
Got the opportunity to buy one for a ridiculously low price a couple of years after so i had to strike. I like it, but i don't think i will carry it "out in the open"

In hand:



VS Military:

Wow love the comparison with the Millie . If possible could you do one with a Stretch XL ? Curious about something . Dan

[Bill1170]

I got to handle a Tatanka at the SFO in 2017. Cool knife but too long and WAY too heavy for me.

[ZrowsN1s]

If I had a suggestion to redesign, keep the blade length, but eliminate the finger choil. Bodacious style. This would serve two functions, a slight weight reduction, and a shortening of the "closed length" to make it more pocket friendly.

[vivi]

geeze Sal, now I feel extra guilty. I promise I'll buy the next general purpose spyderco folder larger than a Police.

[Manixguy@1994]

I first handled a Tatanka in Tokyo back in 2016, i found it intriguing, more so than practical :)
Got the opportunity to buy one for a ridiculously low price a couple of years after so i had to strike. I like it, but i don't think i will carry it "out in the open"

In hand:



VS Military:

Wow love the comparison with the Millie . If possible could you do one with a Stretch XL ? Curious about something . Dan

Thanks Yab , there looks like a slight resemblance of the scales . Dan

[Jeb]

geeze Sal, now I feel extra guilty. I promise I'll buy the next general purpose spyderco folder larger than a Police.

Sal, I promise if you build it I will buy a couple. Don't be so hard on Vivi, sense I think just like he does, guess you can spread the blame out on two of us lol.

All kidding aside, love the 5" folders. So you guys build another, I will buy my share. I will buy one of these from a member here, if they want to sell theirs too lol...

[mikey177]

If I had a suggestion to redesign, keep the blade length, but eliminate the finger choil. Bodacious style. This would serve two functions, a slight weight reduction, and a shortening of the "closed length" to make it more pocket friendly.

I was wondering if the 50/50 choil was needed to accommodate the power lock. If not, I feel that a Tatanka 2 might look better without it.

[gk4ever2]

I would buy a Tatanka without question, configured just like the original. To help balance the weight of the blade, it would need to have G-10 grips (no FRN on this one). I didn't buy one before because I was not interested in folders much back then, so I was not even aware of it. Use SPY27, S30V or Magnacut, and I would be even more eager to buy one, but I'm fine with VG-10 too. I would likely carry it clipped to the waistband of my jeans, so that's no problem (I often carry a Military or M2 that way, using a deep carry clip).

[gk4ever2]

If I had a suggestion to redesign, keep the blade length, but eliminate the finger choil. Bodacious style. This would serve two functions, a slight weight reduction, and a shortening of the "closed length" to make it more pocket friendly.

That sounds like a pretty good idea!

[zhyla]

I think we should see how big a folder we can talk Sal into. Who’s in for a Tatanka XL?

[sal]

Hi Vivi,

Just kidding.

If I were to design another long blade folder, I would lean more towards thin and lithe. More like the Police 4, but longer.

sal

[Evil D]

Hi Vivi,

Just kidding.

If I were to design another long blade folder, I would lean more towards thin and lithe. More like the Police 4, but longer.

sal

I feel like Spyderco does a good job with their size program, the Lil and XL variations of existing popular designs seems to work well, so if you want to make another 5 inch+ bladed option I would think about an XL version of an already large model like the Police 4 or Military 2 or Chief etc.

[Donut]

I feel like my K-2 is all I need for a big Spyderco, but I never find myself carrying it.

The Police platform would be nice. The Ulize might work good if the collaborator is good with it.

[Larry_Mott]

I first handled a Tatanka in Tokyo back in 2016, i found it intriguing, more so than practical :)
Got the opportunity to buy one for a ridiculously low price a couple of years after so i had to strike. I like it, but i don't think i will carry it "out in the open"

In hand:



VS Military:

Wow love the comparison with the Millie . If possible could you do one with a Stretch XL ? Curious about something . Dan

I'd love to, except i don't own a Stretch XL :) Just the ebony straight spine one and a British racing green ZDP-189 "ordinary" model.

[vivi]

Hi Vivi,

Just kidding.

If I were to design another long blade folder, I would lean more towards thin and lithe. More like the Police 4, but longer.

sal

It is on this day the campaign for a Police XL begins

[yablanowitz]

Police 5, with a 5.5" blade. I'm in