Heritage Tanto

This knife is the precursor to a project I'm working on that was inspired by the knives I made at the very beginning of my knifemaking career.  Japanese-styled knives were huge in the 1980's, and I made many of these types of blades in those early years before I began making knives that would become more of my own designs.  

But I still love the elegance and simplicity of Japanese knives, and this knife is an homage to those early knives, but with a little of the contemporary me thrown in. 

The blade is 5.3" of my laminated steel, hand-finished.  The blade has more of a traditional sword shape than the typical tactical American version with a slightly upswept blade and a long point.

The handle is resin-soaked cord wrap over weathered desert ironwood.

The sheath is a deep pouch style in a tsunami pattern textured leather.

Overall is 10.5"