Full Tang vs Rat Tail Knives

For many people, the decision to buy a full tang knife or a Rat Tail knife might seem obvious. But is it? This is one of those decisions where there seems to be no right answer. Both of these knives look and feel great in your hands, so you are faced with the question whether you should buy one or the other. If you have decided to get a full tang, then let’s take a look at how the two compare.

The first thing that you should look at when comparing full tang and rat tail knives is the blade quality. A full tang has a thicker, stronger blade made out of carbon steel that cannot be duplicated by any cheap plastic knife. Also, it has a full tang that locks into place and can’t be popped out of the handle with a mallet or your foot. A rat tail on the other hand is sold with a thin piece of plastic (the butt part of the knife) that extends far past the actual blade length and has no real strength or durability.

To test the strength and durability of a full tang versus a rat tail, bring the knife in as normal and hold it against your thigh. If you notice that it doesn’t stay balanced as you apply pressure to the handle, then this means that the Ka-Bar clip on the rat tail is not strong enough. This is a minor point, but you do need to balance the strength of the clip on your own taste and preference. Some people may prefer the feel of a heavier knife over a clip, but you won’t feel that thing when using the rat tail. This is probably just a preference thing, but I can assure you that if you prefer the feel of a heavier knife, then you won’t mind paying more for it.

One more thing to consider is that both full tang knives and rat tail knives can be sharpened by hand. One important thing to note is that the rat tail does have a shorter blade length than the full tang knives. If you are used to using long stainless steel blades, you may find that using a rat tail on your kitchen cutting board will give you a nice, easy workout.

Rat tails do have their advantages. You can tell a lot about the quality of a product by looking at the manufacturing process. The full Tang knives come right out of the factory with a full tang. This means that the handle has been sharpened and the blade has been fitted. The handle is more solid because the entire thing has been constructed in one shot.

On the other hand, the full tang knives come with a tapered (or slanted) edge on the actual blade. These types of knives are very useful in slicing and chopping. If you use these knives often in the kitchen, you should keep one with you. There are different blade styles available on these types of knives, but the tang will be identical. So when you buy your next full tang knife make sure you ask the retailer what the difference is between the full tang and rat tail knives.