Review by: The Shotgun Guy

Knife on Deck: Leatherneck Tanto 39LSFT

I know, such a wicked looking blade right? This is the Leatherneck Tanto 39LSFT. The overall length of the knife is 12 inches, weighing 12.6 ounces. The blade is 5mm thick and 7 inches long, (obviously) has a Tanto design, and made of German 4116 stainless steel. The Leatherneck Tanto is hollow ground by hand, has a Kray-Ex™ handle, and comes with a Secure-Ex® Sheath.

The specs all sound good except for two things - I personally prefer a longer blade (10 inches, give or take an inch) and high carbon steel as the blade material. But I’m getting ahead of myself. We’re going to be looking at The Shotgun Guy’s review to see what HE thinks of the Leatherneck Tanto and maybe putting our own two cents in here and there.

Now, at the start of The Shotgun Guy’s review, he already states that this knife is a combination of the best features of the Leatherneck SF and the Recon Tanto (now who’s jumping the gun?). So we already know where this is possibly going. BUT, let’s go look over the PROS and CONS in his review to see if this knife is worth it in OUR eyes.

PROS

1.) You can use it in humid or wet environments because it’s very corrosion resistant. This is one benefit of using a stainless steel blade.

2.) The Leatherneck Tanto is razor sharp out of the box. It can easily cut through paper and rope. What I’d like to see is if the knife can shave hairs as easily. Now THAT would be an extremely sharp knife.

3.) The blade’s tip is very durable, as Tanto blades usually are. As The Shotgun Guy demonstrates with his knife throwing skills, the tip of the blade doesn’t break when thrown at a tree trunk. Instead, it cuts into the wood and wedges itself in there.

4.) The Secure-Ex® Sheath is also a positive. It’s very sturdy, lots of holes for multiple lashing options. The belt strap has a double flap design (Velcro and a snap) that makes sure the sheath doesn’t slide back and forth while you walk.

The Shotgun Guy also points out that the knife locks into sheath perfectly so it doesn’t rattle around. The snap that goes around the handle provides additional security that your knife really won’t come out of the sheath accidentally.

5.) Full tang blade. ‘Nuff said. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out my explanation on why full tang blades are awesome here.

6.) It has a really nice pommel which can pommel really well. (hmmm...not as funny as it sounded in my head...)

7.) As The Shotgun Guy demonstrates, the knife is very light-weight and nimble. It doesn’t feel heavy or unbalanced in your hand.

CONS

The only con that The Shotgun Guy mentions in his review is the blade material – German 4116 stainless steel. As I mentioned earlier, the high carbon steel is stronger and tougher. It is also easier to sharpen and it can be made extremely sharp.

That being said, field tests done on the Leatherneck Tanto (not in this review) have shown that it can stay sharp enough even after going through tons of abuse like batoning or chopping.

Another negative we've noticed is that the finish on the knife comes off quickly after being used in tasks like chopping and batoning. Of course, that's pretty much a negligible concern (except for aesthetic reasons) because the steel is rust resistant.

WHY WE LIKE COLD STEEL'S LEATHERNECK TANTO 39LSFT

Ok, so the specs (most of them) of the Leatherneck Tanto are awesome. You've got a razor sharp knife that can weather whatever conditions you are facing outdoors, and although it's primarily a combat/tactical knife, it can easily perform wood processing tasks such as batoning and chopping without the blade breaking.

The blade also has excellent edge retention which is a good thing since stainless steel isn’t as easy to sharpen as carbon steel. The sheath is cool and functional. All in all, I’d say give this knife a thumbs up.

View the Leatherneck Tanto 39LSFT on Amazon!