we need some opinions with this.

by BAMiron
(Danbury, CT, U.S.A.)

how long is the blade?

QUESTION: the seller of the pictured tanto says this has an 8.5 inch blade with a 5.5 inch tsuka.......do my old eyes deceive me?.........or does the blade seem longer than that?........overall it is listed as 15".........what do you all think?..........any opinion is welcome, particularly if you have photo analysis experience.......thanks.

ANSWER: Hey guys,

Well - it certainly doesn't seem that the dimensions described match up to the image... Though it does kind of look like the photo was taken at an odd angle and then perhaps flipped around...

Hmm, I think I had better open it up to the floor on this one! (but it does look kind of funny to me with the described dimensions)...

- Paul

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Ah, what about this?
by: SlayerofDarkness

I think that they might be measuring from the end of the blade collar (the habaki, as I believe it is called)therefore, the 8.5" is the length of the sharp part, and the 5.5" is the length of the tsuka and the habaki/blade collar thing. I hope this helps!

SlayerofDarkness (Brogdon Combs)
P.S. I'm sorry about the posts concerning KoA, BAMiron. I was being immature.

well, tell ya what.
by: BAMiron

we noticed the little bit of angle on it as well, but disregarded it because it is, at most, only 3 or 4 degrees.......not enough to shorten the perspective appreciably.....when measured the blade is almost exactly 2.5 times longer than the handle........if the handle is 5.5, then the blade would be, without habaki, over 12.5"..........even with a more pronounced angle it still could not be 8.5".......everybody here who has seen it is immediately struck by that, including a guy from an unnamed state police forensic lab who lives down the street.......he looks at lots of pictures as evidence all the time, every day.......i sure wish i could talk the guy into a photo of one out of the box.................slayer, forget about the koa thing, we're buddies now, just don't ever mention it again or i'll have to hang myself......................although, somebody told me sex can be better with a little asphyxiation added........i think it was the cop.

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