Short answer: full tang means the steel runs the whole length and width of the handle as one piece. Partial tang means it does not. On any knife that will be levered, batoned or used hard, full tang is not a preference, it is the difference between a knife and a handle full of regret.
How to tell by looking
Look at the edge of the handle. On a full tang knife you see a strip of steel sandwiched between the two scales, running unbroken from the blade to the butt. Often the profile of the handle is the steel.
If the handle is a single solid piece of wood or horn with no visible steel along the edge, the tang is hidden inside, and it is almost certainly narrower than the handle.
The types
| Full tang | Steel matches the handle outline exactly. Strongest. Heaviest. |
| Tapered tang | Full length and width but thinned toward the butt. Same strength where it matters, better balance. Harder to make. |
| Hidden or stick tang | A narrower tang running through a solid handle, secured with a pommel nut or epoxy. Traditional, lighter, and strong enough if well made. |
| Rat tail tang | A thin rod, often welded to the blade. This is the one to avoid. |
| Half or partial tang | Stops partway into the handle. Fine for a paring knife, wrong for a field knife. |
Where knives actually break
Almost never in the middle of the blade. They break at the ricasso, the point where the blade meets the handle, because that is where every lever load concentrates.
Prying a joint apart, batoning through a log, twisting to free a stuck blade: all of that puts a bending force right at that junction. A full tang carries it across the whole width of the handle. A rat tail tang carries it through a rod the thickness of a pencil, and worse, through a weld.
This is why every fixed blade we make is full tang. It is not marketing, it is where the failures happen.
When a hidden tang is fine
Hidden tangs are traditional on Scandinavian knives, on kitchen knives and on many beautiful custom pieces, and a properly made one is strong. The tang is thick, it runs most of the handle length, and it is pinned or peened rather than glued alone.
The problem is that you cannot inspect it. With a full tang you can see the construction. With a hidden tang you are trusting the maker, which is fine when you know the maker and risky when you do not.
What full tang costs you
Weight, and balance. A full tang fixed blade is heavier and often sits more blade-forward than a hidden tang knife of the same size. That is why tapered tangs exist: keep the width, lose the mass at the butt, get the balance back.
It also costs more steel and more grinding time, which is part of why full tang knives cost more.
Questions people ask
Does a folding knife have a tang?
Not in this sense. A folder's strength comes from the pivot and the lock, not from a tang. That is exactly why you do not baton a folding knife.
Do kitchen knives need full tang?
No. A kitchen knife is never levered, so a well made hidden tang is fine. Full tang in a kitchen knife is mostly about balance and feel.
Are exposed rivets a sign of full tang?
Usually, but not always. Some hidden tang knives use decorative pins. The reliable test is whether you can see continuous steel along the edge of the handle.
Which do you make?
Every fixed blade is full tang. See the hunting fixed blades or camping and bushcraft knives.
More from the workshop
Carbon vs Stainless Kitchen Knives
Carbon is better to cut with, stainless is better to own. Pick by your habits.
Skinning Knife Guide
Wide belly, low point, three to four inches. Why the shape looks the way it does.
Knife Steel Chart
Four properties that fight each other. Improve one and you give up another.