Hi,

That's a valid concern, but in practice they hold up very well. I embed the last part of the blade into the handle which adds considerable strength to what could be the weak point.
When I make my own blades I design them with tapering shoulders between blade and tang and taper the tang as well.
One advantage of a relatively small stick tang is that it helps keep the balance of the Sgian Dubh low down which keeps it steadier in the sock.

Rab


Quote Originally Posted by JRB View Post
I can't say I'm all that impressed with the tiny tangs on the top two blades in that picture. The bottom blade has a relatively beefy tang with good rounded shoulders, though. I know that a sgian dubh will probably not be put under a lot of stress even if it's used for general day to day cutting chores but I'd still want mine to have something more substantial than a rat tail tang. Just my $0.02