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Liong Mah Drops Tanto Lanny at USN Gathering

August 31, 2017

Knife designer Liong Mah will introduce his latest knife, the Lanny, at the 9th Annual USN Gathering this weekend in Las Vegas. Mah took a famous traditional pattern and crossed it over into the high-end EDC market with modern materials and a complex tanto grind.

The Lanny takes its name from the Lanny’s Clip, a traditional knife pattern designed by the legendary Tony Bose. Many makers have produced Lanny’s Clips after Bose, leading to many variants, but its defining features are a generous handle and a single, medium-sized clip point blade. Mah translated the overall lines of the pattern into an EDC-friendly modern folder, complete with flipper tab, steel insert frame lock, and titanium bolster.

Bringing traditional inspiration into modern knives is nothing new, but Mah went a step further with the Lanny. He gambled big on the blade shape, converting the iconic clip point blade into a very Mah-style tanto. “I’ve always liked the original design,” he tells us. “But I thought it would be boring to make just another clip point.”

He leveraged collaborator Reate’s ability to hand grind blades, producing a compound grind tanto that can work hard in numerous roles. First and foremost, however, was slicing performance. “I come from a kitchen background, so I want my knives to slice,” Mah states. So the Lanny’s primary edge is hollow ground for a keen, aggressive edge. The tanto tip goes flat ground for added strength and stability in harder cutting jobs.

Reate produced 175 pieces for the initial Lanny run. 90 pieces will have carbon fiber scales for the lightest version of the Lanny possible at 3.9 oz. Brown and green micarta options emphasize the knife’s old school roots and are limited to 55 and 30 pieces respectively. Mah intends to keep moving forward with other new designs, but there could be another Lanny run to meet demand if it’s there.

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He tells us that the Gathering is the perfect place to debut a knife like the Lanny. The yearly meet-up has evolved into the place to take in the latest work of forward-thinking makers. The USN has always had a tactical bent, and that market embraces new technology, equipment, and methods. “As time has gone on you see a lot of us who are into using technology,” Mah says. “We can do complex grinds, complex handles, and really turn [tactical knives] into an art form.”

The G9 festivities in Las Vegas kick off this evening, but the show itself starts tomorrow and goes through Saturday. The floor is open from 10am to 6pm each day.

Knife featured in image: Liong Mah Designs Lanny

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