Uhmm.... Going from a Kabar MkII to a tanto? I'd call that a bad idea. Tantos aren't all that suitable for field work, they just look cool. For a fighting knife, sure, why not, but not as a go everywhere, do everything knife. Heck, the chisel-ground tanto would have been looked at funny by true samurai- thiers were closer to a drop point usually, just a reeeeally skinny one.

You can break a Kabar, or a good clone, but you can break any knife. Trust me, I've owned Kabars since I was given on in junior high, and I've never felt the need for anything else. The first one is still my main knife in the woods, I've just collected the others along the way. When it is cold and wet and just plain miserable, you can't go wrong with a leather handle- they don't break, and they don't freeze to you, unlike the synthetics.