A major reason for Tanto tips is to prevent bending and breaking of needle-point tips, which STOS heads cuttently have. Tanto also lowers the risk of "skipping" on angular bone shots. There is no down-side to them, except a few seconds to shape with a file. So yes, go Tanto. Also, file-sharpening is old technology in light of Doc Ashby's unimpeachable research -- invest in an electronic gram scale and you'll be amazed how much weight you remove with every single stroke -- and should be used only to touch up really dull or damaged blades. Otherwise, steels and/or stones are the way to go -- check out Sharpster's free video on the KME website. Since STOS ("Sharper Than Owl S--t," no kidding!) is very tuned-in to Ashby's research, I fully expect their new generation of heavy single-bevels, due out Soon I hope, will come with Tantos. Just because we can have success with a certain technology doesn't mean we can't improve success with improved (as opposed to "high") technology. I like STOS a lot, and I like their new carbon coating, which I've seen in action and which they claim is slicker and tougher than Teflon (which indeed easily wears off). Can't wait for their new offerings, which have been a LOng Time in coming. While AK Bowhunting's excellent "Ashby" head is currently closest to Ashby perfection, it's available now only in screw-in, while the STOS will be glue-on. Don't worry so much about blood trails. Worry about shot placement and attaining full pass-through penetration. Hope that helps. My 2 sents. dave