flandersander - The tang is the part of the knife that the handle is attached to. A full tang is as Crash said. The metal of the blade extends to the end of the handle. It's one piece of metal from the tip to the butt end of the knife. The "handle" is referred to as scales and attaches to either side of the tang by screws, rivets or sometimes pins. It can also be nothing more than paracord wrapped around the tang. A full tang eliminates potential weak points where the tang attaches to the blade because it's one continuous piece.
You can also find rat-tailed tangs. The maker generally attaches a rod to the end of the blade. Today, that's commonly done by welding it on. Then the handle is slipped on over the rat-tail. Sometimes there is a decorative cap at the end that is screwed onto the rat-tail rod to hold the handle on. It's a lighter method of making the knife but a weaker method since the knife can break at the weld.
Stub tangs are really short pieces of metal or rod welded to the end of the knife. Normally not more that a couple of inches long. The handle can be glued on, pinned on or both. You'll find these in cheap kitchen knives. Now you have two weak points. The knife can break at the weld like the rat-tail OR the handle can break away from the stub. If the stub happens to be one piece with the blade you'll find the metal around the hole where it is pinned can also break on a downward cut since all the pressure is applied at that point. Not uncommon to have the blade come right out of the handle.
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