Ahriman, sorry for the 'late' answer.
I dont have a Tooroom, and maybe what Ariel is thinking about is the one shown on p. 149 in Robert Elgood's book Hindu Arms and Ritual. I have never seen one, and it is the only time I have seen a picture of a gauntlet katar.
The hand guard on the katar shown over your last post is about 1½ mm, but made of steel, but I would estimade that it could take quite a blow without the hand holding it got hurt.
Mostly when fighting, the katars without a hand guard would be held in the left hand, and used for stabbing when close enough.
My estimate is that the pata could be used for stabbing and slashing. However, imagine you come riding at full speed and want to attack someone, then it would be used for slashing. If you used it for stabbing, your arm would be torn off at the shoulder when you passed the one you had just stabbed, as you could not easily let go of the pata when it was stuck.
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