A couple new Recon Tanto knives & a Safe Maker 1 added to my collection :)

[PocketKnifeJimmy]

I have seen these Recon Tanto knives being offered for many years, (these two being in SK5 steel), but it was only with CS being under new GSM ownership, that had me squeezing the trigger on buying these two specimens. It's that whole "just in case" thing. You know... the "buy them while you still can"
They both came in boxes that still have Cold Steel's old California address.

In my opinion, they are both well executed specimens

This next model, (the Safe Maker 1 in Aus 8 steel), is one that I truly kick myself for not getting earlier when they were still made in Japan. Then they had the high polished finish on them, and were made from drop forged steel... But now, these Taiwan made versions are made from rolled stock steel and have a stone-washed finish.
I just hoped that it's overall execution would be well done, (like it's blade grinds and such), and it certainly passed my inspection
I'm not a fan of knives having their blades done with a stone-washed finish, but... it's okay. I mean, it is well done, it just isn't my preferred cup of tea.

This Safe Maker 1 also came in a Cold Steel box still having the California address printed on it.

I do wonder when we'll start to see the transition to new boxes with the new company information.

 

[PocketKnifeJimmy]

As has been mentioned in other posts, raw materials and other manufacturing costs seem to be sky rocketing.
That said, current pricing on some knife vendor's sites are still pretty good, and even running sales on some Cold Steel, (and other brands), but I believe that is because they are for products that were already in the pipeline. These could have been products that were ordered many, many months ago, with the vendors having their prices to buy them being set at that time. I'm of the opinion that the likely rising costs for Cold Steel to have these products produced, will start to be reflected in the rising prices the vendors will likely be paying for these products, and, of course, in the likely higher cost to the end consumer.
Items already in the pipeline, (products on vendor's shelves, or available through them for backorder/pre-order), may be the best way to beat the very likely price increases and long term shortages of these products.
I keep saying that we may all be looking back at these current times as "the good ole days" when we talk about decent prices.
Cold Steel's premium steel blade offerings are the exception to that opinion, since I feel that category had already reached the sky high level of pricing.

 

[PocketKnifeJimmy]

I was looking over my new Recon Tanto knives, and thought to myself how much they fit right into the same category as the Russian made Kizlyar Condor knife.
So, I put them next to each other to see how they visually compare. Although they are obviously different knives, they very much do compare in many ways. They both are aimed as "tactical" knives. They both have Tanto based blades. They are both about the same thickness. They are both very close in blade length and in overall length. Both have a lanyard hole. And, their overmolded handles seem to be made of a similar material.

 

[PocketKnifeJimmy]

I received my new Cold Steel Safe Maker 2 today, (my having ordered it late last week).
The box it came in is still printed with the Ventura, California address, and the blade still has the previous Cold Steel logo brand marking and Taiwan origin.
It is finished the same way as my Safe Maker 1, that being the stonewashed finish.
It seems to be a nicely executed little tool, but I will still kick myself for not having purchased both the Safe Maker 1 & 2 when they were being sourced from Seki, Japan.
Again, these Taiwan sourced specimens are nicely done, but their stonewashed finish... well, it just doesn't seem to want to grow on me, (stonewashed jeans never did it for me either), lol!

 

[jbmonkey]

recon tanto is a personal favorite of mine. big enough, but not too big in some ways. I have a vg1, San mai, and sk5 versions of it. only cause I like the knife that much.