Cold Steel Tanto

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kolhoznik

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Jul 25, 2007
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I have become interested in getting a Cold Steel tanto. However, in looking at choices on the bay I noticed prices ranging from $15-$200+ So what accounts for the difference in price. Are these good knives? Thanks for any help.
 
kolhoznik said:
I have become interested in getting a Cold Steel tanto. However, in looking at choices on the bay I noticed prices ranging from $15-$200+ So what accounts for the difference in price. Are these good knives? Thanks for any help.
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The difference in price is affected by many things: country of origin, materials + steel used, level of fit and finish--(for example, a mirror polished blade is more expensive to do than a simple coating,) marketing, etc.

"Are these good knives?"---This really depends of which exact model you're talking about and what your personal standards of "good" are.

Standards change---7 or so years ago I bought a Cold Steel Recon tanto and liked it. Nowadays, I would never pay money for a rubber handled, painted, tanto fixed blade.

Lastly, Cold Steel has made changes to their tantos from time to time. The steel used in the aforementioned Recon Tanto used to be a 1095 variant called "Carbon V." Now they are made out of AUS-8. Their "standard" tanto has been made in AUS-8, AUS-10a, VG-1, Damascus, and several San Mai variants throughout the years.
 
I have owned a couple over the years. Eventually decided it isn't that great a knife, and gave them to the kids to thrash......

Rubber handles are useless as any type of combat knife!
 
But didn't Cold Steel introduce the Tanto point? It's their bread & butter. It's understood Cold Steel tips are generally more break resistant than others.?!?
 
yoopernauts™;6039594 said:
But didn't Cold Steel introduce the Tanto point? It's their bread & butter. It's understood Cold Steel tips are generally more break resistant than others.?!?
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The Japanese introduced the "Tanto point" hundreds of years ago.

Bob Lum is credited with introducing the "American tanto" point several decades ago.


What Cold Steel did do, is spend millions advertising/marketing their tantos + claiming they were the people who invented the tanto in the 1980s :rolleyes:
 
They never claimed they invented it, but I've heard they do claim they first popularized it for American knives in the 1980s. That's what I really meant.

I must have touched a nerve..? Sorry.
 
yoopernauts™;6039711 said:
They never claimed they invented it, but I've heard they do claim they first popularized it for American knives in the 1980s. That's what I really meant.

I must have touched a nerve..? Sorry.
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"It was, after all, Cold Steel who invented and popularized this knife style in the early 1980’s."

http://www.coldsteel.com/fixed-blades-tanto-series.html




edit---You didn't "touch a nerve," but we are getting a little off topic. :) I'll stop here as the issue of Cold Steel's "creative" marketing has already been beaten to death....
 
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To answer the original query, I have a older Carbon V version that sort of fell into disuse as I learned more about what was available on the market. It was one of those things that seemed like a good idea at the time but.....

Anyway get a cheap one and try it out. The blade length and shape are not good for general use but it sure does slice rope good.
 
Tony_A said:
The Japanese introduced the "Tanto point" hundreds of years ago.

Bob Lum is credited with introducing the "American tanto" point
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Well....that Lum guy doesn't seem to produce factory knives. I don't really see anything wrong with CS's marketing...other than their MSRPs. Of course they are not the best in the world. There's a restaurant a coupla miles from me that advertises "The Best Cheesesteaks In Town." Well, though I've never eaten there I seriously doubt they are the best in town. I'm only 70 miles from Philadelphia, btw.

But I bet those "Bestest Cheese Steaks" are probably pretty good eatin'.;)
 
I have had almost all of the CS Tanto knives over the years. I still have the Recon Tanto in Carbon five, The GI Tanto, One tough SOB and the Magnum Tanto which I have had for about fifteen years. I love them and have never had a problem with any of them. I have used the Recon Tanto hard and it keeps going. They are a strong knife with a very strong point. IMO they are a great knife. Opinions will differ Big Time on CS products.
 
Yes I like cold steel products a lot. They have cool designs and make good knives for cheap. Not top of the line, but work well for great prices.
 
I like the San Mai offerings. On ebay there are some that have brass fittings instead of steel, are these authentic? Are fakes of much of a worry and if so what can I look for?
 
kolhoznik said:
I like the San Mai offerings. On ebay there are some that have brass fittings instead of steel, are these authentic? Are fakes of much of a worry and if so what can I look for?
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The older Master/regular Tantos had brass fittings---not nickel silver. Also I believe the guard on the older ones were slightly smaller in size.

Also older San Mai 3 was an AUS-8 center, sandwiched between AUS-6, newer San Mai 3 is (I think) VG-1 between 420-J2.
 
Hi brudders,

I'm a fan of cold steel since the day I started collecting blades though my first piece was an Almar kitchen knife, =) COLD STEEL performs man..

Anyways, I have the entire collection of Cold Steel's Tanto series, the latest version as I got the entire set in 2007. They all come in VG-1 San Mai 3 stainless which means that the core of the blade is of High Carbon of say about 60 HRC. The laminated pieces (ie: The core blade is the Ham of the sandwitch, the bread are the laminated pieces) are made of softer steel ie lower percentage of carbon and higher percentage of chromium so as to resists corrosion and also to allow some flexibility to withstand impact and not chipping off. If the entire blade is like super hard, high carbon it will be brittle like a brick.

All of my tantos perform well, sharp edge that has good retension. The magnum tanto XII is kinda like a mini sword. However, to me I think the tanto point is like THE best point for stabbing. The tanto point has been invented long ago, its just that cold steel has improvised it so well and yes they have proven to be through. I really did use my master tanto in san mai 3 to stab through a car bonnet many times, no problem man. Tip and edge undamaged.

When I buy CS knives now, I only go for the San Mai 3 pieces cos their flagship steel the Carbon V 1095 steel that was so well reknowned are no longer in production. Carbon V is strong and super good value for $. However they rust easily at the edge if not oiled very constantly.

I personally have the San Mai 3 Gurkha Kukri and luckily managed to buy one Carbon V Satin polished Gurkha kukri. Both perform almost equally just as well, 9 inch tatami otome in one swing no problem. But the Carbon V piece has to be maintained ( oiled ) alot much more constanly.
Hence, think of the San Mai 3 as an 'advancement' or improvement, the Carbon V is sheer raw power.

If any bros out there wanna get a super high powered tanto or any japanese styled blades, I recommend www.kanetsune.com This company has been forging blades for over 800 years. very famous for layering 15 layers of damascus steel on a super strong blue steel 'core' blade. Blue steel is is made by Hitachi Metal Company Ltd. It is one of the top grade steels used in many industrial factories for heavy cutting purposes eg: slicing through thousands of sheets of paper at a time or maybe even cutting through thin metal plates. They actually have up to 1.05 % carbon in their steel yet maintain the blade's flexibility by adding silicon, lastly adding chromium to resists corrosion. Blue steel's HRC is about 63. tat's hard.

I have got a kukri that is made of the abovementioned 15 layered damscus blue steel, custom made by this company. The normal piece comes only in 5.19 inch blade. I had them custom make me a 17 inch blade piece, overall length 23 inch.

Hope I have helped out here.

CHeers bros
 
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