CS GI Tanto vs. Condor Mountain Knife

[marcinek]

And one would probably be much better served by a Vic Farmer at 25-30 bucks.

Of course you can't sneak up on and deanimate any of those commie elm trees with it.

But you could make a fuzz stick, clean a fish, slice some cheese, cut some rope, and open a beer with it.

But what fun is that?!?

 

[philwar]

I don't know the Black Jack, but the Cold Steel and the Kershaw are both very light built knives. Very good for their price (like the GI Tanto) but for very different purposes.

Have you actually used the GI Tanto? I have, and I feel no hesitation recommending it to anyone for outdoors use - given its price point. It will cut anyhing well, it can chop, it will suck at skinning, it's true. But I went on dayhikes and short trips with this as my only fixed blade and never lacked for anything. That's my experience. I don't understand why you feel a need to argue with that, but have a ball anyway.

 

[marcinek]

I don't know the Black Jack, but the Cold Steel and the Kershaw are both very light built knives. Very good for their price (like the GI Tanto) but for very different purposes.

Have you actually used the GI Tanto? I have, and I feel no hesitation recommending it to anyone for outdoors use - given its price point. It will cut anyhing well, it can chop, it will suck at skinning, it's true. But I went on dayhikes and short trips with this as my only fixed blade and never lacked for anything. That's my experience. I don't understand why you feel a need to argue with that, but have a ball anyway.

The GI Tanto is terrible for outdoors use.

Its a stabber.

That is my experience.

I don't know why you feel the need to argue with that.

But I guess you feel that anyone who disagrees with you cannot have any experience or knowledge. Have a ball with that point of view.

 

[soapboxpreacher]

Its simplistic because the GI Tanto is designed for stabbing. There's really nothing complicated to say.

In addition to the wide array of Moras and Condors available at that price point that are designed for woods use, here's a Black Jack Grunt. 20 bucks. Convexed. Stout.

Drop point with plenty of belly and no top guard.

Designed like an outdoors knife.

Damn 20 bucks!! With a Convex grind! That is pretty nice!!! newgraham.com has it for 20 even! I really like that knife...is it a full tang?

 

[Ultrakd]

On the CS side, old pattern Bushman (not the bowie) would work well.

Original I was going to get the CS Bushman Bowie and I still like that one the best to all the knives Ive looked at in my $20 price range. There are some that I will want to get down the road like the Condor Rodan and Kumanga. Ive seen in vids that the CS Bushman can take a lot of beating. The only problem I though of was how there is no guard at the end of the handle. Has anyone experienced a problem with there hand slipping onto the blade while using it or is the handle nice and easy to hold. Is the Bushman better than the Bushman Bowie or is that preference.

 

[kurodrago]

A few picture is worth a thousand words.

 

[philwar]

The GI Tanto is terrible for outdoors use.

Its a stabber.

That is my experience.

You could have just answered it when I asked you.
So this knife never managed to cut anything in your hands huh? Only stab? Really? Did a check on youtube. Rave reviews all over. Lots of people that managed somehow to cut something with it, not one complained about its inability to cut. Weird that...
Anyway. Your experience taught you different.

 

[kurodrago]

 

[1066vik]

Original I was going to get the CS Bushman Bowie and I still like that one the best to all the knives Ive looked at in my $20 price range. There are some that I will want to get down the road like the Condor Rodan and Kumanga. Ive seen in vids that the CS Bushman can take a lot of beating. The only problem I though of was how there is no guard at the end of the handle. Has anyone experienced a problem with there hand slipping onto the blade while using it or is the handle nice and easy to hold. Is the Bushman better than the Bushman Bowie or is that preference.

I haven't had any problems with it, but then there are a lot of folks who cord wrapped the handle for better texture, too. The original vs bowie thing is personal preference.
I have no experience with the Rodan, but the Kumunga (it's big brother - other than blade length I'm told they're almost identical) is a good slicer and would make an acceptable draw knife for barking/limbing a sapling to make a smooth pole or hiking staff.

 

[kurodrago]

 

[marcinek]

You could have just answered it when I asked you.
So this knife never managed to cut anything in your hands huh? Only stab? Really? Did a check on youtube. Rave reviews all over. Lots of people that managed somehow to cut something with it, not one complained about its inability to cut. Weird that...
Anyway. Your experience taught you different.

Yep it did. And its a stabber. My outdoors experience has never involved stabbing.

I don't know about the people on YouTube...I guess since they have video cameras it gives them "experience". Surprising, because many of them seem to be 15 year olds.

Anyway, I'll give you one point. I just checked the Cold Steel vid to see if maybe I had missed something.

They used the GI Tanto to slash a leather jacket sleeve full of meat. So I guess it can do other things than stab.

Of course, my outdoor experience has never involved slashing leather sleeves full of meat.

I guess that because I don't have the rich outdoor experience that you do.

 

[demoteamone]

Yep it did. And its a stabber. My outdoors experience has never involved stabbing.

The knife is fighter design not a stabbing design but is you like outdoor that much you can improve the knife like kuro did.? or forget about it.

 

[pwet]

if this can help and from my experience too, a tanto blade is no good for outdoor use. i haven't handled the CS GI one but i think i can generalise for another one. i miss the belly too much and the angled transition gets in the way of most delicate work with no benefits added. and i don't even see where it would be better for stabbing ...

just my experience.

get a bushman and some paracord or any other more classical profile,it'll be MUUUUUUUUCH more versatile. if tanto were any good for outdoor use we would have heard about this. i haven't till today.

 

[RustyFenrir]

Since you've been looking at Condor I suggest checking out the Bushlore, or maybe the Rodan.

The Bushlore has a classic design, convex edge, is made of tough 1075 carbon steel, and is thick to boot! :thumbup: Check out this video to get an idea of how it looks in hand. (don't mind the title of it, as the knife IS the Bushlore... NOT the Bushcraft Basic)

The Rodan is supposedly a good knife too but I'm personally not crazy over the looks... maybe you'll like it though.

 

[effer]

GI tanto is a great value knife.
I think it is not that good for "bushcraft" by itself, but add a small neck knife to it, cheap mora or something like this, and you will get a very good and inexpensive combo.
It is not designed for typical outdoors tasks, but design can be slightly improved for such application. Top guard really needs to go.

GI handles batoning, light copping, and lots of abuse like knife throwing , digging and other stuff.
Small knife handles food, carving and other small tasks.

Very cheap and very capable.