Help I/D this Tanto?

[VictorLouis]

Hi all, I'm hoping you may be able to tell me the model name, steel type, and what era of production this may be.
IIRC, I think I got this years ago when CS's own Lynn Thompson used to visit the Phoenix Fun-Show held in December.
The only branding is above the tsuba as shown. The blade measures at 7" total.
Thanks much!

 

[DA170]

https://hattoricollector.com/
Scroll down
Blues wrong forum

 

[killgar]

You might find the information you are looking for in this thread- https://www.bladeforums.com/threads...unauthorized-and-probably-incomplete.1566051/


.

 

[rycen]

It’s a fake

 

[jlauffer]

Yep, fake. If it was real, it would be closest to the Magnum Tanto II, which has a 7.5" blade.

 

[GrumpySoreOldBastard]

The pommel looks off.
There is someone on ebay selling allegedly 3V 6" master tanto's for $127 that have very similar looking pommels.
The shape is off as well as the side profile is squared off where the genuine has a rounded transition.

 

[VictorLouis]

I got this response back from the GSM folks' service:

Thank you for contacting GSM Outdoors customer service!

Apologies for the delay in response.

I'm here to assist you with your query.

I would like to let you know that this is a Cold Steel Mater Tanto knife, you can check that here MASTER TANTO (CPM 3V) | Cold Steel Knives and MASTER TANTO (VG-10 SAN MAI) | Cold Steel Knives . The steel used here CPM 3-V Steel and VG-10 San Mai.

I am afraid we do not have information on the manufacture date of this knife.

 

[jlauffer]

I got this response back from the GSM folks' service:

Thank you for contacting GSM Outdoors customer service!

Apologies for the delay in response.

I'm here to assist you with your query.

I would like to let you know that this is a Cold Steel Mater Tanto knife, you can check that here MASTER TANTO (CPM 3V) | Cold Steel Knives and MASTER TANTO (VG-10 SAN MAI) | Cold Steel Knives . The steel used here CPM 3-V Steel and VG-10 San Mai.

I am afraid we do not have information on the manufacture date of this knife.

Lol, they are 100% wrong, which is no surprise since they got rid of all the original CS employees after the buyout. If it was a Master Tanto, it would have a 6" blade, not 7". The length is wrong, the markings are wrong, the fit/finish is terrible (look at those gaps where the blade meets the guard!) and the sheath is wrong. 1000% fake!

 

[Centermass]

The GSM bot has no idea what it’s talking about. Those fakes have been around for years, especially on the Bay.

 

[The Whip]

I got this response back from the GSM folks' service:

Thank you for contacting GSM Outdoors customer service!

Apologies for the delay in response.

I'm here to assist you with your query.

I would like to let you know that this is a Cold Steel Mater Tanto knife, you can check that here MASTER TANTO (CPM 3V) | Cold Steel Knives and MASTER TANTO (VG-10 SAN MAI) | Cold Steel Knives . The steel used here CPM 3-V Steel and VG-10 San Mai.

I am afraid we do not have information on the manufacture date of this knife.

jlauffer and Centermass are absolutely correct, and the employee (or AI-generated) response from GSM is ridiculously wrong. You have a counterfeit knife that definitely was not sold to you by Lynn Thompson. You can see photos of identically marked (though actually better executed) fakes in post #47 of my Counterfeit, Anyone? thread.

GSM has no historical expertise regarding Cold Steel's knives. You'll only find accurate answers about past products here on these pages.


-Steve

 

[killgar]

I don't know squat about CS tantos, so I pose this question to those of you who do- the sharpening notch/choil looked odd to me, the way the kick of the blade is rounded over and curves up into the notch. I couldn't find any other genuine CS tantos with the same kind of notch. Would that be considered another tell-tale sign of a fake, or does this exist on any genuine CS tantos?

 

[jlauffer]

I don't know squat about CS tantos, so I pose this question to those of you who do- the sharpening notch/choil looked odd to me, the way the kick of the blade is rounded over and curves up into the notch. I couldn't find any other genuine CS tantos with the same kind of notch. Would that be considered another tell-tale sign of a fake, or does this exist on any genuine CS tantos?

View attachment 3055552

Yes, that is way off as well. Here is an example from the history thread. The choil should be entirely, or nearly entirely, on the sharpened part of the blade, not the ricasso.

 

[killgar]

Yes, that is way off as well. Here is an example from the history thread. The choil should be entirely, or nearly entirely, on the sharpened part of the blade, not the ricasso.

View attachment 3055610

Thanks for the confirmation.

 

[VictorLouis]

Thank you all for the input. What's finally convinced me was the gent above questioning the choil.
I have not seen a similar choil in any of the photos on the sites that were linked for me.
Much appreciated~

 

[tltt]

Linder, Herbertz, and some other European dealers sold cleaned up versions of them too -

https://sharg.pl/product-eng-111384...rbertz-CJH-Black-Rubber-Satin-420-581318.html .

https://teraasekeskus.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/LinderShogunTantoNetNew3.jpg .

Some have the odd choil, some don't.

 

[jdk1]

Cold Steel knives, for all the negative talk on this forum, were/are generally very high quality, especially the old ones. Excessive gaps and features that just scream "cheap" are a tell tale sign of a fake.