I want a tanto

My recon buddy won a medal in Japan as a diver with his benchmade nimravous. I was the first guy to sharpen in when he brought it home. Sweet blade, good steel, and force recon aproved. They are still out there but discontinued. I love my cold steel tantos but they are very thick spined and don’t do knife things as well.
 
My recon buddy won a medal in Japan as a diver with his benchmade nimravous. I was the first guy to sharpen in when he brought it home. Sweet blade, good steel, and force recon aproved. They are still out there but discontinued. I love my cold steel tantos but they are very thick spined and don’t do knife things as well.
I wanted a tanto for the sake of it... so something that won't break the bank. But I also wanted it to be useable, and for that - I need a good sheath.
 
Yeah cold steel sheaths wipe the edge out bad. I don’t think I’ve owned one that doesn’t. You need to soak it in oil and just pull it in and out of the sheath 1000 times the first day you get it. The. Get that sucker sharpened once and you should be good for a while
 
You’ll see bits of plastic coming off the edge just wipe them away and keep reaming it out. Rinse and repeat. If your worried about keeping it sharp and got no stone skills yet lanky sets are under 100 bucks and work awesome
 
Once you break in a cold steel sheath they are as good as any kydex I’ve learned to love them by literally just breaking them in. But I sharpen even my knives that don’t need it so it kind of my thing anyway. Nothing passes the time like some radio and some oil on a nice stone. It’s one of the most relaxing satisfying activities I pull off in a day that doesn’t break my back.
 
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New Cold Steel. Picked up for a friend.
Bunch of these have a weird pregnant belly thing happening with the edge towards the handle, the one pictured has less of this problem. Gotta pick these up in store to check.
They have serrated version too, that one doesn't have belly issues.
 
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q8ploQE.jpg


OaRqHVs.jpg

New Cold Steel. Picked up for a friend.
Bunch of these have a weird pregnant belly thing happening with the edge towards the handle, the one pictured has less of this problem. Gotta pick these up in store to check.
They have serrated version too, that one doesn't have belly issues.
All the tantos from cs do. It’s supposed to mimic a Japanese sword and belly’s on cs blades get wild like the espada series. Lyn hates a straight edge. I think the frenzy and tuff lite is about it. You could argue the Bowies. He argues that it shears better and when you strike it slips off rather than sticks.
 
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Recon Tanto is nice. I use a Ka-bar leathersheath and it works just fine. Works on SRK also.
Cool stab some Coins with it! Nice party trick. The best advice I can give on sharpening is to be very careful where the two edges meet at the yakote. You want to keep that nice pyramid shape. It acts like a wood splitting axe on flesh. You can almost think of it like a spur on a whip. I’ve seen the 7-10” blades snap under intense abuse but never the smaller master size. You can break it but it takes 10+ inches of leverage to do it. Enjoy!
 
I’ve seen the 7-10” blades snap under intense abuse but never the smaller master size. You can break it but it takes 10+ inches of leverage to do it. Enjoy!

I think they are created for stabing and slashing. For this use, you wouldn't break it in three lifetimes. I use mine for some (cold steel vid inspired) tests and aside from some dull spots and some scratches on the coating it is as good as new. That beeing sad, the tip is really strong, even stabbing metal.
Think I get a Kobun and a Master Tanto after Christmas. Master Tanto goes in Ka-Bar sheath for sure😁
Friend of mine broke the very tip off of a SK5 SRK, I reshaped and resharpend it. We tested it afterwards, held up great an lost under one 1mm of edge in the process😂
 
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I think they are created for stabing and slashing. For this use, you wouldn't break it in three lifetimes. I use mine for some (cold steel vid inspired) tests and aside from some dull spots and some scratches on the coating it is as good as new. That beeing sad, the tip is really strong, even stabbing metal.
Think I get a Kobun and a Master Tanto after Christmas. Master Tanto goes in Ka-Nar sheath for sure😁
Friend of mine broke the very tip off of a SK5 SRK, I reshaped and resharpend it. We tested it afterwards, held up great an lost under on 1mm of edge in the process😂
Back in the 80s knife magazines used to pick on Lynn calling it the sharpened pry bar. I can confirm that the 7 will snap if you broadside it. It’s harder to get that much leverage on the master size. Indestructible is a relative term. I’m just letting him know it will snap under stupidity! Obviously pry bars got a much different heat treat, metallurgy, and purpose.
 
Update - today I was surprised by my Recon Tanto coming early.

New logo on box, and also the knife.
Fit and finish great. Grinds actually symmetrical.
But it was soaked in oil.
I really like the handle shape and balance. It has good feel in my hands.

Now, the sheath - it came razor sharp, and I've decided to test it.
I pulled it in and out from the sheath for 30 times, without being really careful to press the spine against the sheath.
And after 30 pulls in and out - I didn't notice any difference. It still shaved just as easily.

Could it be that they solved the issue? Or did I just get lucky with this one?


In any case - I'm overall extremely pleased with my purchase.
 
All the tantos from cs do. It’s supposed to mimic a Japanese sword and belly’s on cs blades get wild like the espada series. Lyn hates a straight edge. I think the frenzy and tuff lite is about it. You could argue the Bowies. He argues that it shears better and when you strike it slips off rather than sticks.
There is normal belly curve you see on all the images of these knives on the internet and then I seen a few of these upclose in person and they have a protrusion at the portion of belly that is closer to handle, and it looks like when a basketball has a hernia. I just want to see a nice smooth curve and the ones I saw looked faulty.
 
They re-tooled the dimensions of the sheaths. They do not rub anywhere near as much as they used to. Of course, old stock may still exist through various distributors however. But any knives made by CS a couple years before the GSM buyout had the new Secure Ex sheaths. I assume that tooling went to GSM and is currently being used.
I guess this might be the case. My sheath makes no issues.
Yeah, I am also pleased with how well balanced and light it is.
My exact thoughts now.
You will like the knife ! Have fun !
And I do like the knife :D


This is why I like this place. I like the knife and it is exactly what I was looking for, and it didn't break the bank.

Now I'm awaiting for my sheath to come too.
 
It’s not what I expect from Bladeforums, standards are slipping , 76 posts & no one has committed on how powerful Tanto’s are.....


What’s happening? 😄
 
It’s not what I expect from Bladeforums, standards are slipping , 76 posts & no one has committed on how powerful Tanto’s are.....


What’s happening? 😄
I knew that legendary thread would eventually be brought up 😂😂
 
It’s not what I expect from Bladeforums, standards are slipping , 76 posts & no one has committed on how powerful Tanto’s are.....


What’s happening? 😄
What did I just read? 🤣
 
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