Need Combat knife advice.

Two more options in combat knives no one has mentioned so far: The Cold Steel Recon Scout and the Aitor Nato Bowie. Both cost more than the Recon Tanto but have heavy, steel double guards which many consider a must on a combat knife. The Aitor knife is made of a stainless steel which the manufacturer claims to be better than 440C, and which would put it in the category of premium stainless.
 
buy one i did cant stop playing with buy a second from what ive seen good prices i didint know cold steels seconds:cool:
 
Lots of great advice here! Lots of stuff for you to think about. My opinions:

I personally, don't feel comfortable at all buying stuff that I could not/would not trust my life to. I buy quality. If you are going to be subjecting this knife to any sort of hard use, you need to ask yourself some very serious questions:

a) How much do you value your life?

b) How good would it feel to have the extra X amount of dollars nice, warm, and tidy in your bank, while you're up @#$% creek without a paddle, or in this case, a knife. If whatever blade you buy goes out on you because you didn't spend enough, you're obviously going to curse yourself.

I'm being serious here, and I'm also not saying you need to spend $4,000 on a custom or something. But do buy the best you can get within reason. I'm not an expert, but from what I've read here, Strider and Busse are the way to go for the ultimate hard-use/abuse knives. Strider gives more bang for the buck, and I personally like their designs a lot more. I just got a BT, and other than the fact that it's a bit too small for my tastes, I LOVE it, and would not hesitate to trust my life to it, as they have been proven by many people in the field. There's a post here about how some soldier serving in Afghanistan saw a Strider cut the tail off a helicopter! If that knife isn't good enough for you, then nothing is!!! :D Read the post here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=195316&highlight=strider+seal

I have to disagree completely with everyone as far as concealability goes. I have my Strider BT strapped to my calf right now, and no one can tell that I have it on! I have practiced, and can deploy it fairly quickly. I even tried it under dress slacks last night with success! I'm average size; 5'10", 165. So concealing the Recon Tanto wouldn't be a problem. :D

Sorry 'bout my long post, but ya gotta say what ya gotta say.
To sum up, I'd say go with a Strider. Do a little research on the forums here, and you will see that they are proven tools. I sure wouldn't trust my life to anything less. I do have a recon tanto as well, and it seems to be solid and well-made, DEFINITELY a STEAL at $50, but trust MY LIFE to it? Sorry, I'd reach for my Strider first!

Regards, and luck
Strati
drjones
 
i don't mean to go against the grain here, but i'd like ot point out one thing about the CS recon tanto that has always troubled me. it might be hard to tell from just a picture, but the crossguard (fingerguard...can someone help me out with the real name...i forget) is molded from the same Kraton material as the grip. i have nothing against kraton, but a rubber finger guard is flexible and easily damaged. i realize that this might not make alot of practical difference for some uses, but i've always felt it seemed kind of cheap for a hard use knife. if you're gonna bet your life on a knife (or gun, or whatever) it should be simple, solid, and above all inspire confidence. if you like the CS line, i would cast my vote for the recon scout...same steel and kraton grip, but with a thick brass crossguard to protect your fingers.

just my two cents,

e.
 
If you've got a CS budget, I'd go with the Recon Scout.
Be prepared to get a better sheath though. I keep my Recon Scout in a kydex sheath from Normark. Its alot safer :) And better lookin too ;)
If you have a bigger budget, check out Bob Dozier's Ranger.

www.dozierknives.com
 
I would certainly take a good look at the Becker Knife and Tool Combat/Utility 7 before you make a final decision.
 
I wouldn't go for a tanto design period. I carried a CS Master Tanto for several years. Great urban knife but it sucks in the wilderness. Quick fast jobs the are fine, but for endurance work the design goes against them. Either buy more than one knife or go for a more utilitarian design.
 
Greenjacket - Could you please elaborate as to why the tanto design is not effective in wilderness? I really like the tanto design, and most of my recent knife purchases (well, ok, ALL of them! :D) have been tanto style.

Thanks!
drjones
 
Take the CS Master tanto as the standard of the design. This is the one I have: the original Master tanto. Its a great knife for prying, jabbing and cutting. Its poor at chopping. The greatest fault is that the corner on the edge, where the straight edge turns up to the front point, has to do too much work. This sweet part ends up doing a disproportional amount of the cutting on too many tasks. It takes a hammering and is inefficient compared to other blades with a more swept design. Sustained work and this part is going to wear/get damaged. Many are quite wedgey which doesn't help when cutting deep into softer material.

There are just better designs for utility work than a tanto. Just my oppinion.
 
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