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Non-Cold Steel Tantos from the 1980s
- Thread starter The Whip
- Start date
Aiming for two small targets when one is being charged is ineffective. Not to mention that it may not stop the attacker completely.
The Seki Japan makers that made nearly all of the vintage Tantos pictured in this thread no longer make them.
No US maker that I am aware of makes a "copy" of the CS Tanto, Although a huge number of custom makers do Tantos. The US maker Bark River makes the Shinigami and smaller Kitsune.
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Regarding the Gerber MK I and MK II:
The use of cast aluminum for the Taylor-Seto MCR-11 and similar tantos could be seen as a Gerber influence.
Numerous companies like Parker, Taylor, Frost, and Valor as well as cheaper companies made clones of the Gerber MK I and Parker and Valor also had clones of the MKII.
One of the most common types of fixed blades in the 1980s was various boot knives made by these companies with a Gerber MK I type sheath and blade and numerous variations in handles, including hollow handles.
Another knife these companies copied was the Tekna skeletonized boot knife.
The use of cast aluminum for the Taylor-Seto MCR-11 and similar tantos could be seen as a Gerber influence.
Numerous companies like Parker, Taylor, Frost, and Valor as well as cheaper companies made clones of the Gerber MK I and Parker and Valor also had clones of the MKII.
One of the most common types of fixed blades in the 1980s was various boot knives made by these companies with a Gerber MK I type sheath and blade and numerous variations in handles, including hollow handles.
Another knife these companies copied was the Tekna skeletonized boot knife.
Yes but the reverse grip is fundamental.
From the Asayama Ichiden Ryu Kobudo Tanto Jutsu:
I'm a little late to this party, but I recently inherited three non-CS tantos. Only one of which is marked. I have no idea about the other two...
Here's a nice EdgeCo tanto:
I also have this unmarked tanto, which seems to strongly resemble the Valor 622.
And then there's this thing. It's unbranded, but clearly resembles the iconic Al Mar Shugoto.
https://imgur.com/t8I5NpR
https://imgur.com/Ussw9O2
Here's a nice EdgeCo tanto:
I also have this unmarked tanto, which seems to strongly resemble the Valor 622.
And then there's this thing. It's unbranded, but clearly resembles the iconic Al Mar Shugoto.
https://imgur.com/t8I5NpR
https://imgur.com/Ussw9O2
As if the glut of Tanto knock-offs flooding the 1980s knife market wasn’t enough, here’s an example of the kind of advertising Cold Steel was competing against back then. This ran as a full-page ad in Soldier of Fortune.
The ad copy is ridiculous nonsense, obviously fabricated to appeal to an SoF audience. But offered here at half the price (and it sold for less than that through other vendors) of Cold Steel’s Tanto, the Taylor/Seto tanto drew a lot of sales away from Cold Steel. No wonder Lynn called out that model particularly in the 1985 comparison ad.
Happy New Year!
-Steve
The ad copy is ridiculous nonsense, obviously fabricated to appeal to an SoF audience. But offered here at half the price (and it sold for less than that through other vendors) of Cold Steel’s Tanto, the Taylor/Seto tanto drew a lot of sales away from Cold Steel. No wonder Lynn called out that model particularly in the 1985 comparison ad.
Happy New Year!
-Steve
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What a rip-off.
While the MCR-11 was a good knife for the money and at the time*, the MSRP was $32.00 IIRC and that seemed to be the price most people, retail or mail order, sold it for.
This ad might be by one of the companies that sold the infamous "$5.00 survival knife" for significantly more than $5.00.
IIRC I even saw an ad selling the "$5.00 survival knife" for $25.00.
Before I saw this ad I only saw the term "assault knife" used as a joke. lol
* With certain models, quality knives and swords are cheaper now than they ever were. The Recon Tanto and SRK now sell at prices that would have been seen as normal back in the 1980s.
Using an inflation calculator, I checked to see what $15.00 in 1985 would be today, and it is $42.80, which would be in the range of the price for a Recon Tanto or SRK, and back during that time I never saw any knives of that quality selling for that low.
The $50.00 Urban Skinner I purchased in 1986 would be $140.00 today,
A "$100.00 katana" made from stainless steel in 1985 would be $285.00 today, withing the normal price for a CS Warrior Katana.
The CS Tanto in 1985 was $125.00 and that would be $356.70 today.
While the MCR-11 was a good knife for the money and at the time*, the MSRP was $32.00 IIRC and that seemed to be the price most people, retail or mail order, sold it for.
This ad might be by one of the companies that sold the infamous "$5.00 survival knife" for significantly more than $5.00.
IIRC I even saw an ad selling the "$5.00 survival knife" for $25.00.
Before I saw this ad I only saw the term "assault knife" used as a joke. lol
* With certain models, quality knives and swords are cheaper now than they ever were. The Recon Tanto and SRK now sell at prices that would have been seen as normal back in the 1980s.
Using an inflation calculator, I checked to see what $15.00 in 1985 would be today, and it is $42.80, which would be in the range of the price for a Recon Tanto or SRK, and back during that time I never saw any knives of that quality selling for that low.
The $50.00 Urban Skinner I purchased in 1986 would be $140.00 today,
A "$100.00 katana" made from stainless steel in 1985 would be $285.00 today, withing the normal price for a CS Warrior Katana.
The CS Tanto in 1985 was $125.00 and that would be $356.70 today.
KentuckyBlackBird
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Taiwan made. Maybe a Fury….not sure.View attachment 2442027
There were (and still are) always companies willing to bilk the gullible/lazy out of more of their money than that spent by people who shop around. I couldn’t afford a Cold Steel Tanto back in the mid-‘80s, so my first tanto purchase was an MCR-11. I didn’t pay anywhere near $60, or even retail for that matter.
And I agree with you that the MCR-11 was a decent substitute for the money spent. But I mostly just admired it, as I had other knives that I took into the woods to use/abuse in ways only teenage boys can. I never thought the tanto design was well suited to woods use anyway, so I didn’t put my Taylor/Seto to the test.
While I’ve always been a bit of a sucker for a good price when it comes to knives, my tastes matured as I did and I began to see the wisdom behind the maxim, “You get what you pay for.” As I learned that, Cold Steel’s products started to hold a greater appeal than ever. When Lynn began demonstrating that his products delivered what they promised, I was hooked.
The rise of Taiwanese manufacture has really undercut the effects of inflation on knife buyers, almost to the point of incredulity. My first American-made SRK, purchased in 1989, was on sale for $35. That’s the same price you can buy the Taiwan-made SRK for on sale today, thirty-five years later!
But for me the real steals are the Taiwanese Master Tanto and Outdoorsman. I can buy a San Mai version of both of those knives today for the same price as the plain steel versions sold for in 1985. That is an amazing value! And I haven’t seen any indication that the Taiwanese knives are in any way inferior to the Japanese knives. Unless they are completing a collection, the people currently buying up outrageously expensive Japanese Cold Steel San Mai knives are paying a premium purely for sentiment, in my opinion.
-Steve
That actually looks like a Cold Steel Kydex sheath. If it is, it’s worth more than the knife!
-Steve
KentuckyBlackBird
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I had no idea…
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I purchased a San Mai Master Tanto the year before last IIRC and last year an Outdoorsman, and both were just over $100.00 each and under the $125.00 of the original Tanto.
I paid $90.00 for my original Tanto back in 1989 but that was because there was a knife sale at Shooter's World and I had a membership discount, plus I bought the display model since the rest of the CS Tantos were sold out.
My MCR-11 has seen a lot of use before I bought my Recon Tanto, but I never did anything to intentionally break it. I even did some batonning before I knew it was a thing when I needed a flat piece of wood for a bow and drill back in 1990.
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Over the years, I've gathered photos of various tantos sold during the 1980s, and I had been wanting to start a thread to share some of them. With G Gimmick 's recent inquiry about the tanto he saw in Amsterdam in the 1980s (Atlanta Cutlery claimed it was a Marto when they sold it) and @jdk1's statement about having only seen black-and-white ad photos of the tanto copies, I thought it was time to address the topic. Plus, this way we won't clutter up the Tanto history thread with images of imitations.
For those who didn't live through it, it might be difficult to grasp how much of an impact the introduction of the Cold Steel Tanto had on the knife industry. It was huge! There were imitators and copycats galore. Not all of the 1980s knives in this thread will look just like the Tanto (though plenty do, several a little too similar!), but they were all marketed because of the craze started by Cold Steel's Tanto.
C. Jul Herbertz
Coast Knives
Dacor
Edge Company (EdgeCo)
Gutmann (Explorer)
Marto
Parker Cutlery (Eagle Brand)
Taylor Cutlery (Taylor/Seto)
There were a lot more than these, as the flea markets and martial arts supply houses were filled with all kinds of no-name Asian knock-offs. Please add any pictures you may have of tantos from the 1980s.
-Steve
I bought the Taylor/Seto tanto with the black metal handle and leather sheath for 20.00 back in the 80s. It has traveled to the UK with me and everywhere else. Darned good knives. Now I carry a Cold Steel Master Tanto, but still have the Taylor. It's still great and has a razor edge.
A couple more vintage '80s tantos to add to the thread. These are mini tanto (3.1-inch blade) versions of the larger Carl Julius Herbertz knife shown in my first post.
This one is from Explorer/Gutmann.
And this is from Frost Cutlery.
Seki makers frequently sold the same models (perhaps with slight modifications, such as the addition of the handle inlay on the Frost) to multiple brands. Those brands didn't care; they just gave the knives different names and packaging and sold them anyway.
-Steve
This one is from Explorer/Gutmann.
And this is from Frost Cutlery.
Seki makers frequently sold the same models (perhaps with slight modifications, such as the addition of the handle inlay on the Frost) to multiple brands. Those brands didn't care; they just gave the knives different names and packaging and sold them anyway.
-Steve
