Recon Tanto

R

RedEdge77

Joined
Jul 13, 2005
Messages
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I'm looking for a tanto that has a 6" plus blade. Price under 100$. I was looking at the cold steel recon tanto.

Has anyone ever had a problem with one of these?

How sturdy is the hanlde also?
 
I find the Recon Tanto marketed by Cold Steel to be quite sturdy and useful. The blade is very tough and easy to sharpen. I've never had any problems with the handle. Feels good to me.

I have, however, had numerous issues with the "Secure-Ex" sheath that came with it. It pretty much fell apart after a few months of use. I contacted Cold Steel to request a replacement, but Cold Steel pretty much ignored me other than to tell me I could purchase another for about $50. I didn't appreciate that response.

Bottom line... good knife, not so good sheath, questionable customer service., and (apparently) ineffective warranty.
 
They are decent knives. I have had one for a long time. The handle is kraton (rubber). The sheath is kydex. The blade is carbon V. Overall its a fairly well built knife.

Now I did have one once, that had a bad sheath and they replaced it with no problem.
 
If you abuse a knife it will break. A knife is a cutting tool, not a crow bar, wedge for log splitting, or ax.
 
The blade is thick and heavy, and the point is swept back too far for good control. I hate the balance and the tacky handle. If you need a compact chopper, it might be what you are looking for. It makes, imo, a miserable utility or combat knife.

There is a sharp stress riser where the tang meets the blade, as with many CS fixed blades. The can cause cause catastrophic separation of the handle and blade when the knife is used to chop or baton, but this is fairly infrequent. Just by mentioning it I am opening up a can of worms.
 
I have one, it is a good knife, just be careful about rust, you can literally watch it form in front of you. I cannot really speak for performance as I only used it for a while before trying something on it that didn't work out.
 
The consensus among those that I've consulted that know about such things is that batoning through a log is not "abuse" for any supposedly "heavy use" knife. The CS Recon Tanto that I broke is marketed as such. I would not buy another one, nor would I recommend one to anyone.
 
I've had very good luck with mine, lots of cutting, batoning, abuse. I like it when I'm looking for a nice light package to carry that still packs a punch. I have a bunch of 10 - 12 year old knives from CS including the Recon Tanto, Master Hunter, and SRK. They've all stood up very well.
 
I have a 3 & 3/4" Falkniven I have batoned through a log to use as firewood while camping. I don't consider it abuse either.

The current Recon Tanto is a ok knife, though I am not fond of the handle. For a production Tanto I much prefer a Katz Tanto I handled a few years back.
 
You could pre-order a Paul Chen Practical Tanto for under $70. Great quality, and a traditional look, rather than urban tactical style. YMMV.

Here's a link.

This is one of the next things on my list.

D2
 
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