ETA- I'm not shopping here, so please dont move this to the EE.

Its a long story.
When I was about 12, my cousin bought a Cold Steel Tanto, one of the small ones about 8.5" long. It had the single-sided guard (to keep your hand off the blade), and the pointed pommel on the end of the kraton grip material. It came in a leather sheath with a belt/boot clip.
I wanted one for the longest time, and I finally bought one when I was about 14. It was a United Cutlery, but it was the identical knife- same blade steel, same handle material, but a different sheath. Like a dumbass, I sold it for $15 to buy a pellet pistol from another kid.

Now, I'd like to buy another Tanto. I'd like to find one with the same Handle/Guard/Pommel configuration as the older Cold Steel and United knives, but they just dont seem to be out there without buying one of the larger Cold Steel models, which isnt really what I want. All the newer Tantos are either like the Recon Tanto, or they have a double-sided guard with a different pommel.
Anyone have any ideas?

www.1sks.com/store/cold-steel-13an-tanto.html

Mean this one?

I think the CS knife you are looking for is the Mini Tanto.  Cold Steel discontinued this knife about 10+ years ago.  You can still find them but prices seem to hover in the $100+ range.  There are some knock offs made in the same size and one is available in most military clothing sales stores with a black blade and pommel for about $14.  

ErinMT- Thats exactly the style I'm looking for, but its larger than the one I want.


Torakan- Thanks for the info. Any links available? I've tried searching online, even E-bay, and the only ones I can find are the ones you mention that have slightly inflated in price.

Thanks guys.

Found one for sale on gun broker.com

http://froogle.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=43419399


And you'll find a lot of CS tantos on ebay if you search for

"Cold Steel tanto"

The older CS Tantos were made in Japan (why they cost more).  Have you tried calling Cold Steel?  I called about a year ago and purchased a Tanto boot knife - I had no clue that they even made one before I called.  Good luck.

Travis, next time I am the Ft Lewis MCSS I'll check.  If I remember right they are something like $15 and look like the old CS mini tanto but are made by Taylor Cutlery.  BTW, the knife Travis is looking for was made by Cold Steel in the 1980s, and was an almost 1/2 scale copy of the standard CS Tanto.  It was marketed as a boot/hideout knife.  I have only held two of them and they are quite small.  The last one I played with belonged to a fellow soldier stationed with me in Iraq who used it as a boot knife.  It was given to him by none other than Greg Walker when my buddy was assigned to 1/19th SFG (ABN) as a thank you for some favor he did for him.      

Quoted: Travis, next time I am the Ft Lewis MCSS I'll check.  If I remember right they are something like $15 and look like the old CS mini tanto but are made by Taylor Cutlery.  BTW, the knife Travis is looking for was made by Cold Steel in the 1980s, and was an almost 1/2 scale copy of the standard CS Tanto.  It was marketed as a boot/hideout knife.  I have only held two of them and they are quite small.  The last one I played with belonged to a fellow soldier stationed with me in Iraq who used it as a boot knife.  It was given to him by none other than Greg Walker when my buddy was assigned to 1/19th SFG (ABN) as a thank you for some favor he did for him.

Correct.

The CS Tanto my cousin had did come with a leather sheath, with a boot clip on the back of it. It was an odd sheath, almost like a holster. The knife dropped into it, and there was a leather flap that secured with velcro around the top of the grip, near the guard. The blade was probably 4-4.5" long, and it was probably 8.5/9" overall.

The one I purchased later on was made by United Cutlery, but it was the same size, shape and weight, the handle material was the same, and the blade steel was the same. The sheath was just a nylon belt sheath with a plastic insert.
I'll try a search for Taylor Cutlery and see what turns up.

Thanks for the info, Torakan.


ETA- Tried finding the Taylor Cutlery Tanot, but no luck. Most of the inventory on their site is not pictured.

There is one in the new Brigade Quatermaster catalog that is real close.  Try www.actiongear.com and search for item # TBK50.  Its not a 100% copy but is the closest Ive seen in a while.  

Here is one I like. Its the third blade down. Its a Buck Nighthawk with the Tanto combination edge on it. Most of the Nighthawks had a clip-point blade profile, but they offered the Tanto as an option. Little hard to locate it in this configuration. I just payed for a Kydex sheath for it from a manufacturer in Canada, waiting for it to show up. It came with a cheapo nylon sheath from Buck.

www.crkt.com/m60softb.html