There is not a person working in the knife industry today who knows more about the Tanto and Cold Steel. After all, Cold Steel invented and popularized this knife style in the early 1980s. We spent millions of dollars to persuade the public, both through live or video advertisements and demonstrations, of the many advantages of Tantos. We have been producing Tanto for more than 30 years now, and there is still no custom factory or separator around the manufacture of a Tanto that can approach the cutting, cutting or drilling power of a product manufactured by Cold Steel. All our Tantos have a deep glossy satin finish on the rectified hollow blades and a contrasting line grain finish on the blade dishes. This technique highlights our cutting edge grinding methods and emphasizes the unique appearance of Cold Steel Tantos. In addition, the Tantos are delivered with our famous oval Kraton handle flattened. The oval shape offers a solid grip and resists the bearing or torsion in the hand during intensive use, the kind that, over time, would destroy a knife of less quality. Kraton's use in knives is another innovation from Cold Steel. The Kraton is a material of the unprecedented space age that does not crack, rot, and is immune from the ravages of the weather. The conical and solid steel apple is another important feature of Tanto that should not be ignored. Lynn Thompson designed it to concentrate all the force of an overwhelming blow in a small area so that even a moderately powerful blow can be remarkably effective in disarming or neutralizing an attacker. The Tanto series knives in San Mai are all delivered with a thick, high-quality Secure-Ex sheath that will not fail to give years of hard service and keep your Tanto alongside you, ready for action.