CRKT Shinbu alternatives?

CRKT HZ6 is pretty close to shinbu, just more "tactical" I guess. Last year I snagged a mint shinbu for $150 in a cold steel knife group on facebook, and it is very nice. if you can find it for sub 300 i'd go for it.

I purchased the Cold Steel Magnum II Tanto and very pleased with the quality. I took the belt loop off and tossed it. I have worn it every day IN my belt like a wakizashi since my job is in a Military Surplus store and we are expected to be armed to some degree. Recently, I took a chance on an eBay (yeah, I know!) traditional style Tanto and was completely blown away at the quality. It was under a hundred dollars and I did not really expect it to be much more than a project piece. The seller had good reviews and is located stateside, but obviously dealing items imported from Longquan. I don't want to post the link to it, but you can find it under the title "handmade self-defense dagger tanto knife Japanese samurai short sword 40cm". It came wrapped much better then any of my expensive Katanas in my collection. Comes with a very nice thick kimono type silk storage bag with the heavy golden tassles. He lists every detail of the type parts used to construct it and for the price, I may jump on a couple more before they disappear. 

This is late and I don’t have a lot to add but maybe someone can get some help from this.

I used to own a hisshou, regret selling it. Anyway, on the current market, second the crkt HZ6. I edc it and it’s a very capable design. The Hissatsu is slightly longer but also getting harder to find. I have noticed clones appearing lately though too so watch out for that. There is a knife inspired by the Hissatsu but actually made with better materials here: m.aliexpress.com/item/3256802893961121.html?spm=a2g0n.detail.1000013.3.1fe328308Y0nxJ&gps-id=storeRecommendH5&scm=1007.18500.300835.0&scm_id=1007.18500.300835.0&scm-url=1007.18500.300835.0&pvid=b23210a9-3c0d-40df-a484-2f2deecc8343&_t=gps-id:storeRecommendH5,scm-url:1007.18500.300835.0,pvid:b23210a9-3c0d-40df-a484-2f2deecc8343,tpp_buckets:668%232846%238114%231999&pdp_npi=2%40dis%21USD%21178.26%21124.78%21%21%21%21%21%402101c84d16611967231383223e7363%2112000023956221540%21rec

But with Ali there’s not really a guarantee of what materials you get.

If you have a lot of extra money williams blade design still pumps out collabs with winkler knives and lionsteel every so often. You could also check out brtbladeworks. But like I said, can get pretty costly.

There’s also a plethora of knife makers you can check out on Instagram that make various form of modern “tactical” Tanto or kaiken.