Cold Steel Trail Boss

C

Cronx210

Joined
Apr 23, 2009
Messages
54
Anyone got any review's/experience with this hatchet?, i'm considering buying one but wanna find out if it's worth it!:o
 
Why? If you are 'sure' that it is a good axe, what would be wrong with purchasing one? You're not stuck up on the price, are you?
 
Nothing wrong with purchasing one. Not to turn this into a LT bashing session, but I'm not fond of their president or marketing scheme. And no, I'm not stuck on the price. It seems perfectly reasonable. With that said, they do make some good blades.
 
i got one a minute ago have used it a little right off the bat. mine came with a thick edge but the handle grain was dead on were it should be. the head was a little loose with chopping i fixed this by adding another wedge to the eye and pounding some hickory splints around the handle with some wood glue on them. that fixed the "wiggle". Now the edge took some thinning out till i was happy with but with power tools this took no time at all. all in all i might of spent two hours cleaning up this 30$ made in china axe. i think the price is reasonable if you willing to do a little work to the axe or still if your not. it's cheap and a decent small axe for various sized tasks. buy it:thumbup:
 
Thanks Disduster, that's pretty much what i wanted to know, i'm waiting for a harbor freight sand belt to come in, and i saw this hatchet in a youtube video, a guy was putting a convex edge on it with a belt sander, so i was thinking maybe i can mod this thing and make it awesome!, the gransfors is way out of my budget and i need a good lightweight bush hatchet and i think with mod's this one fits the bill!
 
I have a cold steel trail boss and i do quite like it. Mine came ridiculously dull, really no edge on it at all. But I decided to customize it, to make it perform better. I scraped the paint off of the head, sanded the varnish off the handle, rubbed in some a couple of coats of tung oil, polished the head, and then i sharpened it with a handheld 3x18 belt sander then a loaded strop. It became very, very sharp. Overall, I really like this axe, it has a pretty thin profile and chops like crazy in softwoods (does pretty good on hardwoods as well). Actually it outchopped my gransfors scandi forest axe on some fresh pine trees on my land (mostly a function of it being a lot sharper, but yes it can definently chop). It may not be the best splitter in the world but it'll do. So yes buy it, spend some time working on it, and it will serve you very well.
 
Studlysmurf said:
I have a cold steel trail boss and i do quite like it. Mine came ridiculously dull, really no edge on it at all. But I decided to customize it, to make it perform better. I scraped the paint off of the head, sanded the varnish off the handle, rubbed in some a couple of coats of tung oil, polished the head, and then i sharpened it with a handheld 3x18 belt sander then a loaded strop. It became very, very sharp. Overall, I really like this axe, it has a pretty thin profile and chops like crazy in softwoods (does pretty good on hardwoods as well). Actually it outchopped my gransfors scandi forest axe on some fresh pine trees on my land (mostly a function of it being a lot sharper, but yes it can definently chop). It may not be the best splitter in the world but it'll do. So yes buy it, spend some time working on it, and it will serve you very well.
Click to expand...

how did you scrape the paint off the head? sand paper? heat + razorblade?
 
Ken_McCarty said:
how did you scrape the paint off the head? sand paper? heat + razorblade?
Click to expand...

There's no need to punish yourself, it's only paint. Spray on some paint remover and go have a cup of coffee. Come back when you're done and wipe it off.
 
i took one out to evaluate last month.

we chopped everything from rotten wood to super-hard desert-dried oak.

it was a big hit with the teenage boys.
1.JPG



i didn't alter the axe before using it.
1B.JPG


it took a real beating.
1C.JPG


can't ask for better grain than that.
1D.JPG


it's a great one-hander especially.

the cross-section on the handle seems a little big to me, and i have huge hands, but i intend to put a Gen 1 Mk 4 handle on mine.


it's a great deal if the quality stays anywhere near what mine is, IMHO.

HTH.

vec
 
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