Cold Steel Trailmaster or Recon Scout?

S

Stoogemeister

Joined
Nov 3, 2009
Messages
7
Hey,

I basically have the options of choosing a Cold Steel recon scout or a trailmaster. Now i have heard nothing but good news about both but in my mind there are pros and cons to each.

Recon Scout has good thickness and still has potential for skinning game, it can still process wood but cant baton through the really big logs. Also the sheath is awesome and does not retain water.


Trailmaster has a nice reach with i think a 9 inch blade that is also very thick. Excellent for chopping wood, batoning through huge logs, you can pretty much expect it to never break. But the sheath is leather and retains water which can rust the blade, and the san mai version with a better sheath is soooo expensive.

I just dont know what to do, obviously i want to save money as much as possible. Basically in a few months i am going to be traversing the Rocky Mountains and I need an excellent survival knife i can depend on no matter what. I am also bringing a fillet knife and a multi tool.

Which one would you guys choose in my shoes and semi limited on cash
Edit/Delete Message
 
You really can't go wrong with the Trail Master, the extra blade length will come in handy. :)
 
If you want a knife you can depend upon no matter what, don't get a Cold Steel! Although they are great knives for the money, they are not knives I would personally bet my life on. If you are looking for a knife that you can SERIOUSLY bet your life on, look no further than the Busse Bushwhacker Battle Mistress. However, if you have a $100.00 to $150.00 budget, you would be better getting something a little more reliable. There are many knives to look at in your blade length and price range. Make sure to do your research, and check out these other blades:

1. Ranger Knives RD-9
2. Becker Knives BK-9
3. Browning Competition Knife
4. Ontario RTAK II
5. Ka Bar Heavy Bowie

These are all in the $100.00 price range and are excellent knives for the money. I remember reading numerous review on Blade Forums regarding Cold Steel knives breaking at the ricasso under heavy stress. Of course, everything I have told you is my opinion only and not based on scientific knife testing studies! If I could give you one bottom line recommendation, it would be SPEND THE MONEY AND GET A GOOD KNIFE! Busse Bushwhacker Mistress would be all you need. I hope this has been a help, and that I didn't crush your aspirations to become a Cold Steel owner.

Stoogemeister said:
Basically in a few months i am going to be traversing the Rocky Mountains and I need an excellent survival knife i can depend on no matter what. I am also bringing a fillet knife and a multi tool.
Which one would you guys choose in my shoes and semi limited on cash
Edit/Delete Message
Click to expand...
 
Stoogemeister said:
Hey,

I basically have the options of choosing a Cold Steel recon scout or a trailmaster. Now i have heard nothing but good news about both but in my mind there are pros and cons to each.

...

Which one would you guys choose in my shoes and semi limited on cash
Edit/Delete Message
Click to expand...

Why are these your only options?

My Trailmaster is from the 80's, but it has served me well. The handle on the Trailmaster, as well asthe Recon Scout, are a bit small - but one can deal with it. The rubber of the handle can be an issue, as it can get slick when wet/muddy.

I had a Recon Scout from the 90's. From what I recall, I thought it was nicer to carry due to the shorter length, but otherwise didn't particularly see any differences.

There has been a couple of documented breakage issues with both knives. I am not sure how prevalent such breakage is, since it looks like the same incidents are mentioned repeatedly.

If you're simply limited by price, I have a Browning Crowell / Barker Competition Knife and like it.

If you're worried about leather sheaths, one can usually find some substitute via the 'bay. Of course that is more money.
 
Nothing wrong with the trailmaster

I made my own version not to long ago and it has stood up to pretty hard use

I do agree that there are other hard use knives out there

my PERSONAL fav's is Ranger knives Rd9...
 
snwbrdr202 said:
These are all in the $100.00 price range and are excellent knives for the money. I remember reading numerous review on Blade Forums regarding Cold Steel knives breaking at the ricasso under heavy stress. Of course, everything I have told you is my opinion only and not based on scientific knife testing studies! If I could give you one bottom line recommendation, it would be SPEND THE MONEY AND GET A GOOD KNIFE! Busse Bushwhacker Mistress would be all you need. I hope this has been a help, and that I didn't crush your aspirations to become a Cold Steel owner.
Click to expand...

Numerous???? :rolleyes:

Where are they? :jerkit:

All I ever saw was ONE Recon Scout that NF broke while batoning a frozen log. ;)

I have used Trail Masters since they came out and NEVER had one break on me yet and I have beat the crap out of them batoning and chopping, prying etc. ;)

If one breaks a CS Trail Master they really had to try to break it on purpose. The blade on a TM is 5/16" thick and I can tell you from a lot of experience they are very strong.


That said the OP is on a budget and asked about CS knives. ;)

I own Busses too and have 2 BWM on order, but I believe they are out of his range.

The BWM won't be shipped for alittle while yet as they are still filling TB orders.
 
Last edited:
I have an old Trailmaster in Carbon V,I would trust it.Also have an old Recon Scout made from the same steel,no problems.
 
If you intend to hike a lot I would go with the Recon Scout for the weight...
 
What about a machete? They are way cheaper , lighter and can pretty much do the same stuff as these big chunky blades. There are limitations when you start factoring in frozen weather . Not shure how that would work out. But I've seen videos and also tried for myself a machete hasent failed me . I actually did a chop and split off with my bk9 and my condor 18 machete. The machete kicked butt. Just my two cents
 
A San Mail Trailmaster is a thing of beauty.....

TMSMIII005.jpg
 
ive been using trailmasters & recon scouts for years, no problems. i have an sk5 recon scout, it has a nice teflon finish,not the crinkle finish like the carbon v ones. you cant really tell the difference.seems just as tough.either one would be great....
 
Here is a photos of some chopping I did with the SK-5 TM. :)




Comparison Photo of a very Old San Mai III TM with the New Model.
 
Here are another 2 cents of mine:

I'm not trying to take anything away from the trailmaster or busse blades. I love em and if I could afford a busse I would get o e just to have. However here are some links to some YouTube vids about the Ontario 12" 3 mm thick machete. The way this guy sets up this machete you don't really need any other supporting knives it does it all:
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=PVHeKNbRXgc&client=mv-google
and as for chopping into a hard log check out this vid:
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=bcN3ODAmUN0&client=mv-google

and if your unshure about the tougness of a 3mm machete (about 1/3 the weight and thickness of a busse) check this out:
http://www.knifetests.com/ColdSteelKukriMacheteDestructionTest.html

that's a $20 set up with a sheath. How can you beat that?
 
I haven't owned a Recon Scout, but I REALLY miss the CS Trailmaster I traded a couple of months ago. It's one of a few knives I've sold/traded that I wish I had back.
 
snwbrdr202 said:
If you want a knife you can depend upon no matter what, don't get a Cold Steel! Although they are great knives for the money, they are not knives I would personally bet my life on.
Click to expand...
Great knives for the money (and they aren't cheap, so they must be really good then) but you wouldn't bet your life on them?
You have zero experience with them, don't you?

If I could give you one bottom line recommendation, it would be SPEND THE MONEY AND GET A GOOD KNIFE!
Click to expand...
Solid advice. How no one else thought of this, I'll never know. :rolleyes:

Busse Bushwhacker Mistress would be all you need.
Click to expand...
No one's even handled this knife yet. The only thing we do know about it is it costs well over $400. I know, I've got one on order.

I hope [..] I didn't crush your aspirations to become a Cold Steel owner.
Click to expand...
Even though that was the only purpose of your post.

I own the Kabar Heavy Bowie, I own a Trail Master, a Recon Scout and I've ordered a BWM. I own quite a few Busse's beside, an FBMLE being one of them. Not beating my chest, just telling you I can compare. The Kabar heavy bowie that you mention is nothing compared to a Trail Master. And a BWM is 4x the money.

I remember reading numerous review on Blade Forums regarding Cold Steel knives breaking at the ricasso under heavy stress.
Click to expand...
Really? Please show where. I can think of one, and it was a Recon Scout. And I can show you CRK Green Berets that cracked under less. So how relevant is that?

To the OP: There are indeed other good choices to be had for $100. But you need have no worries if you decide to go for a Trail Master, it's an excellent blade.
 
Hard choice between those two. They are both excellent.

But for a hiking knife, I think I'd go for the Recon Scout.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top