Trailmaster Or Junglas?

L

Lover of Blades

Joined
Nov 9, 2010
Messages
197
Hey, guys, thanks for looking.

I'm mainly looking for a chopping/wood-splitting knife. This will be my main wood-processing tool when I'm out backpacking. The money isn't a huge issue, because it's really only like $10 difference or so. Also, the sheaths are semi-comparable, considering the Trailmaster now comes with Secure-Ex.

My main point of contention is how much better the Trailmaster splits wood than the Junglas will. I don't care so much about chopping, as I'll have my Sven/Sawvivor with me (once I get one), it's mostly a difference on splitting. Is it a big difference between the two? Using the Becker knives, I know that 3/16 will split wood decently, but some people say that the Trailmaster just blasts wood apart.

I have an ESEE-6, and I'm in love with their quality, and their reliability, but CS's warranty is 100% as well, as far as the stuff I'd be doing. I also would like to not have anyone tell me to buy the Junglas just because their love of ESEE is clouding their judgment (that's what may be happening to me - hence why I'm asking you!)

Anyway, if you guys could give me a pros-cons list of why you feel one of the knives is better, then I'd be grateful. Thank you.
 
Old Carbon V trailmaster or New trailmaster from Taiwan? That would decide it for me. I haven't touched the Junglas yet so I can't comment.
 
I have the Carbon V Trailmaster and I've handled the Junglas, but don't have one. On the basis of appearance I prefer the Trailmaster. If I was a camper [I hate camping] I'd get the Junglas because it's definitely a bigger,heavier knife and I would assume it would be better for those boring, mundane, tedious camping chores. I bought one of the last Spyderco Foresters for a very good price and was going to make that my woods knife [I do like hiking...did I mention I hate camping?] but it's such a beautifully made knife I'm somewhat reluctant to do rough stuff with it. I'm also just starting to realize what great steel it's made of. N690Co is what Extrema Ratio uses for some [or all, I'm not sure] of their very pricy knives.
 
This is what you need:

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Forget those other "girly man" knives and get a real blade ... Becker BK 9 (lol)

All kidding aside, for half the price you get a H3LL of a knife.

But you can't go wrong with the ESEE either.
 
I don't think the CS Warranty is the same as ESEE warranty. Check that out.

I own a Trailmaster in Carbon V and I own a RTAK II (don't own a Junglas). They both do an excellent job of splitting. I happen to like the look and feel of the RTAK better so that's what I use more often.
 
I would prefer the Carbon V trailmaster, it is the one the reputation of the model is based on in my opinion. I have no interest in the newer version. Since that is unavailable now, I would default to ESEE.
 
Kru03 said:
I don't think the CS Warranty is the same as ESEE warranty. Check that out.

I own a Trailmaster in Carbon V and I own a RTAK II (don't own a Junglas). They both do an excellent job of splitting. I happen to like the look and feel of the RTAK better so that's what I use more often.
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I thought CS warranties for 5 years plus they need to see receipt??
I don’t think CS is more forthcoming than ESEE when it comes to warranty.
 
aahhh the junglas, one of my faves. buy it and it will be one of your faves too, i promise. i have battoned hard wood while camping in 12 degrees with a wind chill of 0, and it just wanted more.and the wood was frozen solid. also if you break it esee will give you another one.
 
Yeah, I looked up CS's warranty and they were pretty generic.

"The Cold Steel warranty does not cover:

normal wear-and-tear
misuse, or abuse..." Enough said, it's already not as good as ESEE once it said "does not cover". :)
 
I would buy a Junglas for these reasons:

1) Steel - Rowen 1095 is extremely tough, this would be a closer comparison if CS were using Carbon V still, but the current Trailmaster is lacking in the steel department, and with a big knife the quality of the steel matters more.

2)Warranty - ESEE vs CS...Its almost a comical comparison.

3)Handle - Micarta is where its at.

The old trailmasters are good knives, I'd love to own one someday, the new ones are not as good of a blade, and in the areas where it really counts on a bigger knife. They could have made the new one uglier and it would still be good enough for me, but they kicked it right in the steel. :eek:

Don't forget to look at the Becker too.
 
ESEE's warranty is much better; they'll repair anything. ESEE CS is best in the business, CS CS is the worst (compared to their main competitors like Kershaw, BM, and Spyderco, too). Also, they're individually numbered and the handles are hand-fitted to each blade (perfect fit). I'm not an ESEE fanboy or Cold Steel hate mongerer, but looking objectively at the kind of products each puts out relative to the competition, I can't help but like ESEE and avoid CS.
 
If I was forced to choose from those two I'd take the CS. I hate the ESEE handles.

For a bombproof fixed blade with a no BS warranty you might look at Scrapyard Knives. The Dogfather blows both of these out of the water IMO.
 
I would say the Trailmaster for camp use, the thickness will excel at wood splitting. It's a proven knife. Or you could save up and get a Dogfather or Battle Rat!
 
ElectrikHellfire said:
If I was forced to choose from those two I'd take the CS. I hate the ESEE handles.

For a bombproof fixed blade with a no BS warranty you might look at Scrapyard Knives. The Dogfather blows both of these out of the water IMO.
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you may be right - I'd love to have a DF to compare to my Junglas.
Unfortunately, the DF was a limited run and is out of production - and it's getting tough to find one on the exchange for a decent price.
 
Little Green Men said:
I would say the Trailmaster for camp use, the thickness will excel at wood splitting. It's a proven knife. Or you could save up and get a Dogfather or Battle Rat!
Click to expand...

I have difficulty spending that much on a knife when there are so many lower-priced options that can achieve the same thing, they just do it a bit worse. While I have no doubts as to the efficiency and bad-ass-ed-ness of the DF and the BMs, I don't think I'll be shelling out that much for a knife. I mean, is it going to do it 2 or 3 times better than the Junglas? I don't think so. But I do think they are some of the coolest-looking blades around.

"I wish I could get Busses for $10." That's what my friend and I always say. Haha. We're sixteen, we can dream, can't we?
 
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