Cold Steel Trail Boss Quality/Axe for Car

[wwang27]

Hi guys,

Hope you're all well. I'm looking into purchasing an axe to keep in the trunk of my car. I came across many videos saying the cold steel trail boss is a good axe for the money. However, I've also run into reports of the head loosening very quickly with use.

Does anyone have any experience with the trailboss and can attest to its quality or lack of? Any recommendations for an affordable, yet decent quality general purpose axe?

 

[Drop bear]

A hultafors adgor (which is their budget line) in whatever shape you want. Is about the same money.

 

[Jabrni]

I have a Trailboss in my truck for the same purpose. Been packed for several years and used once to access my house…left keys in the house and power went out. Worked great and was cheap. I’ll definitely buy another and eventually re-hang both. Wranglestar has a good video on the Trailboss…just fyi.

 

[A.L.]

If it's going to be sitting in you car I would go with something simple and easy maintenance such as Fiskars.

 

[wwang27]

I have a Trailboss in my truck for the same purpose. Been packed for several years and used once to access my house…left keys in the house and power went out. Worked great and was cheap. I’ll definitely buy another and eventually re-hang both. Wranglestar has a good video on the Trailboss…just fyi.

By the looks of it, rehanging shouldn't be too difficult, just need the right tools.

 

[wwang27]

A hultafors adgor (which is their budget line) in whatever shape you want. Is about the same money.

Looks like a very nice axe, but it's still above my price range. Trailboss is only 40 bucks or so.

 

[DocJD]

head loosening very quickly with use.

Estwing campers axe 26" , solid steel one-piece , never a problem !

 

[wwang27]

Estwing campers axe 26" , solid steel one-piece , never a problem !

I’ve seen good reviews for it. Might grab that at some point too. Good old USA made

 

[Pirate63]

I use a CS Trail Boss around my property and it has perform well for me. Good bang for the buck.

 

[Brent Halverson]

The "cold steel trail boss:" looks like a piece of junk just from it's design, let alone whatever quality issues it may have. It's design is a trendy fashionable one to appeal to neophytes and hipsters whom style is more important than function. Go to a yard sale this spring and buy an old USA made axe for $5 and throw it in your trunk. If the head gets loose then hammer another wedge in it. If you do not like the length of the handle cut it off with any hand saw that is laying around to the length you desire.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

The "cold steel trail boss:" looks like a piece of junk just from it's design, let alone whatever quality issues it may have. It's design is a trendy fashionable one to appeal to neophytes and hipsters whom style is more important than function. Go to a yard sale this spring and buy an old USA made axe for $5 and throw it in your trunk. If the head gets loose then hammer another wedge in it. If you do not like the length of the handle cut it off with any hand saw that is laying around to the length you desire.

It's a traditional German/Austrian "Rhineland pattern". To call it "trendy" and for "neophytes and hipsters" is either completely unserious or ignorant. If you don't care for it that's fine, but this response is not the flex you seem to think it is.

 

[Brent Halverson]

It's a traditional German/Austrian "Rhineland pattern". To call it "trendy" and for "neophytes and hipsters" is either completely unserious or ignorant. If you don't care for it that's fine, but this response is not the flex you seem to think it is.

Sure, hipsters love to talk about the exotic history of their purchases and what makes thier axe so great and unique compared to the norm. There is a reason that this pattern of axe was not in the catalogs of USA axe manufacturers in the 19th and 20th centuries, they are not as good as the ones that were, the ones that are laying around in the tens of thousands at yard sales that can be had for pocket-change. Reaching for some oddball, overpriced tool with trendy styling instead of picking up an old proven USA made axe from the 20th century for a fraction of the cost is what would fit the definition of ignorant infinitely better right? LOOOOOOOOOL

 

[beeinak]

I love my GB forest axe, but I always have an Estwing in vehicle or pack on ATV or snowmachines. They may not be as nice or efficient as some, but knowing how tough they are is comforting when miles from a road in the cold. The rubber grip is very nice as well. There are different sizes at very fair prices.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Sure, hipsters love to talk about the exotic history of their purchases and what makes thier axe so great and unique compared to the norm. There is a reason that this pattern of axe was not in the catalogs of USA axe manufacturers in the 19th and 20th centuries, they are not as good as the ones that were, the ones that are laying around in the tens of thousands at yard sales that can be had for pocket-change. Reaching for some oddball, overpriced tool with trendy styling instead of picking up an old proven USA made axe from the 20th century for a fraction of the cost is what would fit the definition of ignorant infinitely better right? LOOOOOOOOOL

I am 10,000% certain you're either a hardcore troll or have no clue what you're talking about.

Having used a large range of global axe styles and spent a lot of time studying global tool trade history, there's a huge degree of functional overlap between different patterns, and the Rhineland pattern is STILL the most common form of axe in much of Europe thanks to them being produced not only for local usage but also for regional export. Vintage Rhineland pattern Oxhead brand axes are quite frequently found in much of Canada, where they were imported in quite large quantities and bought by real axe users. Again, you can simply say "I don't care for that style for my needs" and leave it at that instead of taking this kind of specious elitist angle.

The reason they weren't in 19th and 20th century catalogs is because Austria and Germany had (and still have) a large and thriving tool forging industry and was a market that US manufacturers weren't well positioned to take advantage of. We mostly focused on exporting to Canada and Latin America, and our export models to Latin America were all...guess what...Latin American patterns of Spanish and Portuguese lineage. American axe makers made the axes their customers wanted, to suit. We sold SOME tools to European nations, but mostly the UK and Nordic nations where we already had ships going to bring back raw steel and iron bar stock from which many of the tools were made.

 

[sodak]

I felled a small elm (about 20 ft, 8 inch dia), and used my Trail Boss for both bucking and limbing. For me, for small tasks, it's a Goldilock size. I have smaller Gransfors and Wetterlings, and a large felling axe as well. The size and profile of the Trail Boss worked well for me, and I'm very happy with it.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

One of my closest friends bought one a few years ago and had me sharpen it and do some mild handle work on it. This particular one was just a wee bit on the soft side, but not to a degree that matters to 99 percent of end users, and certainly no worse than many Councils I've had pass through my hands. I did take it out and chop with it for a bit and found nothing wanting in it.

That being said, for the stated purpose, I think I'd be more inclined towards an Eswing or a Fiskars. I've restored and sold about...150 or so axes and tomahawks here in Alaska. I've had about seven of them come back to me with loose handles that I KNOW were properly hung. One guy brought back 4-5 in one fell swoop with loose heads. I was out of town for a couple weeks, came back to find each of them tight and secure as could be. It turned out that he had stored his axes very high on a shelf. right in front of his forced air furnace vent. They had shrank up due to heat and dryness, then swelled back after sitting in my unheated shop for a week or two.

For an axe that is gunna be in a "just in case" role, where it will go through several climate changes and basically be left alone until needed, I think I'd choose a not wood handle. Granted, some states may not have quite as radical temperature and humidity swings as Alaska


Unless you want to spend a few weeks haunting garage sales, pawn shops, etc. use a drill, file, sanding block, saw, wire brush, naval jelly, wire wheel, angle grinder, can of BLO etc. that you may or may not own to take on the endeavor that you may or may not be interested in and spend several hours that you may or may not have to restore what is at the end of the day a simple wood processing tool rather than spending $50 or so at the hardware store to prove that you're not a hipster or a noob...

 

[jbmonkey]

I can't imagine any hipster buying a cold steel axe........

 

[Pirate63]

The "cold steel trail boss:" looks like a piece of junk just from it's design, let alone whatever quality issues it may have. It's design is a trendy fashionable one to appeal to neophytes and hipsters whom style is more important than function. Go to a yard sale this spring and buy an old USA made axe for $5 and throw it in your trunk. If the head gets loose then hammer another wedge in it. If you do not like the length of the handle cut it off with any hand saw that is laying around to the length you desire.

Absolutely not true.
I am 66 years old and have been an avid woodsman/outdoorsman/hunter/hiker my whole life, and about as far from being a hipster or trendy as a person can be; and certainly not new (neophyte) to anything that can be used to cut, slice, saw or chop and is discussed on this forum. The cold steel trail boss while a little rough, which can be easily smoothed out, is a solid serviceable axe especially for the low price point.