Trailmaster - 1st Gen or not?

[DrMom]

I posted a pic of my Trail Master awhile back, and Mr. Lauffer told me this:

"That one is a 1st gen style Trail Master (model #16JS), and it is also 400 Series Stainless...it is also from the late 80's to early 90's.
With the Trail Masters, they are often referred to as Gen 1 or Gen 2, and this refers to the end of the blade near the guard...the Gen 1's have a little "nub" that sticks out, while the Gen 2's don't."

but someone sent this message to me today:
"Cold Steel has never made a knife. They pay other knife companies to make their knives. The first knives that Cold Steel had made were made by Camillus in the US. And the model was the Trailmaster. And it used Carbon V steel which is what Camillus used for all their knives. Trailmasters made in Japan and made out of stainless steel came much later and we're not as coveted by collectors."

So....when experts disagree (and I know absolutely nothing), how do I know if I'm representing the knife correctly? Or does it not matter?

For reference, this is my description on ebay:
BEAUTIFUL Trail Master
COLD STEEL Fixed Blade TRAIL MASTER 1st Generation #JS16 with leather sheath. No box.
"TRAIL MASTER" on one side of blade.
"COLD STEEL, INC - Ventura, Calif. - Made in Japan" on other side of blade.
Circa early 1990s.

 

[jlauffer]

I posted a pic of my Trail Master awhile back, and Mr. Lauffer told me this:

"That one is a 1st gen style Trail Master (model #16JS), and it is also 400 Series Stainless...it is also from the late 80's to early 90's.
With the Trail Masters, they are often referred to as Gen 1 or Gen 2, and this refers to the end of the blade near the guard...the Gen 1's have a little "nub" that sticks out, while the Gen 2's don't."

but someone sent this message to me today:
"Cold Steel has never made a knife. They pay other knife companies to make their knives. The first knives that Cold Steel had made were made by Camillus in the US. And the model was the Trailmaster. And it used Carbon V steel which is what Camillus used for all their knives. Trailmasters made in Japan and made out of stainless steel came much later and we're not as coveted by collectors."

So....when experts disagree (and I know absolutely nothing), how do I know if I'm representing the knife correctly? Or does it not matter?

For reference, this is my description on ebay:
BEAUTIFUL Trail Master
COLD STEEL Fixed Blade TRAIL MASTER 1st Generation #JS16 with leather sheath. No box.
"TRAIL MASTER" on one side of blade.
"COLD STEEL, INC - Ventura, Calif. - Made in Japan" on other side of blade.
Circa early 1990s.

They are correct that CS doesn't actually manufacture their own knives. But they are incorrect about the timeframe of the Japan Trail Masters. They may be thinking of the San Mai III laminated stainless version, which did come out in the late 90's (and has only ever been the Gen 2 style). But the regular stainless version started earlier, and as such, there has been both Gen 1 and Gen 2 versions. They may also be surprised to know that there were Carbon V Trail Masters that were made in Japan...they weren't all made by Camillus in the US.

All that said, your description is fine, except the model number should be 16JS rather than JS16. If that person doesn't want to believe it, oh well.

 

[KenHash]

Dr Mom, what jlauffer stated is absolutely correct. Your ebay description is fine other than the JS16 being backwards.
Too many self appointed experts out there. lol

 

[DrMom]

It's funny how they don't even seem interested in buying - just in "helping" me by pointing out my supposed mistakes. Oh well - thanks for the clarification!