I own both of these and while I much prefer the looks of the Husqvarna when it comes time to use an axe I grab the Cold Steel. Anytime one of my friends buys a house I always get them a Trail boss as a housewarming gift. I make a leather sheath for it and put an actual edge on it so you can use it right away.
The trail boss did amazing! Considering the lower price it pretty much matched the performance of the Husky, which matches the performance of much more expensive axes! I thought the Trail Boss did an incredible job. While the Husky narrowly won the round I think the Trail Boss is probably the best value!
I used my cold steel trailboss for the first time, after i got the second one for chopping thick branches. I was so impressed with edge holding ability that i immediately bought two more..wow..beats walmart hatchet and estwing for edge retention
My daughter asked me to get rid of a small tree so i told her to buy me a Cold Steel Trail Boss for the job👍 Cant wait to use it!!🔪🗡️⚔️ Thanks for rhe review.
I've got both of those. I leave the trail boss in my shed and left the Husqvarna in my old jeep. I have misplaced the Husqvarna in the last year or so, but I remember it being quite heavy compared to my Bark River custom aneby's from DLT. They are amazing axes but much more expensive.
Thanks! Have a great day - sorry for the delay in answering the comment. The music was donated by my friend Ian Randall Thornton, you should check him out.
I have the Cold Steel Trail Boss. Excellent Bushcraft and pack axe. And considering that I got it when they were still selling for $30-$35, it’s even harder to go against it. Even saying that, the Husqvarnas, Wetterlings, Granfors, and other Swedish axes just have that classic hand forged look and quality.
Yeah dude, I love them both. I think the Cold Steel is probably the best axe you can get in terms of cost/weight vs utility/versatility. I enjoy how hard the Husky hits and how efficiently it throws chips, and it seems slightly better for felling. But the Trail Boss is a better hiking/expedition/bushcraft pack axe for sure, and any differences between them are honestly pretty small. I would happily use either of them any day! Cheers!
I love axes / hatchets I have about 16 or 17, most except a couple are budget ones lol. Just picked up the cold steel trail boss. I have not used it yet but looks and feels great. I took the varnish off the handle. Might do a few more things to it. Look forward to using it
This test was super close, and I've been really pleased with the Trail Boss. I buy them for my workplace to clear small trees, because they are easier to sharpen than the husky!
Dude, I love your channel! I love axes and to often see axes on reviews and in use that are just to thick behind the edge. Almost every production axe needs thinning to work efficiently. If you don‘t know him yet, ben scott makes quite cool videos on axes and he always grinds them really thin with just a microbevel at the apex.
Hey man, thanks so much for the encouraging comment! I love putting a thin edge on an axe and letting it fly! I’ll check out Ben’s videos, thanks heaps for the recommendation!
My son has sharpened a second knife, he only used the Naniwa Professional Stone, P310, grain 1000. With small metal round plates we determined the angle. For him it took a long time before he had a burr. Always 10 strokes per side until he reached the apex. then 2 times both sides burr and then counting down 9, 8, 7 etc. strokes to 1 which he then repeated. He used the leather strop with 7000 compound and the sharpness came to 93 BESS. I wonder how someone with so little experience can sharpen a knife twice below 100 BESS. I see what I can learn from it. He measures the angle every 3 strokes and always sharpens 1 piece of the knife. It took me years. The apprentice surpasses the master.
@computeronzin Your son has more patience than me. I always go too hard when sharpening. I still get shaving edges but I know they could be far better. I hope he continues that attention to detail.
How rewarding to pass on your skill and patience, that’s so cool. Tell your son congratulations for me! And congrats to you too, well done in teaching him!
I've had an axe on the table here for a while, but was a little hesitant to sharpen it. And it was also not certain at what angle it could be sharpened and whether the wethstone was not damaged too much. Interesting video and really razor sharp axes.
I actually love sharpening axes by hand on bench stones! Almost more than knives (definitely more than machetes!!!) You should give it a try some time! Go ultra fine and finish with some kind of loaded hanging strop is my advice, you need to beef up the edge a bit by micro-convexing to get the best performance. My axes have been pretty tough steel and done fine with a 17 dps edge that’s then convexed a bit. Have fun!
Fair bro, they are both good budget options. These days I would not mind if the Husky was a little lighter and more efficient. I may end up with you in time haha.
All that hard working, while the stars of the show were having lunch on the background. Mooh. Both did pretty well and while the CS has a bigger momentum the Husqvarna has a heavier head and is more precise to handle. Shaving sharp axes, man you could even do food prep with those. You can have a lower hardness on axe's to a certain pint where it'll become to soft for hard wood. What the most desireable hardness is, i don't know. What length is ideal, may vari per person and the length of the arms. Thank you for this part Gabe.
Haha - true story. They are the stars of the show! I fully agree with your thoughts. I think the Husqvarna is slightly more ideal for what I do, but they are very well matched. I’d rather have the Trail Boss on a hike (lighter weight), but felling felt just a hair more efficient on the Husky. Could just be because I have the feel for it though. Take care Jeroen!
I would take the cold steel any day. I have yet to own a Husqvarna that the handle doesn’t come loose after a moderate amount of use. Every damn one! Husqvarna is a garbage axe for the money... id go Cold Steel all day long for the money. They hold up better. The edge doesnt keep as well but id rather sharpen an axe a little more often than have a handle come loose. Buy the Cold Steel.
Interesting! I have not had any problems with the Husky yet - but the Cold Steel is the best bargain axe I have found. I do find that the edge lasts a lot longer on my Husqvarna, but as you've said - that's not all that's important. Cheers.
So I just came across your channel and I did subscribe I see that you have had your hands on quite a few axes and hoping you can help me. I need a small Hatchet 1lb-1.25lb my friend recently bought a gransfors bruks and said he had a lot of edge damage like many people who have bought them axes recently. I bought a 150 dollar helko werks and the blade came out of line of the handle and warped like a rainbow sideways, you don't get what you pay for nowadays! can you refer a small Hatchet in the 1-1.25lb range that has decent Steel and decent build quality. Thanks
Hey Eddie! Good question. It can be rally hard to find a super high quality axe in a lower price range Condor makes really nice axes, but they come so thick behind the edge they feel a bit useless out of the box. I bought a Condor Scout, and thinned it out with a belt sander, then micro-beveled it and I have been pretty pleased with it - though that's a lot of work. If you are willing to take a file or sander to an axe and modify it, Condor is a good option. If you want to pay under $100 USD, have something with decent steel that needs no mods out of the box, and want it in that specific weight range, I'd look into a Morakniv Hatchet with their Boron Steel.
I've also been pleased with the performance of this Husqvarna and Cold Steel, but they are not free of edge misalignment, and they are not as light as you'd like.
Yeah - I'd love to get another Husky or a Gransfors and do another test. I have another series of chop tournaments coming next year with some interesting axes including a Wetterlings!
Cold Steel all day long. I have this one, the Hudson Bay and several others and for the price and quality they can't be beat. There is no reason to pay $100 & on up for an axe or hatchet. I'll take a Cold Steel over a Husky or Gran Fors or any other high end axe or hatchet any day. If you know how to profile and sharpen then properly, they will perform just as well as any on the market
Haha, I had to get the "deer" out of the way. I think they thought that I came bearing gifts/food, so they followed me around all day, and I just about dropped a tree on one or 2 😆 but fortunately I managed to "shoo" them in time. The stuff we put on the stumps is highly concentrated glyphosate (like Roundup). Not the most effective, but if you get it on the stump right away, the pores of the grain carry it into the root and it prevents about 85% of them from re-sprouting, and cuts down on me needing to use spray. It's not the most efficient, but I can scale it to be able to have 5-10 people working at once, and that really helps us get stuff done. Other systems I've tried/heard about (painting stumps, using a pump sprayer, etc...) have more details to go wrong and are difficult to scale/do on a steep hill.
Yeah, I find that too. I do find that the Trail Boss has a thin geometry and it seems to get better with each sharpening. Both in getting a better edge, and better at ejecting chips from the cut-surface, as the edge thickens. But the sharpness, power, and precision, I would still say are a bit better on my Husky.
These two axes are for completely different purposes. A carpenters axe is designed for hewing the side of a tree to make a straight edge. The Cold Steel is a general purpose axe for chopping. It is like comparing a bulldozer against a backhoe. Different things. Also I always thought the profile of an axe for chopping shouldn't be a flat grind as this gets stuck in wood. An edge that is backed by thickness that isn't razor sharp is what I always found is good for chopping. Of course the carpenters axe is different as it is used essentially for carving/hewing.
Hey Steve, thanks for the great comment. I have tons to learn about axes (generally I am a knife guy more than an axe guy). I understand what you're saying, and it's a fair point. Basically I just wanted to test the 2 axes I had lying around. I find that for splitting wood, you definitely want some thickness and being sharp doesn't help much. Cross-grain cutting (or felling, as it were) on hard woods seems to go a lot smoother with a sharp edge in my limited experience. That said, I was genuinely surprised by how the thicker edge on the Husqvarna felt better than the thinner one on the cold steel. I also found I did not like the flat grind. Mostly because it required too steep of angles to fully bite in, but also because it tended to bite deep without dislodging the other chips, and stay wedged firmly in place more often. Cheers bro. If you have any axe style recommendations for my type of work (felling of small brush ranging from super soft to normal-hard wood) I am all ears! Would love to receive ideas from someone who knows what makes different axe designs work, and could taylor-fit me with one that is good for this.
I think you are right overall. I know thin behind the edge is awesome in general, but I have to say that thick convex shaping on the Husky threw chips a lot better in this test than the flat grinds on the CS. It would be interesting to see how the CS Trail Boss performance and feel changes as it is used more and the edge thickens. 🤔
Es usted un irresponsable con la naturaleza. ¿Tuvo que derribar árboles verdes para probar que sus hachas tienen buen filo??? Me indigna su mal trato a la naturaleza.
Hola, gracias para su comentario. De donde esta usted? Vive en Centroamerica en el ano 2007 y me gusta mucho practicar Espanol. Lo siento, no tengo una teclado con los acentos correctos. Me entiendo sus sentimientos, pero hay una malentindido importante. Tengo un grande amor para la naturaleza, y todos los arboles que me corta en todos mis videos estan especies invasivas aqui en Nueva Zelanda. Los nombres de los arboles que me corta estan "Gorse" y "Wooly Nightshade" y tienen muchas espinas o bayas venenosas y dano los arboles nativos. Estoy empleado con una organizacion, y un proyecto que yo facilito es la restoracion de este tierra a solamente especies nativas a Nueva Zelanda. Lo siento para no communicarse estas hechos en mi video, y espero que mi Espanol no es demasiado mal. Thanks.
I own both of these and while I much prefer the looks of the Husqvarna when it comes time to use an axe I grab the Cold Steel. Anytime one of my friends buys a house I always get them a Trail boss as a housewarming gift. I make a leather sheath for it and put an actual edge on it so you can use it right away.
The trail boss did amazing! Considering the lower price it pretty much matched the performance of the Husky, which matches the performance of much more expensive axes!
I thought the Trail Boss did an incredible job. While the Husky narrowly won the round I think the Trail Boss is probably the best value!
Thanks for this video man. Just ordered myself a Trail Boss💪🏻
Yeah, I still like it after a few years!
I used my cold steel trailboss for the first time, after i got the second one for chopping thick branches. I was so impressed with edge holding ability that i immediately bought two more..wow..beats walmart hatchet and estwing for edge retention
Yeah, I bought several for my workplace because they are the best geometry and performance at that low of a price point. An incredible value!
My daughter asked me to get rid of a small tree so i told her to buy me a Cold Steel Trail Boss for the job👍
Cant wait to use it!!🔪🗡️⚔️
Thanks for rhe review.
Enjoy! Mine has stood the test of time well - I like it!
@@adrianfytr35 nice one dad 👌
I've got both of those. I leave the trail boss in my shed and left the Husqvarna in my old jeep. I have misplaced the Husqvarna in the last year or so, but I remember it being quite heavy compared to my Bark River custom aneby's from DLT. They are amazing axes but much more expensive.
Hmmm that sounds fun! I’ll have to check them out. Good to see you around Jesse. Take care mate.
Awesome channel. The music is just AWESOME... I love this style of music... smooth and beautiful.
Thanks! Have a great day - sorry for the delay in answering the comment. The music was donated by my friend Ian Randall Thornton, you should check him out.
I have the Cold Steel Trail Boss. Excellent Bushcraft and pack axe. And considering that I got it when they were still selling for $30-$35, it’s even harder to go against it. Even saying that, the Husqvarnas, Wetterlings, Granfors, and other Swedish axes just have that classic hand forged look and quality.
Yeah dude, I love them both. I think the Cold Steel is probably the best axe you can get in terms of cost/weight vs utility/versatility. I enjoy how hard the Husky hits and how efficiently it throws chips, and it seems slightly better for felling. But the Trail Boss is a better hiking/expedition/bushcraft pack axe for sure, and any differences between them are honestly pretty small.
I would happily use either of them any day!
Cheers!
I love axes / hatchets I have about 16 or 17, most except a couple are budget ones lol. Just picked up the cold steel trail boss. I have not used it yet but looks and feels great. I took the varnish off the handle. Might do a few more things to it. Look forward to using it
This test was super close, and I've been really pleased with the Trail Boss. I buy them for my workplace to clear small trees, because they are easier to sharpen than the husky!
Dude, I love your channel! I love axes and to often see axes on reviews and in use that are just to thick behind the edge. Almost every production axe needs thinning to work efficiently. If you don‘t know him yet, ben scott makes quite cool videos on axes and he always grinds them really thin with just a microbevel at the apex.
Hey man, thanks so much for the encouraging comment! I love putting a thin edge on an axe and letting it fly!
I’ll check out Ben’s videos, thanks heaps for the recommendation!
I have a trail boss and I'll perform a lot of other axes it's been really good to me usually every outing with the Boy Scouts
That's awesome - in later use I have found it to be superbly effective and reliable!
My son has sharpened a second knife, he only used the Naniwa Professional Stone, P310, grain 1000. With small metal round plates we determined the angle.
For him it took a long time before he had a burr. Always 10 strokes per side until he reached the apex. then 2 times both sides burr and then counting down 9, 8, 7 etc. strokes to 1 which he then repeated.
He used the leather strop with 7000 compound and the sharpness came to 93 BESS.
I wonder how someone with so little experience can sharpen a knife twice below 100 BESS.
I see what I can learn from it.
He measures the angle every 3 strokes and always sharpens 1 piece of the knife.
It took me years.
The apprentice surpasses the master.
@computeronzin Your son has more patience than me. I always go too hard when sharpening. I still get shaving edges but I know they could be far better. I hope he continues that attention to detail.
For everything my son does, I say to him: 'You only need One thing and that is patience'
How rewarding to pass on your skill and patience, that’s so cool. Tell your son congratulations for me! And congrats to you too, well done in teaching him!
@@homeslicesharpening He wants to become a world traveler and when he turns 12 he gets a bushcraft knife and a whole survival gear in a big backpack.
@@computeronzin me too 😁
I would guess that the cold still cuts a little better, but the Husqvarna holds its edge longer
I think that's pretty accurate overall. Better depth of cut on the CS. Better edge retention and chip-clearing properties on the Husky!
I've had an axe on the table here for a while, but was a little hesitant to sharpen it. And it was also not certain at what angle it could be sharpened and whether the wethstone was not damaged too much. Interesting video and really razor sharp axes.
I actually love sharpening axes by hand on bench stones! Almost more than knives (definitely more than machetes!!!) You should give it a try some time! Go ultra fine and finish with some kind of loaded hanging strop is my advice, you need to beef up the edge a bit by micro-convexing to get the best performance.
My axes have been pretty tough steel and done fine with a 17 dps edge that’s then convexed a bit.
Have fun!
I like the Trail Boss, I'll go with speed and leverage over weight.
Fair bro, they are both good budget options. These days I would not mind if the Husky was a little lighter and more efficient. I may end up with you in time haha.
All that hard working, while the stars of the show were having lunch on the background. Mooh. Both did pretty well and while the CS has a bigger momentum the Husqvarna has a heavier head and is more precise to handle. Shaving sharp axes, man you could even do food prep with those. You can have a lower hardness on axe's to a certain pint where it'll become to soft for hard wood. What the most desireable hardness is, i don't know. What length is ideal, may vari per person and the length of the arms. Thank you for this part Gabe.
Haha - true story. They are the stars of the show!
I fully agree with your thoughts. I think the Husqvarna is slightly more ideal for what I do, but they are very well matched.
I’d rather have the Trail Boss on a hike (lighter weight), but felling felt just a hair more efficient on the Husky. Could just be because I have the feel for it though.
Take care Jeroen!
I would take the cold steel any day. I have yet to own a Husqvarna that the handle doesn’t come loose after a moderate amount of use. Every damn one! Husqvarna is a garbage axe for the money... id go Cold Steel all day long for the money. They hold up better. The edge doesnt keep as well but id rather sharpen an axe a little more often than have a handle come loose. Buy the Cold Steel.
Interesting! I have not had any problems with the Husky yet - but the Cold Steel is the best bargain axe I have found. I do find that the edge lasts a lot longer on my Husqvarna, but as you've said - that's not all that's important.
Cheers.
So I just came across your channel and I did subscribe I see that you have had your hands on quite a few axes and hoping you can help me. I need a small Hatchet 1lb-1.25lb my friend recently bought a gransfors bruks and said he had a lot of edge damage like many people who have bought them axes recently. I bought a 150 dollar helko werks and the blade came out of line of the handle and warped like a rainbow sideways, you don't get what you pay for nowadays! can you refer a small Hatchet in the 1-1.25lb range that has decent Steel and decent build quality. Thanks
Hey Eddie! Good question. It can be rally hard to find a super high quality axe in a lower price range Condor makes really nice axes, but they come so thick behind the edge they feel a bit useless out of the box.
I bought a Condor Scout, and thinned it out with a belt sander, then micro-beveled it and I have been pretty pleased with it - though that's a lot of work.
If you are willing to take a file or sander to an axe and modify it, Condor is a good option.
If you want to pay under $100 USD, have something with decent steel that needs no mods out of the box, and want it in that specific weight range, I'd look into a Morakniv Hatchet with their Boron Steel.
I've also been pleased with the performance of this Husqvarna and Cold Steel, but they are not free of edge misalignment, and they are not as light as you'd like.
I’ve had the Wetterlings Wildlife Hatchet for 10 years. It’s held up well.
Good testing 👍👍👍👍👍 greetings from Bavaria
Greetings Ralf! Nice to hear from you!
The forest axe from Husqvarna with a length of 65 cm and an head weight of 850 g would maybe have made a better comparsion.
Yeah - I'd love to get another Husky or a Gransfors and do another test. I have another series of chop tournaments coming next year with some interesting axes including a Wetterlings!
Cold Steel all day long. I have this one, the Hudson Bay and several others and for the price and quality they can't be beat. There is no reason to pay $100 & on up for an axe or hatchet. I'll take a Cold Steel over a Husky or Gran Fors or any other high end axe or hatchet any day. If you know how to profile and sharpen then properly, they will perform just as well as any on the market
Nice - how did you profile the Trail Boss for optimal performance?
I take it that you are applying a “growth retardant” to the stumps. How does that work out?
Also like the black and white deer.
Haha, I had to get the "deer" out of the way. I think they thought that I came bearing gifts/food, so they followed me around all day, and I just about dropped a tree on one or 2 😆 but fortunately I managed to "shoo" them in time.
The stuff we put on the stumps is highly concentrated glyphosate (like Roundup). Not the most effective, but if you get it on the stump right away, the pores of the grain carry it into the root and it prevents about 85% of them from re-sprouting, and cuts down on me needing to use spray.
It's not the most efficient, but I can scale it to be able to have 5-10 people working at once, and that really helps us get stuff done. Other systems I've tried/heard about (painting stumps, using a pump sprayer, etc...) have more details to go wrong and are difficult to scale/do on a steep hill.
@@homeslicesharpening where do you get the concentrated glyphosate?
@@patrickkelly8095 a store here called Farmlands.
take the lacquer off the trail boss and oil it, so much better feeling, and man it brings out the grain in that nice hickory
Great idea!!!
Axe fun!
The best kind of fun… IMO 😏
My Husky gets much sharper than my CS Trail Boss.
Yeah, I find that too. I do find that the Trail Boss has a thin geometry and it seems to get better with each sharpening. Both in getting a better edge, and better at ejecting chips from the cut-surface, as the edge thickens. But the sharpness, power, and precision, I would still say are a bit better on my Husky.
These two axes are for completely different purposes. A carpenters axe is designed for hewing the side of a tree to make a straight edge. The Cold Steel is a general purpose axe for chopping. It is like comparing a bulldozer against a backhoe. Different things. Also I always thought the profile of an axe for chopping shouldn't be a flat grind as this gets stuck in wood. An edge that is backed by thickness that isn't razor sharp is what I always found is good for chopping. Of course the carpenters axe is different as it is used essentially for carving/hewing.
Hey Steve, thanks for the great comment. I have tons to learn about axes (generally I am a knife guy more than an axe guy). I understand what you're saying, and it's a fair point.
Basically I just wanted to test the 2 axes I had lying around. I find that for splitting wood, you definitely want some thickness and being sharp doesn't help much. Cross-grain cutting (or felling, as it were) on hard woods seems to go a lot smoother with a sharp edge in my limited experience.
That said, I was genuinely surprised by how the thicker edge on the Husqvarna felt better than the thinner one on the cold steel. I also found I did not like the flat grind. Mostly because it required too steep of angles to fully bite in, but also because it tended to bite deep without dislodging the other chips, and stay wedged firmly in place more often.
Cheers bro. If you have any axe style recommendations for my type of work (felling of small brush ranging from super soft to normal-hard wood) I am all ears! Would love to receive ideas from someone who knows what makes different axe designs work, and could taylor-fit me with one that is good for this.
what music is this ?
My friend Ian made the music:
ianthornton.bandcamp.com/album/lineage
Have a good day! Cheers.
“25 thou”
Is that the edge thickness or yours? Or did I phrase it wrong in the video?
@@homeslicesharpening “25 thou”
My guess is the CS is more efficient, but the Husk has better steel for edge retention. I'm buying one of them soon! (Or maybe a Prandi...🤔)
I think you are right overall. I know thin behind the edge is awesome in general, but I have to say that thick convex shaping on the Husky threw chips a lot better in this test than the flat grinds on the CS.
It would be interesting to see how the CS Trail Boss performance and feel changes as it is used more and the edge thickens. 🤔
Es usted un irresponsable con la naturaleza. ¿Tuvo que derribar árboles verdes para probar que sus hachas tienen buen filo??? Me indigna su mal trato a la naturaleza.
Hola, gracias para su comentario. De donde esta usted? Vive en Centroamerica en el ano 2007 y me gusta mucho practicar Espanol. Lo siento, no tengo una teclado con los acentos correctos.
Me entiendo sus sentimientos, pero hay una malentindido importante. Tengo un grande amor para la naturaleza, y todos los arboles que me corta en todos mis videos estan especies invasivas aqui en Nueva Zelanda. Los nombres de los arboles que me corta estan "Gorse" y "Wooly Nightshade" y tienen muchas espinas o bayas venenosas y dano los arboles nativos.
Estoy empleado con una organizacion, y un proyecto que yo facilito es la restoracion de este tierra a solamente especies nativas a Nueva Zelanda.
Lo siento para no communicarse estas hechos en mi video, y espero que mi Espanol no es demasiado mal.
Thanks.
Try learning to pronounce "Hoosk-Varna" if you want to review their products.
Like a true Scandinavian. All the best.