What would be your choice for the better all around/camp/outdoors knife out of JUST THESE TWO? And why?
I own both. While I'd keep the Junglas-II if I could only keep one, the LS would be the more sensible "all arounder" IMO just because of its size and blade profile. A) I'm partial to Kephart knives and until the PR4 dropped, the LS was our token Kephart for the ESEE lineup. It's the reason I bought it. B) I fashioned a Baldric rig for the J2 to carry it. It just made sense to me. I normally have a .357 on my strong side so I really don't want to add an additional pound of steel to it. My LS rides scout carry with a Tek Lok, but the drop leg adapter that mine came with works well too and keeps it out of the way of a handgun. Either way I don't have to reposition 14" of knife everytime I take a seat around the campfire like I would do with the J2 on my belt. Just my 2¢.
I want to say laser strike but I have never seen a j2 in person to make a fair comparison. I don't really like to chop with a knife, so I prefer to carry a knife a little smaller. I normally have a machete or axe nearby if I need to chop something. The laser strike is one of the most comfortable original ESEE's to me. It seems like the LS is one of the least popular ESEE's, but the people who like it really like it a lot.
I'm the sole vote for the baby Junglas. It might not be a fantastic knife when it comes to small or detailed jobs, but it can handle the big jobs much better than the LS will be able to. So that's my vote if I had to have only one blade.
I've got both and I have more use on the Junglas II than the LS but I think if it were one or the other I'd go with the J2 - think it covers a bit more of the jack of all trades should it be needed for some heavier/bigger work while still being able to handle the smaller stuff, albeit it not excelling at it.
Junglas 2 all day!! Smaller knife cannot do what a bigger knife can. Go Junglas 2 and never look back