Batoning - how much is too much?

Grease

Grease

Joined
May 10, 2012
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Apparently not this much :D

That's about 8 inches of long-dead and very dried out pine.
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This first couple inches on the outside weren't too bad...
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But it got tough in the middle.
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Victory!
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That's a thick tree! And I just batoned through it :eek:
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golf clap bud, you are one determined mofo...id have got sick of it and grabbed a saw :D
 
My axe, hatchet, chainsaw, bowsaw, or pet beaver will do it much quicker with no chance of injury to me or my knife.
 
I saw up to 3" diameter wood with my Barca Laplander folding saw. Then use my baton with my 4.5" knife to split into kindling.
 
Years of camping, hunting and canoeing and never heard of batoning until I came here. My grandfather was a professional scout master, my father and uncles eagle scouts, and my other grandfather a hard core country boy and do it yourself type and never once engaged in this activity or mentioned it. Knives were for cutting, axes and wedges were for splitting, and camp saws did the sawing. This is also why I fail to understand the 'hard use' mentality. I was taught to protect tools and only use them as intended. I've dressed plenty of deer, cleaned fish on rocks on the shore, prepared wood for fires in a driving rain, and chopped my way through an overgrown trail. However, I've never broken a knife or seen a knife broken during any outdoor activity, nor have I chipped out a blade.

That's not to say people can't enjoy pounding away with their knives however they see fit. If your hobby is splitting logs with knives, I say have at it. It's just not something that I see that I'd ever need to do.
 
Last winter I had a hip replacement at the same time we moved into a new place with a small wood stove. Since I couldn't swing an axe I had to baton logs to start fires every morning. Never hurt any of my knives and its actually pretty quick. It does have its place and I'm glad I learned about it on here.... Otherwise it would have been a tough winter.
 
GatorFlash1 said:
My axe, hatchet, chainsaw, bowsaw, or pet beaver will do it much quicker with no chance of injury to me or my knife.
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Yeah, I know. I really just wanted to do it so I could say I did it. :p

Not sure about the hatchet though. A kukri and a baton should be about equal to a good hatchet...

Cyo said:
That's not to say people can't enjoy pounding away with their knives however they see fit. If your hobby is splitting logs with knives, I say have at it. It's just not something that I see that I'd ever need to do.
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I certainly wouldn't try that with any of my other knives (except maybe my Esee-5, on smaller logs...) Kukris just scream "chop with me! I want to be an axe!"
 
I find the whole controversy about batonning terribly amusing. Not since "carbon vs. stainless" or perhaps "large knife vs. axe" has such a simple topic caused so much polarization and chest-thumping on both sides.

It flat-out works if done right, it can be disastrous if done wrong. Why so many people take it so personally, I will never understand.
 
i also had never heard of it until joining here a couple years back and while its not ideal, it does work. not something id do with many of my knives, but i will admit ive spent many evenings with my Beckers splitting wood for the firepit in the front yard. i like how i can sit in a lawn chair and casually pound away without too much effort while participating in "fireside chat". aside from my old school stepdad, most folks dont pay much attention to what im doing, as long i keep the fire burning.
he is also one of the "you need an axe to split wood" type, but evidently Jim has became interested in trying it out as well...one afternoon this summer i caught him in the yard with my BK2 giving it a try LOL... maybe i'll get the guy a couple Beckers for Christmas, hes already got enough axes/hatchets and splitting mauls.:D
 
james terrio said:
I find the whole controversy about batonning terribly amusing. Not since "carbon vs. stainless" or perhaps "large knife vs. axe" has such a simple topic caused so much polarization and chest-thumping on both sides.

It flat-out works if done right, it can be disastrous if done wrong. Why so many people take it so personally, I will never understand.
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I don't either.

If it's needed it can be done, kinda like walking compared to driving, people can walk if they want to rather than drive.

It's all about choices.

It's not a new thing either, the concept of splitting wood has been around for a VERY long time.
 
Batoning is like messing around with your buddy's gf. You might get away with it...for a while.
 
Batoning is done WITH the grain ,NOT cross grain !!! Cross grain is abuse !
Batoning folders is ABUSE !!
You can break a perfectly fine knife by batoning improperly !

Cyo is right -respect your tools ,take good care of them ,don't abuse them. Learn the proper way to use them !!
 
OP - Always thought you batoned to split the log, not chop it?

Regardless, the only time I have batoned a log was to prove a point. I took a partial tang Mora 760 MG and batoned a log just to prove that you don't need a 1/4" thick tree-beater to do it. In all my time in the woods I have never been in a situation where I had to baton a log. Not saying it isn't necessary, just that I've never needed it. I look at knowing how to baton logs as just another tool in the toolbox.
 
Everyone is free to bushcraft however they like. It's a free country. :D Personally, I consider batonning one of those bushcraft skills like turning a pant leg into a filter with layers of moss, sand, and pebbles and peeing in it to get consumable liquid: a skill that I know about and which could save my life, but which I'd prefer not to do. A small axe and/or folding saw processes wood very well.
 
mete said:
Batoning is done WITH the grain ,NOT cross grain !!! Cross grain is abuse !
Batoning folders is ABUSE !!
You can break a perfectly fine knife by batoning improperly !

Cyo is right -respect your tools ,take good care of them ,don't abuse them. Learn the proper way to use them !!
Click to expand...

I agree with the folders, and that this is not really batoning. However, I don't see how batoning should be considered abuse for fixed blades. Especially when I have asked the custom knife makers if they considered batoning abuse - and they don't. And if I broke one of the production knives batoning, they'd be replaced. Batoning isn't abusive if done properly. I really don't see why it's such a controversial topic.
 
Nice to try as a one-time experiment, but way the hell too much work for me. :)
Denis
 
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