"Batoning"

The fact is that you can get most wood without ever batoning, if there is plenty of dead fall, however, if you need to get to dry wood, there is only one way. Here is a very very old video, go to the 5 min 20 second mark if you do not want to watch the whole thing. That guy in the video knows more than the entire forum you visited.

 
Cobalt said:
Any large chopper style knife that isn't strong enough for batoning, isn't worth the sheath it is sold in.

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Photoshopped lol :eek::p











JK ;)
 
My Trash 2 is used to baton all firewood. Most of the time that is what it is used for. A few licks on the ceramic stick and leather strop and it's back to very sharp. Plan to baton with it this weekend. Might try the INFI dog soldier 8 and see how it compares to the Trash 2 for batoning

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I've batoned the heck out of my DTBM and I have 100% faith that I'm never going to hurt it doing that job. After the first initial whack the sides of the blade do the brunt of the work and the edge doesn't really even touch the wood.
 
I do batoning not for fun but purely for practical reasons. I have two fire places (and no other form of heating). I buy hardwood offcuts from the local sawmill by the trailer load and split them into 'large kindling' size pieces. I exclusively use large knives to process it, because it's the most effective and the safest way. If there was a better way I'd do it, but the fact is a knife is the best tool for this particular job. I use most of the large busse and kin I own for this task, on rotation. Lots of very knotty wood. Not one problem ever. Batoning is good ! :thumbsup:
 
My DTBM was my first fixed blade (and therefore my first Busse) and I wanted to put it through the wringer. I did some "hard use" chopping and batoning on some 2x8s and logs, and the only time the edge would get damaged was when I would hit a nail or accidentally hit the ground. For the most part, the edge was virtually the same before and after. Obviously it's not a good idea to put folders through that much abuse, but I couldn't see someone breaking a Busse this way. Even if you did, you'd get a shiny new one under warranty :D
 
On a 20 plus degree bevel I would never worry about hurting any quality knife batoning it, especially the edge. I would be more concerned about the quality of the tang as your beating it through a tough log.
 
I tried something with my Boss Jack LE recently. Totally not necessary but it worked.
I think it is important to hold the handle quite loose when beating the back of the blade. That way the tang gets much less stress.

But usually I just baton small wood to get pinky-size pieces.

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And yes, it worked! But the Boss Jack did not shave any more :O
 
When you baton, to do it right, you got to ease up on the handle so that when you hit the spine of the blade, the handle rises up. Then you push down on the handle to reset the knife to a horizontal position. Then you hit the spine of the knife towards the belly and tip and you let the handle rise up again.

It wouldn't matter with INFI very much I'd hazard, but you want to avoid forcing the tension to the mid point of the blade where the tang starts. Let the handle rise and the whole blade takes the shock.

Most folks will be well served by crafting a wedge and then starting the cut with the knife before placing the wedge to baton through. This will avoid knife contact with dirt and rock.

The most important thing is to make sure the edge is straight on there so you aren't beating it sideways and putting lateral stress on edge.

My name is panthera and I approve this message.
 
I would imagine that's why so many baton on top of a block, to minimize ground contact
 
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