Batoning Large Wood With a Small Blade

[ragingbull]

I just showed my 12yr old daughter how to baton during a camping trip we were on. We needed a fire but because we we caught in a sudden downpour and hail storm all of our wood was we and all of the area wood was wet.

I pulled out a small hunting knife (4 in blade) and proceded to give a lesson on how to start a fire using wet wood. (We did not have an axe becasue you dont bring unnessecary weight when you portage )

Worked great and we had a great fire quickly. Now I got something to have my Scout Troop try on our next survival trek.

While I can see the point of protecting an expensive knife, I have to ask - why did you spend so much money on something to open the mail with, if not to use it as it ws intended?

Personally I have no problem using expensive knifes to baton with. My life is far more valuable that a $500 knife. A Knife is a tool. That's all it is. Some are better than others, but its still a tool. A tool that is at its best when it is doing what is designed to do.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

A lot of knives are more collector items than tools, hence the high priority on aesthetic finish issues on the "high end" pieces. At some point the knife tends to get priced out of being an actual working tool and is more a piece of art which just resembles a knife.

Many tasks like chopping or batoning are also not overly abusive or even demanding if done with correct technique to minimize the impacts/loads on a knife. Of course from a survival perspective this isn't an ideal selection criteria hence why most survival equipmentin general has durability a high priority.

-Cliff