Batoning with a knife

I live in New England and heat with wood. I burn at least five cords of wood a winter. It is almost all hard wood. I also buck, split and stack it all myself. Lots of it is scavanged wood and wood I haul out of the woods. I obviously use a chainsaw and a maul and not a knife. A knife is not the best tool for the job. Nobody is saying that knives are the optimal tool for processing wood. That would be silly.

Lots of people say that you should bring an axe or hatchet in the woods for those duties when recreating. Usually an axe weighs at least 4 pounds and a hatchet weighs at least 2 pounds. A large thick knife suitable for batonning (like a bk9) weighs maybe 1 pound. When bringing the axe or hatchet you should still be bringing a knife too so that is more weight on top of those tools. I have been packing weight through the woods for years and weight adds up. The axe and hatchet just add too much weight for me since I am almost always working out of a pack. A saw and a large knife can do what I need. In the winter I will bring the more capable tools.

I have not broken a knife yet batonning but I don't over do it. I don't find that it dulls my knives that much and I find sharpening knives with pocket stones easy. A pocket stone weighs much less than a hatchet.
 
I can get how some appreciate a knife stout enough that they can leave the hatchet behind. Myself, I don't have a fixed blade. My main outdoorsy blade is a Buck 110 which seems to play the role of backup to my SAK. Anyway I'll use a small hatchet as I just feel more comfortable using a big hunk of steel to bang into a log. I just can't get comfortable with banging a slim piece of steel against a log. I know there are knives designed for the rigors of batoning, but having worked a lot around machinery and seeing tools break and chunks flying, I was really fighting instinct when I tried out batonning with a friends knife. It all comes down to how much you can trust your equipment. I trust a hatchet for wood processing. As far a splitting logs, I've rarely done that. Use my SAK to make some shavings to get a fire started, and then put in the smaller pieces of wood I've found then add the larger. No log splitting required.
 
I had never heard of batoning until I came to BF. Most of my camping has been off of motorcycles, sometimes in remote locations, but never in way back country. I seldom see an axe in camp; considerations of weight and space discourage most guys from bringing one.

We rely on found kindling and the "desert candle". Cut the top off a beer can and fill it about halfway with gasoline. It will burn for a long time, with enough heat to dry most wet wood. No splittng, no shavings. I have blades I can baton with, but it is purely for amusement.
 
W. Anderson said:
I am about to sound really, really ignorant.

With that said:

If you have managed to render down wood small enough to baton into even smaller chunks, it seems that you must have a better tool for the job, lest you wouldn't have been able to get them that small enough to be able to baton futher in the first place?

i.e.

You have some chunks of wood you need to baton down with a knife...

..well how did you get those chunks from that branch, log, or tree?

...I assume with a tool that would be better suited for rendering than a knife and log for 'batonning'???

I've done a lot of living in the woods and swamp since the mid 2000,s and have never battoned. Granted that my wheelhouse is urban...ah..er...squatting (have fun with that, with the disclaimer that it is based on the lessons of a former, more fun lifestyle) I just have not been able to wrap my head around this phenomena.

Thanks for reading.


Edited to add, I have batonned with a hatchet, using it as a wedge, but never with a knife
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In an axeless or sawless situation you can break thick branches to length and use a knife to make a wooden wedge that you insert into a scored line in the log. After reducing it in this manner at least once, you can then readily baton the wood to appropriate kindling thickness with great precision. In a home wood processing scenario the aforementioned billhook does a good job of precisely splitting the right size of kindling from stove length logs.
 
bearfacedkiller said:
I live in New England and heat with wood. I burn at least five cords of wood a winter. It is almost all hard wood. I also buck, split and stack it all myself. Lots of it is scavanged wood and wood I haul out of the woods. I obviously use a chainsaw and a maul and not a knife. A knife is not the best tool for the job. Nobody is saying that knives are the optimal tool for processing wood. That would be silly.

Lots of people say that you should bring an axe or hatchet in the woods for those duties when recreating. Usually an axe weighs at least 4 pounds and a hatchet weighs at least 2 pounds. A large thick knife suitable for batonning (like a bk9) weighs maybe 1 pound. When bringing the axe or hatchet you should still be bringing a knife too so that is more weight on top of those tools. I have been packing weight through the woods for years and weight adds up. The axe and hatchet just add too much weight for me since I am almost always working out of a pack. A saw and a large knife can do what I need. In the winter I will bring the more capable tools.

I have not broken a knife yet batonning but I don't over do it. I don't find that it dulls my knives that much and I find sharpening knives with pocket stones easy. A pocket stone weighs much less than a hatchet.
Click to expand...
Pretty much the way I would approach things and why the hatchet and axe gets left at home. Processing wood for home use (heating) is a whole different ballgame in terms of tools and their effectiveness. The same would apply to a "permanent camp" where you would likely have a broader range of wood processing tools available to you. It also depends on how you would normally carry/transport the tools to the site.
 
Went camping on Lake Lanier and due to the rain we planned ahead and had to buy firewood. In order to make kindling, I batoned 1 log into about 12-15 pieces in about 5 minutes. Fire started with pine straw and kindling in another 2-3 minutes. Got home after the weekend, cleaned knife, still razor sharp.

The reason I batoned with my knife? Fine control over the splitting of each piece of wood with well placed strikes on back of knife. Didn't even have to strike hard just taps to keep blade moving through wood.
 
Again, batoning is all about proper wood selection (size, density, knots etc.) and proper technique (keep the knife straight, don't try cutting large pieces down the middle-work around the log, etc.). If these steps are followed, all should go well. :thumbsup: If not, :poop:.
 
W. Anderson said:
I am about to sound really, really ignorant.

With that said:

If you have managed to render down wood small enough to baton into even smaller chunks, it seems that you must have a better tool for the job, lest you wouldn't have been able to get them that small enough to be able to baton futher in the first place?

i.e.

You have some chunks of wood you need to baton down with a knife...

..well how did you get those chunks from that branch, log, or tree?

...I assume with a tool that would be better suited for rendering than a knife and log for 'batonning'???

I've done a lot of living in the woods and swamp since the mid 2000,s and have never battoned. Granted that my wheelhouse is urban...ah..er...squatting (have fun with that, with the disclaimer that it is based on the lessons of a former, more fun lifestyle) I just have not been able to wrap my head around this phenomena.

Thanks for reading.


Edited to add, I have batonned with a hatchet, using it as a wedge, but never with a knife
Click to expand...
What city? I'm about to drop out again myself, getting ready to drop out of the rat race again, better prepared this time
 
stabman said:
Well, when we had county-wide flooding, my brother and I headed to the woods.
I was wearing a leather jacket, cotton cargo pants, and a cotton t-shirt, because I buy knives, not rain gear. ;)

We had the shelter in place in a about a half hour due to me chopping the poles.
We had fire despite torrential rain, due to splitting wood under the shelter, and planning the fire.

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Good luck doing that without splitting wood, and good luck doing it quickly while fiddling around with wedges.
And I wish you REALLY good luck if you try breaking the knife I made and had with me...it just ain't gonna happen. :D

Now sure, the "better way" to get warmth and some shelter would be to stay at home...but what fun is that?
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That rostro looks familiar; you got a youtube channel?
 
Shoot, if it's cold enough I'll forget about a fire altogether and just dig my way into a bear cave for warmth
 
Yonose said:
No fire=no "to baton or not to baton" debate! Just snuggle up to a sleeping bear
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I believe the question was

Greevil Alcatraz said:
Haven't post for a long while.
And i have a silly question.
Does the force of batoning usually greater than steel's fatigue limit?
Anyone who studied physics and love knives can answer my silly question?
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Not entirely sure what your bear theory has to do with that. Seems like a chatty thread jack, but, no doubt I am just missing the connection.

I'll add that its probably more of a question of "stress risers" and technique. The most common break point during batonning is at the join between the blade and handle, and it is caused by batonning with the point higher than the handle. Keep the point lower than the handle, and just about any knife (even a folder) will be batonnable (?)
 
marcinek said:
Maybe you have something to add about the topic, then?

I'm sure we, including the OP who asked the question, would all like to hear your take on it! :thumbsup:
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And stop ridiculing someone who admits when he has done something wrong, as we all do from time to time
 
Yonose said:
What city? I'm about to drop out again myself, getting ready to drop out of the rat race again, better prepared this time
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Currently Fargo, ND. That's gonna have to change before mid-October though...

I call Southeast Louisiana home, probably heading back. If you haven't seen New Orleans, man...

I get around.
 
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