Batoning with a rock?

chopchop said:
It sounds like in this instance, Bear was batoning bamboo. Maybe all of the "wood" available was bamboo? In which case, I would think a bamboo baton isn't going to last very long.
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Well if you are batoning bamboo with a bamboo baton, which will last longer, the piece getting banged into the edge or the piece getting banged onto the spine ;)

Christof's recommendation to wrap the rock with a shirt or the panties from a cheerleader seem like a good compromise to the whole scenario. Mind you, if you can't find wood to baton with, how are you ever going to find a cheerleader too borrow panties from :rolleyes:
 
kgd said:
Well if you are batoning bamboo with a bamboo baton, which will last longer, the piece getting banged into the edge or the piece getting banged onto the spine ;)
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So you're saying I should only use a rock when I'm batoning a rock? :D
 
protourist said:
So, is this a bash Bear Grylls thread or a W&SS thread?
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In order to qualify as the latter, the former is almost required, at least once his name comes up. ;)

MustardMan said:
I dislike Bear as much as the next guy, but I agree with a handful of posters here who have stated that some of ya'll are WAY too quick to jump to conclusions that using a rock is always an incredibly stupid idea.
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It may not be conclusive, but it is evidence in that direction. :D

I saw Mike Vellekamp batoning his U.L.U. folder at a Sportsmen's Show, and while the knife stood up to it, I saw it more as a stunt to sell the knife.

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(Obviously, it worked. :))

In an emergency, my tools could be critical to my survival. I wouldn't treat them in such a manner unless it was absolutely necessary and no alternative method was available.
 
I've done it once. It'll work in a pinch, but a small, tough baton would works way better. I tryed it when I first started batoning and I wound up just blunting my tip and scuffing my spine pretty bad.
 
:confused: It seems lie to me that batoning with a rock would damage the knives spine. I would only do this in a life-or-death survival situation.:confused:
 
In high desert the only woody plants we have are really just sagebrush-neither which needs battoning nor lends itself to batton with. It's so dry and scraggly you can peel it into pieces with your fingers. I'd never batton with a rock, you risk damaging the spine, the edge etc.
 
I've done it before when I was trying to break a machete I made. I also used a rock hammer and a small sledge hammer. As far as I can tell, if the knife is even moderately decent quality (at least made of some sort of steel) the only damage is mushrooming of the spine, which in most cases is cosmetic. If you have wood to baton, I don't see why you couldn't find a wood baton as well. I suppose if you're really in a rush?
 
The bottom line as I see it is, whatever I need to do to survive, I'll do. Survival comes first, nothing matters to me if I'm dead.
 
My question is:
Would people who use a rock to baton thru wood use wood to baton thru a rock? :confused:
 
I've used a rock multi times on my buck Pathfinder to split the pelvis on a buck I was gutting. Where I hunt rocks are plentiful and trees scarce. It has put marks into the spine of the knife but it worked well. Now being older and having more expensive knives I now use a hatchet. My weatherby 30-06 with it's beautiful wood stock has many scratches and gouges from crawling on my belly hunting. I would never sell it as shoots straight and is a tool for my sport and if I need baton with a rock and only have a $200 knife on my belt I would use it, that's what I bought if for. Only poorly made tools should fear the rock.
 
high desert said:
I've used a rock multi times on my buck Pathfinder to split the pelvis on a buck I was gutting. Where I hunt rocks are plentiful and trees scarce. It has put marks into the spine of the knife but it worked well. Now being older and having more expensive knives I now use a hatchet.
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Okay, i'm coming out right now and stating, absolutely.

DO NOT BATON MY KNIVES WITH A HATCHET!!!!






:D :D
 
I have used a rock, piece of pipe, hammer, what every I had to use, both in testing knives as well as when I had to. It was my choice and goal to provide knives that can be depended on - absolutely.

If the blade is differentially hardened and tempered with hard use in mine, it will have a soft back that will simply mushroom. When you get home grind, file or sand the side clean.

A fully hardened blade can throw steel chips your way, be sure to wear glasses or close your eyes when you strike the knife.
 
Thanks Mr. Fowler for your input and making an blade that will hold up no matter what. Indeed you gotta test them out before they go out.

Two days ago I forged myself an blade, and after the temper cycles I used the horn of my anvil to beat the hell out of the blade's spine. It is an good sized 6" blade that is differentially tempered and all calamity that the blade came away with is slight mushrooming as Mr. Fowler described. Easily sanded away if it is visually an blight.

Indeed Mr. Fowler is correct in that the blade must be counted on absolutely.

Of course an heavy stick will provide for an more comfortable and efficient baton than an rock, but hey, sometimes an rock may be all than is availible. If the blade I'm carrying wont survive from an bit of rockage than it's time to get an new blade.

While hardrock mining I carry an RIGID made 10" rap wrench. It gets used for all manner of extreme and unholy duty in an very harsh environment. In an outside environ I view the blade in much the same way. It's an tool I carry for tasks to accomplish. If it is an tool that won't hold up or cannot be used for real world work than I really don't need to be carrying it.

Life is short, use those tools gear you own as when you die it'll be sold off or inherited by someone who really won't appreciate it anyway.
 
oldpinecricker said:
Thanks Mr. Fowler for your input and making an blade that will hold up no matter what. Indeed you gotta test them out before they go out.

Two days ago I forged myself an blade, and after the temper cycles I used the horn of my anvil to beat the hell out of the blade's spine. It is an good sized 6" blade that is differentially tempered and all calamity that the blade came away with is slight mushrooming as Mr. Fowler described. Easily sanded away if it is visually an blight.

Indeed Mr. Fowler is correct in that the blade must be counted on absolutely.

Of course an heavy stick will provide for an more comfortable and efficient baton than an rock, but hey, sometimes an rock may be all than is availible. If the blade I'm carrying wont survive from an bit of rockage than it's time to get an new blade.

While hardrock mining I carry an RIGID made 10" rap wrench. It gets used for all manner of extreme and unholy duty in an very harsh environment. In an outside environ I view the blade in much the same way. It's an tool I carry for tasks to accomplish. If it is an tool that won't hold up or cannot be used for real world work than I really don't need to be carrying it.

Life is short, use those tools gear you own as when you die it'll be sold off or inherited by someone who really won't appreciate it anyway.
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exactly.

i've batonned fixed blades and a buck 110 with a rock because that was the only or best implement available. i'll do it anytime and in non life and death situations if i can't find a proper piece of wood to use. and yeah, the spines of those knives aren't mint anymore, boo hoo...i guess they're not safe queens anymore.

and that buck 110 is still a great every day utility knife, in spite of its nicked spine...
 
I personally saw a guy break two blades in about tem minutes by hitting the blade with a rock while field dressing big game. A Buck 110 and a Case folding hunter, Therefore I know it can be done, if you are depending on that knife , be carefull what you hit the blade with.

Don't get me wrong, It is no shin off of my nose if you want to hit your knife blade with a rock BUT it can produce chips that can fly into your eye, or leave you with a bladeless knife so make it easy on yourself. I do pride myself in being smarter than my knife and most rocks.:) I will find a better way.
 
Those who Baton a Knife with a Rock, can they ever hear enough of that Cowbell Sound. :D

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Not I
And the only ones of any quality that I've seen break are on Youtube and the guy pounds them into dry wood, cross grain with a small sledge hammer. Not exactly a "normal" survival use.
I would do it if I couldn't think of another way, but I'd feel like an idiot the whole time wondering if I'd get away with it. If the blade is a milder steel like 1070 vs something along the lines of D2 it may hold up to the shock of heavy pounding, but the structure of the steel would determine how much shock loading it will take before breaking. One part of this I've considered is using a "softer" steel but subjecting it to Cryogenic treatment. It should hold an edge better but the structure should be such that it wouldn't be brittle.
 
myright said:
So I've noticed time and time again that Bear Grylls uses a rock to baton with. I know it's Bear and all and we all have our opinions of him but my question is has anyone actually done this before? What kind of damage occurs to the knife and what situation would warrant actually using a rock?
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The key here is landing that Corporate Knife Maker Sponsorship.

You'll not only throw away your Blades, you'll never have to sharpen anything again. :D

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The key to the dependability of a knife in any situation is: Ask the maker if he personally testes his knives, what the limits are, about his guarantee is and Thank him for being honest with you.
 
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