Batoning?

JTC said:
Where would a guy find wood that has been cut with a chainsaw in the woods in a “survival situation”? The odds of finding wood that is 6 or 8 inches in diameter with perfectly cut ends just laying around on the trail is highly
unlikely.That’s what makes most exercises of that type not relevant in my opinion.
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If you have just a knife they wouldn’t be eight inches in diameter but you can baton wood with edges that aren’t uniform as you’d find if the log was cut to length by batoning cross grain. Best option is knife and pruning saw.

Hickory n steel said:
There are some extremely safe techniques that can be used with a hatchet which again make it the superior choice for the job it was designed to do.

I feel batoning is simply a choice, you either want to do it or you don't.
There's really no reason one can't be sure to have at least a mini hatchet with them like the Vaughan supersportsman with them, that thing will fit in my pocket.

I really don't get why people are so hung up on the idea that they'll end up in the woods with just their knife and Altoids survival tin or something.
I know I'll never end up stuck in the woods without an axe or hatchet of some kind.
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I really don’t get why anyone in the 21st century, with all the options available, still chooses to lug an axe around. I guess we’ll just have to stare at each other while scratching our heads. :D

Silky and a robust 3 inch fixed blade for me but that’s just winter. The saw stays home the rest of the year. In the summer it’s just a single folder. Still “surviving.”:D
 
I've used all my camping knives to baton/process fire wood. Better tools for the job? Maybe. I like to know the knife I'm hiking around with will be reliable if that's the only tool I have on me. That said, I use a saw when I can. It's more efficient.

How many of you would load ammo that you've never shot/tested into your carry gun? Kinda the same concept. There's peace of mind knowing that if I ever needed to use my knife to baton that I could. Same as if I ever needed to use my gun. Will I ever be in a situation when I need to? Probably (hopefully) not, BUT knowing that it'll work is a good thing.

Some of the YT "reviews" are over the top and just for fun. I mean, do you think Cold Steel would sell as many knives as they do if they didn't do some of the ridiculous tests they do? It's for entertainment and to sell product.
 
Cold steel does make some strong stuff lol.

Id feel confident batoning wood with my recon 1
 
The fortunate. Thing about battoning is that I seldom carry just the one knife while hiking.

Besides, when properly done it generates zero stress on the knife. The. Again, I seldom see a need to baton anything bigger than 2-4 inches.

N2s
 
I always wonder at the sort of fantasy 'survival' scenarios that people must think of when they suggest that one may end up x hundred kilometers away from civilisation, lost, and ONLY have a knife (whatever the model) on them. Bushplane crash like in Edge (the movie) or in Hatchet (the book)? Happens every day at the office. If you venture out into the wild deliberately, hiking, skiing or snowshoeing say, you will likely have a lot more than just a single knife with you.

If you are processing a serious quantity of wood, usually for a hearth in a house, I'd guess most of us would have a small arsenal of cutting, sawing and splitting tools at hand. It then becomes a question of preferred technique once you get down to smaller sizes of wood - swinging an axe or hatchet or tapping on a knife. By then we are no longer talking about splitting tree-sized stuff. Nor about 'wilderness survival' unless you live deep in Alaska in a log cabin at three days by snowscooter from the nearest settlement and you need that huge stack of prepared firewood to get through an arctic winter. Even then, it's yard work. Not very romantic. ;-)
 
What we really need to see are some cheerleaders knifing with a baton!

I wonder if over on the cheerleader equipment forums they are talking about which baton can be best used as a weapon should the opposing team's mascot get too frisky. This feller looks prepared for any wood headed his way...

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Batoning is to bushcraft folks what stabbing car doors is to tactical folks.
They are both silly. A hatchet/tomahawk/axe is cheap and more effective, and they arent that heavy. People just want to do crazy tests to see if their knife can handle it. Im fine with it, people can do what they want, just dont go sending your knife back to the company for a replacement. If you break it, you buy it. Personally I dont do any of that sort of thing, I just use knives to..ya know..cut things. Crazy, I know. Thats just my 2 cents.
 
Mrs_Esterhouse said:
If anyone finds themselves batoning firewood with a pocket knife outside of a survival situation, you're using the wrong tool for the job.

Pardon me while I park my Subaru, finish an IPA and start batoning a log with my Sebenza. :confused:
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But do you have your $1000 "bushcraft" axe? Those Instagram pics aren't going to take themselves too.
 
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