Batoning

D

Danno4017

Joined
Jan 8, 2007
Messages
893
I hope you don't all shoot me down.
I have never heard of this term before I joined this forum, maybe its an American thing?
I get into the Aussie Bush a fair bit.
I can usually get kindling to start a fire that can be hand snapped. Bigger peices can be thrown straight on, anything that is harder or bigger than I can snap usually means a small axe.
I have never thought of hitting my knife or even my machete with a lump of wood to force it though a large branch.
I can stamp snap dry timber up to a reasonable thickness, any bigger and the chopper comes out.
Maybe its me................
 
But Ashtxsniper I love my knive to much to beat the crap out of them :(
Now the Axe.. he can go get :grumpy:
 
All I have ever done was wear the finish off of them but no damage whatsoever. Buy you another for this purpose. Something cheap but quality and wack away.
 
It's a technique used to split wood with your knife. You don't have a need if you carry a small axe, but there are those who prefer to carry a large blade knife in place of an axe or hatchett. I'm more of a hatchett guy myself. Yet, there are times only my knife is in my possession while hiking, ect. Can be useful...
 
Danno4017 said:
I hope you don't all shoot me down.
I have never heard of this term before I joined this forum, maybe its an American thing?
I get into the Aussie Bush a fair bit.
I can usually get kindling to start a fire that can be hand snapped. Bigger peices can be thrown straight on, anything that is harder or bigger than I can snap usually means a small axe.
I have never thought of hitting my knife or even my machete with a lump of wood to force it though a large branch.
I can stamp snap dry timber up to a reasonable thickness, any bigger and the chopper comes out.
Maybe its me................
Click to expand...

I agree. I personally have never had the need or desire to baton. To be fair though, there is a lot of dead wood laying around the woods I frequent so finding what you need has never been a problem.
 
Danno4017 said:
I hope you don't all shoot me down.
I have never heard of this term before I joined this forum, maybe its an American thing?
Click to expand...


Maybe it's a north woods thing? In the desert southwest where I have done all my hiking and camping, finding dry wood is not an issue. (The issue is, "Is there wood at all.") I had never heard of the term before joining the forums.
 
I've tried to buy survival knives that could be batoned, which mostly means that they have a clean spine and are strong enough to take the beating. I look at it it as a technique to back up my other choices, like knowing how to make and use a fire bow, but not my primary means of making a fire.

If you can find wood that will burn without further cutting and splitting, there's no need to expose yourself to the risk of injury, damage your tools, and burn food calories-- build a fire and get warm and dry!
 
I live in an area that sees anywhere from 30 to 60 inches of rain per year, not concentrated to one "wet" season, but rather spread over the whole calendar. Finding dry wood, or more importantly, dry tinder, can be a real challenge. Sometimes you can find wht you need close to the trunks of large trees with thich canopies. Other times, in order to find anything dry to start a fire with, you have to split wood to get to the dry interior.

Hopefully this helps a little bit.

-- FLIX
 
I've never heard of batoning until coming to this forum either. It isn't something that I want to do routinely, but since I frequently hike with just a fixed blade (no hatchet) it's something that has gotten my interest. I haven't had a chance to play around with the technique yet, but I mean to in the near future (once my #$@#%# house remodel is done).

It's just one more skill that one can rely on, if necessary.
 
A relatively new thing for me ever since exposure to the outdoor forums.

Here in my country, a "bigger" knife (i.e.- wider and longer than 5" blade capable of chopping) or a wide, bolo-shaped blades could always be found strapped around the waists of the rural folk and farmers. They're far more capable of chopping rather than battoning with a smaller knife. Hence, these smaller knives are often paired with an axe.

Different strokes for different folks I suppose.
 
Yep, I agree with the OP. It can be fun, but batoning is essentially a case of using the wrong tool for the job.

But then again, that is what survival is all about - making do with the equipment you have on you when a difficult situation presents itself. Its not something I do regularly, but its definitely a skill worth having.
 
I just love knives and would rather carry one tool when I'm out. besides, batoning is fun and a good skill to learn.
 
In PA I don't recall ever batonning anything out of necessity. Dry wood is usually there for the collecting.

Rainy season in Brazil is another matter. I use the technique to get dry fuel, kindling, and tinder from the interior of seasoned wood. It is very useful in very wet, long term soaked, conditions.

It is good to know how to get the most out of your small fixed blade knife for taking down saplings (for lack of a better tool). Batonning is a handy technique to make clean splits of wood for small bushcraft projects, traps etc.

It has its place, use as needed. Mac
 
There is a very real need for Batoning in situations where ALL the wood you have is wet.

Then the ONLY CHANCE you got is to open up a very large log and hope that in the very middle you find some wood that is dry.
 
This is really a "survival skill" that is designed for situations where no other tools or options are available.

It does work well for fire building in wet conditions, or when dry kindling isnt readily available, I use it more to practice, just as i light fires with ferro rods, even though I have a Bic and matches on me.
 
I had never heard the term "batoning" before joining this forum, but I had done it a few times when in a pinch. It's not my preferred method of splitting wood, I usually have a hatchet or a kukri for that, but it's a good skill to have as a backup in case something happens to your chopper. And honestly, I've had to do it with the kukri a couple of times when I tried to bite off something bigger than it could chew, or hit a hidden knot in the wood I was splitting. . . It just seemed so much easier to pound it the rest of the way through rather that try to pull it back out.
 
The skill can also be used to fabricate wooden implements in the wild.

Your wooden built tools and implements will be a lot stronger if they are split from the center grains of trees, rather than using a small branch.

It a good way to get a relatively straight, strong piece of wood.
Split away the outer softer wood, and get down into the denser tougher interior grain.

Would you rather be hit on the head with a 2 inch diameter tree branch, or a 2x2 piece of ash or oak heartwood? :eek:
 
I've always thought about it as a Canadian thing, after reading some of Mors's books. I carry a knife big enough that I don't have to baton - I just chop!
 
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