Breaking blade while batoning

I guess I am glad I only have pine to break up and use. I seriously doubt I will ever break one of my blades in pine after seeing what others do to there blades.
 
Batoning threads, I generally try to stay awar from, most wind up spinning out of control, mostly ego I think. That said, I baton alot of wood. Alot. Mostly firewood that goes in my stove. Yes, I do have an axe, and it lives near the wood pile in the back yard. I like knives and I to baton wood. Right now, my "stove knife" is a Condor Kumunga (thanks Joe). Pulling duty as my stove knife, will tell what a knife capable of, and thats my opinion. I been beating knives through wood, alot longer than it has been popular amongst the survivalist crowd.

I call it the age old art of making big wood, into small wood. I use a knife, mostly large blades, to reduce a 1 big solid piece of wood, into multiple sizes from toothpicks, to wrist sized pieces of wood. Its how I start a fire in my wood burning stove. Takes me about 10 minutes to reduce a 6" x 6" piece of Oak, Hickory, or Ash into a fire. Can I use an axe? You bet. Can I use an axe in my living room? Not if the wife's home. Either way, IMO, its a skill I use alot.

Here's another thing, I don't just baton wood for fires, I use it to make things. Like bowdrill kits. Or digging tools. Or split limbs in half to make a bushbench seating area flatter on my big ass. There are many viable uses for batoning, more so, than bashing it through a 6" log. Its just the log gets all the credit, because it looks more daring and awesome.

Proper batoning technique is something to cultivate, if you plan on batoning wood. Poor technique has led to me breaking 4 knives in my life. 3 Kabar 1217 and 1 handmade Jungle Panawal Kukri from Nepal. Yep, broke a kukri. A big'un. Its a hazard of the skill. I respect my tools, and take care of my tools, but I do use them. I don't say, "Well, if it breaks, I can send it in for new one" but I do say, "Well, if it breaks, I will have to get a new one". Same as I do for shovels. I broke shovels, and didn't take them back to the joint I got them from. No, I wasn't abusing them, I was digging a hole. Things break, nothing lasts forever, though they will last a long time if taken care of.

Sometimes shit happens. This Kabar was the last one that I broke, the blade bounced out of the wood, after I hit it with a baton of wood, bounced off the wall in my living room, and stuck in my left thigh. Went about an inch in, hurt like hell. I still baton wood though, not the knifes fault. And yes, as stated, I do baton wood in my living room to go in my stove.

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But like I said, batoning is also useful for a multitude of skills in the woods, here I am batoning some willow, to make a bowdrill kit. That's not a big chopper I am using either.

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Here's my hot ass wife batoning a BK3 in a competition at one of my gatherings last year. Talk about a knife that was made for it, damn that thing is beast.

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There are many reasons to baton wood. Some may say it stupid, and that's ok with me. EVERYONE is entitled to their opinion, especially guys who own knife companies.:D:thumbup: Mostly because they have to deal with softskulls more than the rest of us.

If you baton a knife through wood. Good for you. If you don't and think its crazy, Good for you too. Discussion and opinions in a good coversation is good thing, just don't get your feathers ruffled, and take it personally when someone disagrees with you.

This post has been brought to you by ESEE and Becker knives. When your steel really matters, buy the best.

Moose
 
Hey Moose, I'm curious about the Ka-Bar's tang, did they all break in the same place? I would imagine that a full height tang would be less likely to break than the rat tail.
And, what were you doing to break that Kukri?
 
R.A.T. said:
Moose, have you ever batoned any wood?
Click to expand...
Yes, a little. Notice the axe in the background? Only one guy at my gathering used it. The rest of us used knives. LOL

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foxx said:
Hey Moose, I'm curious about the Ka-Bar's tang, did they all break in the same place? I would imagine that a full height tang would be less likely to break than the rat tail.
And, what were you doing to break that Kukri?
Click to expand...

Everyone, everytime, same way. That right angle there at the transition is the spot. If I had taken pics of the other two, they would look just like that. When Kabars break batoning, they always break there.

Moose
 
moosez45 said:
the blade bounced out of the wood, after I hit it with a baton of wood, bounced off the wall in my living room, and stuck in my left thigh. Went about an inch in, hurt like hell.
Click to expand...

i've never fainted in my life, but that might do it.
 
I love my BK2, it was so cheap. If he had a showdown with my esee5, it would be tough to determin a winner. Esee wins... Lifetime warranty.
 
OK I feel like I have a real education on this subject at this point.
This is what I have learned...
1) Never baton a Kabar in the living room =)
2) Batoning anything larger then wrist sized sized is dumb
3) Batoning can be spelled 23 different ways

I have only batoned with one of my Izula's and and old Ontario Spec Op knife.
Neither of these are blades that I carry when I go out into the woods. The blades I carry when I go out... a brand new Izula and ESEE-4 that have very little use on them.
If I break the Ontario...well I'll find another beater practice knife, with the way I use the Izula I highly doubt I will ever break it.
 
Dude. My mother runs a dance studio. I've seen a lot of batoning. Some of it involves fire. (yea, i can twirl fire, call me gay but it's GREAT when you're loaded.) I've never seen any of the girls break a knife while doing it... Hell I don't even know how a knife gets involved....
 
My personal favorite are the guys who insist you need a 7+ inch knife for a "survival knife" because with a shorter blade all you can do is knock slices off the outside of larger wood. Then they use their 7" knife to split the wood in half, then quarters, then eighths and end up with pieces the same size as the slivers I could take off with my 4" blade. I love the internet. :D
 
Gee, I don't know. I tried to baton one through a Becker BK-2 and it buggered up the blade a little. Oak may be even tougher on it. Better be careful.;)
 
Some good info here:

http://www.ndt-ed.org/EducationResources/CommunityCollege/Materials/Mechanical/Toughness.htm

"There are several variables that have a profound influence on the toughness of a material. These variables are:

Strain rate (rate of loading)
Temperature
Notch effect

A metal may possess satisfactory toughness under static loads but may fail under dynamic loads or impact. As a rule ductility and, therefore, toughness decrease as the rate of loading increases.

Temperature is the second variable to have a major influence on its toughness. As temperature is lowered, the ductility and toughness also decrease.

The third variable is termed notch effect, has to due with the distribution of stress. A material might display good toughness when the applied stress is uniaxial; but when a multiaxial stress state is produced due to the presence of a notch, the material might not withstand the simultaneous elastic and plastic deformation in the various directions."
 
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