Thanks everyone for the posts. A couple of points thus far:
The small log was indeed the baton for hammering the knife through thelog and the knife was never hit with steel. Most of the hits were on the front of the blade protruding from the log while the user helped push the blade through. This is not an unreasonable method of splitting wood in fact it is the preferred method taught to students at USAF survival school. I should know because I went through the school.
The knives they use vary but none are custom, usually just a cheap Camillus USAF survival knife. When I went through I used an Ontario Navy MK 3 dive knife which performed admirably doing the same tasks i.e. being hammered through a log to split it. Granted the temp was around 30º and not 5º but the instructors gave no caveats regarding temperature nor should they have. I've also used standard Kabar Marine Combat knives similarly in identical conditions and experienced no failures. And after the CS Recon Scout snapped in our Becker 9" and Kabar Next Gen knives continued to serve faithfully spitting the remaining wood for the fire. These are tasks that should be easily performed by a tool touted as a tough survival/combat knife and many like the Kabars and Beckers have done so faithfully, plain and simple.
The point is that if you're carring a hammer then you should carry a hand axe instead. Like C.E. said "A man gots to know his limitations" or that of his tools.
This entirely misses the point. Fire making skills taught with a axe or hatchet aren't survival skills so much as they are camping skills. When you are day packing into the backcountry, driving in a remote area, or flying over bad guy territory (military) and find yourself stranded what kind of tools will you have with you? Are you saying you will have carried an axe with you in the
eventuality that you might need a fire?! I doubt it and I often see this attitude from people who don't backpack or venture into the woods very often (car campers). Weight is always a consideration especially when carrying preparedness supplies you probably won't need on the average hike. A survival knife
can be carried without breaking your back and, unlike a 2-3 lb axe, and is more versatile in purpose. In additon to the knives, we also used a 10 oz
Sawvivor backpack saw to cut down a 40' dead fir tree that we split with the knives. This saw is compact and light and very effective at cutting logs in two. It, like a good survival blade, is a realistic tool that you can incorporate into your system.
The purpose of this survival instruction to these youth (and leaders) is to choose tools that are likely to have with them (habits) and get some real world training with them so as to solidify skills and build confidence. This is the purpose of these campouts with these youth. After the fire making seminars,both classroom and outdoor campouts, we'll do shelter building.
Incidentally, I told the boys that they
could bring whatever fire tools they wanted on these campouts with one caveat: whatever they are they had to bring the tools with them on
every hike we do, including day hikes (because part of the training is building habit patterns). Most figured out real quick carrying 6 lbs of tools (in addition to clothing, tent, slpg bag, food, fuel, stove, lighting, first aid, etc) 5 miles into the backcountry sucks and they paired it down to two knives: one large survival blade and a SAK.
Ahhh, experience is always the best teacher.
Also
Peoria46 says that this was a failure of planning and not of the tool. What?! I'm not sure what thread you read but re-read the original post. We had several backup blades and multiple preparations to deal with any eventualities. We were just fine because of our redundancy in preparation. But the point was made that a failure like this
could have led to a survival situation made worse by the tool's failure. While day hiking or flying over enemy territory
I personally haven't made a practice of carrying two knives in case one fails nor will I. Your single large survival blade should last not snap in two. You should have confidence in it.
The points of the sharp corners contributing to the failure of the Recon Scout are well taken and I agree that form a weak juncture with their 90º angles. Also maybe this one was a lemon. I also own a Recon Scout and have used it hard down to only about 35ºF. I'm just saying if my life depends on my blade, and it could it some situations, and it's winter, the CS Recon will get left at home. It's replacement will be a Fallkniven A2 on its way. I'm going with that knife for it's supposed toughness and its rust resistance which will be advantageous. Keeping the Beckers and Recons rust free while snow camping is tough.
Again, I'm not anti-Cold Steel but I am anti-failure. In their catalog CS says of their Recon Scout,
"We believe the Recon Scout® is the strongest, toughest, 7 1/2 combat knife in the world." My experience shows this a bit off the mark.
