I'm new here...why does every fixed blade knife have to be a star at batoning?

OCEquestrian

OCEquestrian

Joined
Jan 22, 2023
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It seems like batoning is the standard by which all fixed blade knives are judged by. Why is that? I use a axe or hatchet for that. It seems that a lot of knife nuts are wanna be survivalists just like many guns nut seem to be wanna be "operators".
 
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It's not, and we're not.
Outside of my workplace, I'm more likely to have a fixed blade (and a traditional) than a modern folder. I have never batoned with the majority of my fixed blades...but I will also admit to having acquired an appreciation for the practice (with the right knives). From a safety standpoint, there's something to be said for not swinging a sharp object at a small, possibly unstable target.

There's also batoning "the right way" - using a reasonable sized hardwood baton to split straight-grained pieces of relatively small diameter wood (safe and energy conserving); and batoning "the wrong way" - using heavy logs (or a small sledge) to split large diameter, knotted up logs (less safe, energy consuming, risk of damage).
 
I have never batoned a knife, so it certainly isn't the standard I judge a fixed blade knife by. And I don't waste my time watching You tube reviewers that do. I would Baton my hatchet through a piece of wood, before I would baton my knife. The hatchet doesn't always have to be swung.

O.B.
 
I have knives that baton and knives that do not. I used my 4" fixed blade to baton some wood for a pair of city folk at an outdoor restaurant this last fall. It doesn't have to be a bad situation to use a good skill. Now if I had been carrying a decent hatchet I may have gotten a few looks. It was humorous to baton some pieces and start the fire with my Ferro rod. This lady was try to light a log on fire with a lighter. Got the lighter hot enough I was concerned it might start to melt. I had the LT wright on me at the time. But all 3 baton just fine.
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OCEquestrian said:
It seems like batoning is the standard by which all fixed blade knives are judged by. Why is that? I use a axe or hatched for that. It seems that every knife nut is a wanna be survivalist just like every gun nut seems to be a wanna be "operator".
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It is just a test medium. There is no need to read more into it than that. Dead trees just happen to be more handy than human corpses or pig carcasses, and cleaning up is far easier.

I find it more informative than stabbing vehicle sheet metal.

n2s
 
I believe only camp and bushcraft knives are sometimes held to that standard. Overwhelming majority of fixed blades not made to be batoned. If you're only going to have 1 knife for an extended period of time, it's good to be multi purpose and good to be able to handle a beating.
 
There’s always a temptation to want the “do everything” knife. Building a knife with that capability isn’t a big challenge either- any big dumb oaf can over-build a knife.

I don’t baton. I would if I had to, and I’ve tried it out, but I don’t see “having to” in the realm of possibilities either. Yet when I’m looking at a knife in the back of my mind is “could I?”. It’s not why I buy a knife, but the idea is insidious.

As for the “survival guy” thing- I think it prevails because that’s where the knife shines. Most of us, and I hate to say this, could probably manage like the rest of those unfortunate souls who don’t carry knives in our day-to-day (if you call that living). In the woods a knife becomes a helpful tool. In a survival situation it becomes indispensable. Add in the fact that “self reliance” is an attractive concept, and knife guys would probably find survival situations a fun thing to study.

“Survival guy” doesn’t bother me very much- sells a lot of gear you probably don’t need but if you watch enough YouTube you can learn some neat things… some of which might be a life-saver, who knows? Pretty harmless.
 
OCEquestrian said:
It seems like batoning is the standard by which all fixed blade knives are judged by. Why is that? I use a axe or hatched for that. It seems that every knife nut is a wanna be survivalist just like every gun nut seems to be a wanna be "operator".
Click to expand...

The funny part is, batoning only makes sense if you have precut firewood. Not exactly a survivalist situation.

It's not black and white, though. I do baton - with a dedicated 10" bladed knife with broad spine. Axe and chain saw are usually nearby. Batoning with anything shorter is a PITA.

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And what about all these beautiful swedges ? If batoning would be a pass/fail criteria, I'd have to skip them ....

i-NFWxTBj-X2.jpg
 
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OCEquestrian said:
It seems like batoning is the standard by which all fixed blade knives are judged by. Why is that? I use a axe or hatched for that. It seems that every knife nut is a wanna be survivalist just like every gun nut seems to be a wanna be "operator".
Click to expand...
Those written or pictured situations tend to stand out more, especially to those who don’t subscribe to them.
I‘ ll tap a slit with a fixed blade, then baton with a hawk. The hawk won‘t jump around.
It just seems safer than swinging the hawk, especially sitting by the fire.
I can’t bring myself to baton solely with a knife, that’s not what they’re for.
 
I also keep a BK-9 around for turning pallet boards into solo stove (#10 can size) friendly pieces. I like to keep a 5 gallon bucket of them for instant gratification fires. Bk-9 is a lot easier and safer than a hatchet in that situation. A little rubber mallet makes the process super easy and no swinging a blade around
 
Well, I don't know about batoning, but a 104 is excellent for slicing hard cheeses, a 105 is great at chopping harder stem veggies like broccoli or slicing ripe tomatoes, and a 102 can break down a bowl of spuds in no time. I probably use the 104 the most, but they all make great kitchen knives. They're perfect when you need a utility knife because a chef's knife would be a mite big for the job. 305 for scale (actually that's just an excuse for me to take it out of my pocket and chicken-eye it a bit).

IMG_2060.jpeg
 
I baton most times I build a fire because I have to make my tinder, kindling, and fuel all from the same sticks and branches I scavenge alongside the road. I have yet to try it with a hollow ground knife that is clearly not well suited to that purpose, but I would do it if I didn't have a better tool available. Most of my batoning and end splitting is done with an ESEE 6. I am confident it can handle what I do with it. I do use Buck 110 or similar to carve feather sticks for tinder, though!

One stick fires are challenging and really good practice for learning the essentials of building fires successfully. If you can make a fire with one stick, a knife, and a ferro rod, then you have much better chances of success when you have more forgiving materials available as well as under adverse conditions. And it's fun!
 
I don't know why, but it seems the same people always have the same tests for their knives.
If a knife breaks when you pound on it it's junk.
Stab the tip into a log and pry, if it snaps it's junk.
Whack the spine of a folder on a table, if it folds on you it's junk.

It's like the guy who went to the doctor.

Doc: does it hurt when I do this ?

Patient: yes !

Doc : then don't do that !
 
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