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

Batoning has its place as has been stated, such as needing to get to dry wood while needing a fire in rain/snow, and it is generally safer than using an axe in situations like being very cold/tired. A knife being able to baton is not how I choose what I carry, however many of my favorite knives can take it if need be.
 
I learned about batonning from reading Mors Kochsanski's books. I usually use it with smaller fixed blades to reduce smallish wood to kindling for cooking s'mores for my kids. Done properly, it's much safer IMO then chopping with a hatchet. And small knives such as Moras work fine.

So as far as I'm concerned, pretty much any knife, especially fixed blades, can baton with the proper technique. It's not something I ever consider when looking for a knife.
 
Arathol said:
I don't know see a hatchet would be more dangerous......
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Usually you can set the knife on the wood you are wanting to split, and strike the blade with another piece of wood with less dexterity or coordination than actually swinging a hatchet.
I am not speaking for anyone else, but when my hands or body are very cold and wet, my coordination is not as good as when warmer. When I am tired or cold and using a hatchet, I prefer to kneel down to limit the possibility of swinging recklessly and hitting a leg or foot.
 
beeinak said:
Usually you can set the knife on the wood you are wanting to split, and strike the blade with another piece of wood with less dexterity or coordination than actually swinging a hatchet.
I am not speaking for anyone else, but when my hands or body are very cold and wet, my coordination is not as good as when warmer. When I am tired or cold and using a hatchet, I prefer to kneel down to limit the possibility of swinging recklessly and hitting a leg or foot.
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Hmmmm......
Hold knife in hand > hit knife with stick
Hold hatchet in hand > hit hatchet with stick
Whats the difference? Why does everyone just assume that you have to swing a hatchet to make it work? I have split plenty of wood with a small hatchet without swinging it once.....
 
Arathol said:
Hmmmm......
Hold knife in hand > hit knife with stick
Hold hatchet in hand > hit hatchet with stick
Whats the difference? Why does everyone just assume that you have to swing a hatchet to make it work? I have split plenty of wood with a small hatchet without swinging it once.....
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I guess you are splitting really thin sticks or boards to be hitting the hatchet head, since I doubt you are striking the shaft. I was just trying to answer your comment about why it is likely safer. I use a hatchet to make kindling out of lumber scraps and spruce/birch smaller rounds or larger quarters, but never baton one. I frequently get the edge set and then raise the hatchet with the wood and bring it down. To each his own.
Edit: Oh- I also like to use hatchets for peeling bark from dead spruce to not mess with my draw knives so not all I do with them is swinging them
 
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beeinak said:
I guess you are splitting really thin sticks or boards to be hitting the hatchet head, since I doubt you are striking the shaft. I was just trying to answer your comment about why it is likely safer. I use a hatchet to make kindling out of lumber scraps and spruce/birch smaller rounds or larger quarters, but never baton one. I frequently get the edge set and then raise the hatchet with the wood and bring it down. To each his own.
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No, just use the hatchet as if it were a splitting wedge with a handle. Use the same size stick to hit it with as you would a knife. Its quite easy, and better than using a knife....
 
I wood totally batoning in a survival situation, in which I woodn't let myself get into, therefore never. In such case, the knife is lighter while providing reasonable usages for a wide variety of task slightly better than an hatchet.

Just saying, some of these skill are considered by Canadian Rangers (reserve military wildlife patrol).
 
Arathol said:
No, just use the hatchet as if it were a splitting wedge with a handle. Use the same size stick to hit it with as you would a knife. Its quite easy, and better than using a knife....
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Kind of like using the knife like a splitting wedge with a handle? I guess I fail to see the difference if your end result is the same. It's splitting kindling, not rocket science.
 
Arathol said:
No, just use the hatchet as if it were a splitting wedge with a handle. Use the same size stick to hit it with as you would a knife. Its quite easy, and better than using a knife....
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Limiting the striking to the depth of a hatchet head is much shallower (and narrower) than a wedge which may limit the length of what you are splitting. I am not arguing with you, simply noting that for some people and situations a variety of techniques may be better than just one. Stay safe.
 
Wild Willie said:
Kind of like using the knife like a splitting wedge with a handle? I guess I fail to see the difference if your end result is the same. It's splitting kindling, not rocket science.
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Its not about the end result. The original comment was why using a hatchet was more dangerous, not that the end result would be different.
 
Deino said:
I wood totally batoning in a survival situation, in which I woodn't let myself get into, therefore never. In such case, the knife is lighter while providing reasonable usages for a wide variety of task slightly better than an hatchet.

Just saying, some of these skill are considered by Canadian Rangers (reserve military wildlife patrol).
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:)
 
Arathol said:
Its not about the end result. The original comment was why using a hatchet was more dangerous, not that the end result would be different.
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You said that the hatchet/axe is "better" than using a knife in the comment I quoted. Perhaps I should have bolded it, that's my bad.
 
Deino said:
the knife is lighter while providing reasonable usages for a wide variety of task slightly better than an hatchet.
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My hatchet weighs 11 oz, same as my 5" Condor Selknam.....My BK-9 weighs 16 oz......so, no, no always true.
Wild Willie said:
You said that the hatchet/axe is "better" than using a knife in the comment I quoted. Perhaps I should have bolded it, that's my bad.
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Better to use a tool thats made for the job....
 
Ahh, the good 'ol hatchet vs. knife debate. And the old argument that knives are safer because you can baton them, as if you can't baton a hatchet 🤷‍♂️.
A little knowledge and imagination goes a long way. All tools have limitations, and all tools excel at different things. I would say the Venn diagram between hatchet and knife have more overlap than people would first think.

Perhaps apropos of nothing, but on my last camping trip, I had with me a Cold Steel Frontier Hawk (20 oz.) and a Cold Steel True Flight Thrower (10 oz.) Now, I have a soft spot for 'hawks, so I used it more to prep my fire. I had just friction fit the head and wanted to see if it could do all my fire prep without slipping. Since I lugged the True Flight Thrower along, I used it to bust up a log and make finer kindling. Guess what, at half the weight, it did great with batoning arm sized logs and splitting it into pencil sized sticks. I dare say if that was all I had, I would have been just fine. Now, wailing away on my knife with a baton isn't my idea of a good time; I'd rather be swinging my hawk. But that is just my personal preference. It's good to have a choice in tools and techniques. Even better to broaden one's skill set and be adaptable.
 
rlewpolar said:
Ok, this is a serious question. What’s the purpose of a big camp knife if not for batoning? I ask because I’ve been on a big camp knife kick lately (recently bought an Esee Junglas, Esee 6 along with a Lionsteel T6 and M7) mostly because they are very cool and I love knives! If you were not going to baton with them, what would you use them for? Food prep? Whittling and making fire sticks and shavings? Seems like my Mora Garberg is better suited for that.

So, what is the purpose of these big camp knives and how are they best used (assuming no batoning). Probably should have asked before I blew some money 😆
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Trail maintenance would be nice. You can chop down briars and branches fairly easily. Then wood processing around the camp fire (at camp- which is why they called camp knives).

You can easily pressed into doing finer tasks, but it is easier to just carry a small knife for those.

n2s
 
20 years ago when I joined, a baton was part of a cheerleader's uniform.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to find some pictures of that and post them in W&C.... ;).
 
Arathol said:
Better to use a tool thats made for the job....
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This is like arguing about whether blue shop towels can be used to wipe your ass when you're away from home in place of toilet paper. I have both, I use both, invariably for the processing of kindling I find the knife more precise and convenient, especially for longer splits on which I might run out of axe head before the split is complete.

Obviously, were I out to process a tree into firewood without the aid of power saw and hydraulic splitter the choice of tool would be different. That however, isn't my idea of a good time.
 
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