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

[Knives&Lint]

How many of us, like me, did it for years for certain tasks but had no idea there was a name for it until they heard it on the internet? Most commonly, I baton to split small pieces of store bought lighter knot (AKA fatwood) into even smaller pieces. It is my preferred fire starter not only because it is effective but because it makes me nostalgic for my childhood when we used to find it ourselves and use it to start fires. Anyhow, all you need is a small stick, and a small piece starts a fire just as well as a larger piece, so you can split the sticks as they come from the store at least 3-4 times and stretch your supply significantly.

 

[rhino]

Makes sense what you’re saying don’t get me wrong. In that instance I was taught to use dead pine limbs still on the tree towards the lower part. Shave the bark off first. Lower East Tennessee were covered Up in pine trees everywhere but yellow pine or cedar works best imo.

That's definitely a good option if you have those resources available. Always go with the lower effort option when possible when you need to get something done, which favors your plan. I don't traipse around in the woods, though, so it's mostly an academic pursuit for me. However, we don't have a lot of pines or other coniferous trees in my area (finding fat wood in the wild is next to impossible).

 

[rhino]

No kidding! The knowledge bombs keep dropping in this thread. I have a whole new respect for Doritos and Fritos. I know some Cub Scouts who are gonna love this!

Greasy snack foods work great as flame extenders, but you need an open flame source like a lighter or match to ignite them (I've never gotten a chip to ignite with a ferro rod, for instance, even crumbled). Cotton balls or dryer lint (from natural fabrics) with petroleum jelly really shine because 1) you have the flame extender from the petroleum, and 2) you can ignite them so much easier if you fray and fluff it a little to increase the surface area exposed to your ignition source.

 

[crufflers]

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".

Maybe for fixed blades, it is a fun medium to play with or test (WOOD). I mostly am into collecting traditional slipjoint type knives - none can be batoned unless you want to snap it in two and need a new backspring. A lot of utilitarian type fixed blade fans like SYKCO, MMHW, MORA, etc...like the idea of improvising if they do not have a hatchet or saw or do not want to carry those. No crime in that. But, if it makes you feel better, saying "I just carry a hatchet! Why you wannabes batoning?! I am real woodsman !" is the .45 vs. 9mm, beating a dead horse topic of the knife world IMHO. The hatchet-only guys are definitely the old farts with 1911's and Garands.

 

[Chronovore]

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.

You could always get a second use out of those blue shop towels...

 

[Wild Willie]

You could always get a second use out of those blue shop towels...

They most certainly inspire confidence when away from home in what otherwise could be a... sticky situation.

 

[Riz!]

The only reason I baton is to take finger thick pieces of wood down to chopstick size. Its just quicker and safer than trying to use the hawk or hatchet when I am camping.

If you dip a cotton ball half way into candle wax and then smash it flat as the wax cools you get these little half dollar sized spark catchers that burn like a candle for about 10 minutes, depending on the amount of wax. I fluff em up and then drop some sparks from the ferro rod. They burn great, and you can put a dozen or so and a ferro rod in an altoids tin. Those little kits can easily go in all your different gear, vehicles, bags or whatever.

 

[onehikes]

In Bushcraft, batoning is a big event but I have batoned with a folding hunter knife to find dry wood to start a fire . Just don't start with a log or carry a hatchet. The other thing is feather sticks. I admire the guy who can carve perfect feather sticks and believe it is a knife handling skill to teach our youth, but I am not that guy either. Sea Kayaking and backpacking I carried a BK 7 with the BK 13 in a simple pancake sheath I made. I needed a strong knife for a multitude of reason and it served me well. But it is not what I want to carry for Urban use.

 

[stabman]

Why it's dry, batonning isn't "necessary", especially to get a fire going.
It can help splitting wood to have nice sized pieces that burn in a predictable way that can be placed carefully to keep the fire going the way you want, and a knife that is designed capable of batonning with not issues sure works. Like this one I made:

Or this:

which allows you to make...

Which guards your camp at night.

Or maybe you just want to split a stump with your Junglas, after kicking the stump out of the ground (no flat edges/pre-sawn lengths):

It was actually 2009 or 2010, but the cold made the camera malfunction.
The stump was also getting softer (not rotted though), so it split fairly easily.

When everything is wet, then exposing dry wood makes things work. And then it is about using reasonable sized wood, not splitting logs.

YouTube is all about splitting logs for no good reason, and bashing harder if it won't go through.

In real life, I have had wood that a knife didn't want to go through, so I picked a different piece of wood rather than wailing on it like a moron and breaking my knife. Work smarter, not dumber.

 

[JC972]

That's definitely a good option if you have those resources available. Always go with the lower effort option when possible when you need to get something done, which favors your plan. I don't traipse around in the woods, though, so it's mostly an academic pursuit for me. However, we don't have a lot of pines or other coniferous trees in my area (finding fat wood in the wild is next to impossible).

Nothing wrong with that at all. Anymore if I’m in the woods I always have a small fixed blade, small flashlight, and a bic lighter, but that’s just deer hunting or a day hike with the kids. You know after reading through this thread I have a better idea of Why people baton wood. I don’t see me doing it unless I have to and then I’ll do it without a qualm. My little brother gets into that kind of bushcraft stuff as he calls it. Won’t use anything but a magnesium fire starter and some type of survival knife to light fires and he really enjoys it, even if it’s a bonfire in the back yard. Takes him forever and he gets agitated when I offer him my lighter. Boy he throws some sparks with that contraption when I start getting to him! I’m just too lazy for all that I reckon.

 

[rhino]

Nothing wrong with that at all. Anymore if I’m in the woods I always have a small fixed blade, small flashlight, and a bic lighter, but that’s just deer hunting or a day hike with the kids. You know after reading through this thread I have a better idea of Why people baton wood. I don’t see me doing it unless I have to and then I’ll do it without a qualm. My little brother gets into that kind of bushcraft stuff as he calls it. Won’t use anything but a magnesium fire starter and some type of survival knife to light fires and he really enjoys it, even if it’s a bonfire in the back yard. Takes him forever and he gets agitated when I offer him my lighter. Boy he throws some sparks with that contraption when I start getting to him! I’m just too lazy for all that I reckon.

I'll admit I caught that bug too. My brother, my best friend, and another friend are all pretty much experts at bushcraft skills. A few years ago, I started learning how to build fired and I got on a kick were I was determined to make a one stick fire with just a knife and a ferro rod. It took a while to put it all together while I was learning. I used starting the charcoal on my grill as an opportunity to practice. I'd build a small fire in the grill and use it to get the charcoal going. It became a source of pride for me that I haven't used a match or lighter to get the grill going since I bought it! HAHA! It's been a lot more fun than I expected and I've learned a lot. You can tell someone that for fire you need fuel, oxygen, and an ignition source, but until you get into the application, you don't really understand the nuances. I can do it on demand now, even with relatively damp stick. The best part is the confidence. If I can do the one stick consistently, I am in really good shape if I need a fire quickly and I have lighter, a petroleum soaked cotton ball, and plenty of twigs and sticks because I have a practical understanding of how it works, that you can't cut corners, and surface area is your friend. When I'm out and about, I always have a Bic lighter, but I also have a small ferrocerium rod and a little bag with some cotton balls, jute twine, and a few packets of petroleum jelly antibiotic ointment that serves dual purpose.

Ironically, when I was in graduate school, my area of research was . . . combustion. I started on a project studying combustion flow instabilities in a ramjet engine (yes, I was a rocker scientist) and then moved into measuring soot amounts in flames toward the end. I've come full circle on the old school end of things.

 

[sodak]

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....

That's a good point, I should have been more precise. I was referring to swinging a hatchet. I never considered batoning with one. I guess you could baton with either you are more comfortable with, but my main point was that for small wood reducing, batoning is quite safe and not at all abusive - either for a knife or hatchet.

 

[vjb.knife]

I carry fixed blade knives for different purposes. I have diving knives for that activity which obviously don't need to be batoned. I have carry knives that will never be used to baton, but for self defense. And finally, I have a variety of camping / outdoors knives; some of the larger models could be used for that but I really have only done that a couple of times, because that is what smaller diameter branches are for. I was a involved in the Boy Scout Program for many years, both as a Scout and as an Adult Leader. We did not use knives for that because you don't need to. What is the point of it.

 

[coolbreezy37]

At the end of the day, who cares if someone wants to use a knife to baton with. If they want to use a knife, go for it; if they’d rather use an axe/hatchet, go for it. Whatever the method, it doesn’t make you better, smarter or more outdoorsy than the other guy.

 

[Alone]

At the end of the day, who cares if someone wants to use a knife to baton with? If they want to use a knife, go for it; if they’d rather use an axe/hatchet, go for it. Whatever the method, it doesn’t make you better, smarter or more outdoorsy than the other guy.

Mic drop.

 

[catspa]

Whatever the method, it doesn’t make you better, smarter or more outdoorsy than the other guy.

More handsome?

Maybe, depends on the other guy.

Parker

 

[Mark4444]

I

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".

it’s a valid point, but the batoning test still better than the old steel pole test.

 

[vjb.knife]

I really just don't see the point in batoning at all. You are essentially just taking a log and making small branches out of it. I have never had a problem collecting braches to get a fire going and then putting the whole log on it. it is a waste of time, effort and wear on your knife.

 

[rlewpolar]

This is so true. I’ve made fires for decades this way and never had a problem. I guess if you are camping in the rain and everything is wet, batoning to get to the dry part of the wood makes sense. But when it’s raining, I’m in my tent, and in my sleeping bag, just waiting it out

 

[hangmanshammer]

Imagine if you would, you are out in the woods trying to extricate a track loader that has been jammed up on a few tree limbs, the track has been knocked off, and you don't have a saw or axe with you, it is nice to know that the one tool you have that can be used to cut the wood, isn't likely to break or be permanently damaged if you do baton on it. Having worked the last several years in rental equipment, I can honestly say I have run into times where I have had to call on my knife to go above and beyond what I ever thought it would need to. A knife that can take a beating and still be used afterwards is necessary for some of us and battoning is one way you can test it, or know it's been tested by someone else, before you need to use it that way.