Is this 'batoning' and firewood chopping with a knife a passing trend?

Wow lots of heat on this subject.

I batten with a small knife and find it a great skill especially for getting dry wood to start a fire. When it snows and I am more than a few km from the car I have an axe, a take down saw and then go with a light Mora. Axe = heat for a nice long fire and a quick shelter I do tend to use my saw more than my axe but they go together so well.

[video=youtube_share;IlRT0OjjlS8]http://youtu.be/IlRT0OjjlS8[/video] this saw isn't as good as my trailblazer but its so light I pack it and it cuts small stock excellently when snowshoeing if I pull a toboggan I bring the trailblazer.

The axe is the heat machine in the northern woods taking down and limping small standing dead wood for a long fire. If I lived in a warm climate I'd do the Kukuri thing buts that's because its cool to me.

Now this gives me the bug to go winter camping. I'll take the ATV out then go out on snow shoes for a few more KM. Bannock with cheese and bacon bits. Damn!
 
Our moderators moved the offending posts to W&C before banning the guy. Your post was fine. Mine won't be.

I don't baton. Never really found the need to. It was not something taught to me by my father, grandfather or the Boy Scouts or survival instructors. I've not seen it done by my older hunting companions over the years. If someone wants or needs to, I'm fine with that too. Just don't ask to borrow my knife to do it. Years of experience have taught me not to loan a knife unless it is one I don't want anymore. Could I baton with my knife if I needed to? Probably so. I don't think it is a skill that takes a lot of practice. But a lot of people seem to enjoy doing it, and some knife makers are catering to them with knives intended for such. To each his own.
 
Codger_64 said:
[...] Years of experience have taught me not to loan a knife unless it is one I don't want anymore. [...]
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This is good advice right here, both in regards to the subject of this thread, and in general! :D
 
Codger_64 said:
Our moderators moved the offending posts to W&C before banning the guy. Your post was fine. Mine won't be.

I don't baton. Never really found the need to. It was not something taught to me by my father, grandfather or the Boy Scouts or survival instructors. I've not seen it done by my older hunting companions over the years. If someone wants or needs to, I'm fine with that too. Just don't ask to borrow my knife to do it. Years of experience have taught me not to loan a knife unless it is one I don't want anymore. Could I baton with my knife if I needed to? Probably so. I don't think it is a skill that takes a lot of practice. But a lot of people seem to enjoy doing it, and some knife makers are catering to them with knives intended for such. To each his own.
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Sounds fine to me.
 
Codger_64 said:
Our moderators moved the offending posts to W&C before banning the guy. Your post was fine. Mine won't be.

I don't baton. Never really found the need to. It was not something taught to me by my father, grandfather or the Boy Scouts or survival instructors. I've not seen it done by my older hunting companions over the years. If someone wants or needs to, I'm fine with that too. Just don't ask to borrow my knife to do it. Years of experience have taught me not to loan a knife unless it is one I don't want anymore. Could I baton with my knife if I needed to? Probably so. I don't think it is a skill that takes a lot of practice. But a lot of people seem to enjoy doing it, and some knife makers are catering to them with knives intended for such. To each his own.
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Hard to argue with that. To each their own. The real question is why do batoning threads gain so much attention? I can sorta understand the action packed bear attack stuff but splitting wood with a knife? It isn't just this community as others seem to be infected with the "B" virus as well. Some people actually get all emotional over it. As if their mother, sister or wife got insulted.
 
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Tallahassee said:
Splitting wood is useful, everyone should know how to do it, but/and in many locations it's just no more necessary than churning your own butter....Out West and up North there is wood that is both more scarce and more in need of 'processing', so there it is. Baton away as needed.
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I'm glad you realize the need in some locations for splitting down to dry wood in certain regions. Some forumites think that there is dead, dry oak everywhere in the country and you can always find dry wood/tinder just ripe for the picking with a 4" or smaller blade! :) That just isn't true in Washington, where it is raining the majority of the year!

Then it becomes a preference in my opinion. Some people swear by an axe, others prefer a large fixed blade. I prefer a fixed blade and a saw. For me, this combination is lighter, and I'm all about cutting weight! If I were in the back yard splitting wood, I'd be using a splitting axe or maul! Anecdotally, I have probably been through around 3 or 4 cords of wood with my ESEE Junglas with no ill effect. (I use it to split wood for a home made forge I have, just to test its abilities). I realize that batoning can cause blade failures, but axe handles have been known to snap too :)
Just my .02!
Cheers
 
olybears57 said:
I'm glad you realize the need in some locations for splitting down to dry wood in certain regions. Some forumites think that there is dead, dry oak everywhere in the country and you can always find dry wood/tinder just ripe for the picking with a 4" or smaller blade! :) That just isn't true in Washington, where it is raining the majority of the year!

Then it becomes a preference in my opinion. Some people swear by an axe, others prefer a large fixed blade. I prefer a fixed blade and a saw. For me, this combination is lighter, and I'm all about cutting weight! If I were in the back yard splitting wood, I'd be using a splitting axe or maul! Anecdotally, I have probably been through around 3 or 4 cords of wood with my ESEE Junglas with no ill effect. (I use it to split wood for a home made forge I have, just to test its abilities). I realize that batoning can cause blade failures, but axe handles have been known to snap too :)
Just my .02!
Cheers
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3 or 4 cords of wood is ALOT of batoning...no thanks!
I have tried batoning once I saw people talking about it and saying how important it is for a knife to be able to do so(Ya I am a little late to the internet game and never saw anyone do it in real life...)-didn't particularly enjoy it or see the need for it. I have made plenty of fires in many conditions before and never needed to baton even when camping without an axe.
But I enjoy splitting wood with an axe and there is plenty of good dead wood in the bush I travel, even in the rain.
 
It was always my understating that Batoning is a last ditch survival thing , if you know you're going into the woods or in my case bush , you should have a hatchet or axe to go with your knife
 
Woods Walker said:
Hard to argue with that. To each their own. The real question is why do batoning threads gain so much attention? I can sorta understand the action packed bear attack stuff but splitting wood with a knife? It isn't just this community as others seem to be infected with the "B" virus as well. Some people actually get all emotional over it. As if their mother, sister or wife got insulted.
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While I completely understand that there are a few people living in environments where it might be a needed skill, I get the impression that for many these days it is a "pretend scenario" for playtime for newer users with their new knives. And they buy knives which are useful for this scenario and less useful for many others. I am constantly reminding myself that as time goes by, fewer and fewer people grow up and live in rural environments and when they do get out there, they enjoy playing with their knives, something they have little opportunity to do in their daily lives. And almost certainly something they did not have the opportunity to do growing up. As much because of the urban environment they grew up in as because of a lact of mentors in the rural outdoors. Don't get me wrong, in an age when fewer and fewer people are attracted to becoming outdoorsmen/woodsmen, I have very pleased to see some renewed interests in learning and practicing outdoor skills. I think it is great. And so do outdoorsmen who give "classes" to people to teach them things that a lot of us learned from mentors and on our own growing up. And knife manufacturers who make "hard use" knives.
 
Thomas Linton said:
You won't know how important any tool is until the need arises. Those carrying a razor blade - or "Classic" SAK - are running the risk that they will need more. The classic answer -- the historic majority opinion - is that one should have stout knife when in the wilderness because, on average, it is the most useful woods tool. Ignore centuries of received wisdom if you will and at your peril. Perhaps all will go as planned. It usually does. But . . . .
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I think everyone should bring a knife. It is on my list of must haves to go in the woods but other things trump it for the top 5. I get your point and I also carry a folder and a fixed when out and about but I haven't seen an after report of lost hikers, hunters etc where failure to have a knife caused their death. Lack of clothing for the bad weather on the other hand is almost a for sure killer. Same can be said for lack of water.

For me a good knife is a last resort tool. It's not my plan A.
 
Shotgun said:
I think everyone should bring a knife. It is on my list of must haves to go in the woods but other things trump it for the top 5. I get your point and I also carry a folder and a fixed when out and about but I haven't seen an after report of lost hikers, hunters etc where failure to have a knife caused their death. Lack of clothing for the bad weather on the other hand is almost a for sure killer. Same can be said for lack of water.

For me a good knife is a last resort tool. It's not my plan A.
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Indeed. Sometimes folks go a little overboard when weighing the value of their knives in relation to the rest of their kit. I can't help but scratch my head when I see a camping setup where the monetary value of the knife outweighs that of the shelter, navigation, water filtration, and food prep gear combined. I get that we are all enthusiasts and that we like our knives but it ain't a balanced setup, the bottleneck to your capabilities will still be in the rest of the gear. Those kinds of rigs are mostly for fun though I guess.
 
Codger_64 said:
While I completely understand that there are a few people living in environments where it might be a needed skill, I get the impression that for many these days it is a "pretend scenario" for playtime for newer users with their new knives. And they buy knives which are useful for this scenario and less useful for many others. I am constantly reminding myself that as time goes by, fewer and fewer people grow up and live in rural environments and when they do get out there, they enjoy playing with their knives, something they have little opportunity to do in their daily lives. And almost certainly something they did not have the opportunity to do growing up. As much because of the urban environment they grew up in as because of a lact of mentors in the rural outdoors. Don't get me wrong, in an age when fewer and fewer people are attracted to becoming outdoorsmen/woodsmen, I have very pleased to see some renewed interests in learning and practicing outdoor skills. I think it is great. And so do outdoorsmen who give "classes" to people to teach them things that a lot of us learned from mentors and on our own growing up. And knife manufacturers who make "hard use" knives.
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Sometimes I will baton wood with my knife when packing a small heated shelter or even a hobo stove. Then only when conditions dictate doing so will save more effort than expended. Other times I will baton when inside the shelter as messing around with an axe is not practical and going outside would be sucky. Other times if it helps me start a fire faster in certain weather conditions and I don't have a better tool. Other times if the smaller cut wood won't balance on a log. Then again I might just baton those off balance cuts with an axe, hatchet or hawk. If hiking longer ranges for me the extra weight of an axe, hawk or hatchet can simply be too much

Not sure I totally agree with your urban/rural logic however don't reject it entirely. I grew up on a New England farm and never witnessed anyone batoning with a knife. Heck we never used a firesteel either beyond those which were included with tools. But so what? Today I don't use the rubber fingered chicken plucker either as now get them from Big Y. Times and situations change. I do think people who have been isolated from the food chain and nature (one of the same IMHO) can develop a disconnect from reality. Then again if the chickens keep flowing in plastic wrap who am I to say what is or isn't real? I do think there is a culture that will pack 3000 dollars worth of axes and knives 500 feet just to over process a pile of wood for cooking bannock, bacon and coffee during their Sunday alone time. Once again to each their own ideal. It is all good.
 
stabman said:
If you live in a house or an apartment (and yes, that applies to all "rural" locales if you live in a house), all your outdoor gear is for fun.
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Do not most of the people that go into the wilderness "live" elsewhere - in a house, apartment, trailer, etc.? It's for fun until it's not, regardless of where you routinely "live."

The missing, a man in his 30s and two juveniles, were canoeing on Conasauga Creek with three other juveniles when their craft overturned just before 4 p.m. Wednesday, according to Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officer Ben Davis.
. . .
Davis said today the search to save their lives has turned into a recovery to find their bodies. Three of the siblings, all under the age of 10, made it to safety.
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This is a knife forum. As noted above, I routinely carry a sheath knife (4") and folding saw. But one should consider that about 75% of all wilderness fatalities are from heart attack, drowning, or falls according to the statistical studies that I can locate - Arizona SAR, New Hampshire SAR, "Western" U.S. parks.
 
Thomas Linton said:
Do not most of the people that go into the wilderness "live" elsewhere - in a house, apartment, trailer, etc.? It's for fun until it's not, regardless of where you routinely "live."
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That's the whole point.
For every single person here, unless they have a job which requires them to be outdoors, we are all out there for the fun of it.
Whether we brings tents, guns, an ATV...or just a knife (and possibly clothes ;) ).

If I was super worried about "survival", I'd stay at home.
 
stabman said:
That's the whole point.
For every single person here, unless they have a job which requires them to be outdoors, we are all out there for the fun of it.
Whether we brings tents, guns, an ATV...or just a knife (and possibly clothes ;) ).

If I was super worried about "survival", I'd stay at home.
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I suppose some go to be miserable, but not you and me. :thumbup:

But, for me, being prepared is still consistent with fun. Besides, I am usually responsible for others.
 
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