Ontario BlackBird broke..........

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NeedItCheaper

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So for X-Mas I got an Ontario BlackBird. I got this knife because the maker claimed you could baton with it. Some state that you shouldn't baton, but as a knife maker, when you make a claim, expect that claim to be tested.

What I did:
First I baton a few small pieces of wood. Then I chopped for a few minutes. And finally I decided to baton on top of it to see if it could take the hits. I can't stress this next part enough, I put about 1/5 of my normal power into these swings. My normal hits on my CS LeatherNeck have never caused me issue, and with all my might I could not break my CS LeatherNeck. I'm gonna say it again in a different way..........The wood my BlackBird broke on was soft, straight, no knots, hit with very little power and it broke by the third hit.

Here is where it broke.
Knife1_zps860828fe.png



Here is a picture of my ColdSteel LeatherNeck above the Ontario BlackBird
Knife2_zpsaa8cff08.png


I'm gonna see if the manufacturer will send me my money back.
 
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Wow,thats sad actually,I can see someone bashing you if you put everything behind every hit and on knots but if its soft wood and light hits the knife is at fault here.
Get a BK-2 and never worry about batoning again :)
 
Gotta be something to do with the heat treat. Contact Ontario and I bet they will make things right.
 
Yeah, batonning with a knife isn't the brightest idea, but if the manufacturer said that you can baton with it, you should be able to baton with it and be covered. Did you contact them at all before posting this, to see about getting a replacement or a refund?
 
Dorito Monk said:
Yeah, batonning with a knife isn't the brightest idea, but if the manufacturer said that you can baton with it, you should be able to baton with it and be covered. Did you contact them at all before posting this, to see about getting a replacement or a refund?
Click to expand...

I shot them a phone call, they said I need to pay for shipping there and if they deem it, then they will ship a new one to me.
 
How come I immediately knew someone was batoning with the knife when I read the Subject line...
 
NeedItCheaper said:
I shot them a phone call, they said I need to pay for shipping there and if they deem it, then they will ship a new one to me.
Click to expand...

That sounds pretty frustrating. Will shipping cost a lot for you?

I don't know anything about Ontario's customer service / warranty department, so I'm afraid I don't have much advice for you.
 
If I had a dollar for every story I've seen about someone breaking their knife while battoning, I'd be able to buy myself a Busse.......Er, well, probably not a Busse, but maybe a Gerber or a Frost at least. Okay, so that doesn't sound very impressive, but the moral of the story is, if you want to damage or break your knife, battoning with it is a good way to achieve that goal.
 
I broke a RTAK the same way, very light use.
Ontario sent me a new one no questions asked.
 
They will take care of it so don't sweat it... Batoning if perfectly acceptable with such a knife despite what others say. I have been doing so for many years, and never had a knife break... That knife was defective, and Ontario will stand behind it for sure.
 
If you want to baton and the like there are a lot of much thicker and more robust designs out there. Becker bk2, entrek elk, scrapyard 711.
 
A blade can be made that, struck on the edge opposite the sharp edge, can be (and has historically been) routinely used to split wood without routine damage to the blade.
(See "froe" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Froe)

In principle, a blade called a "knife" can be constructed so that it can perform the same function as a blade called a "froe" without routine damage to the blade.

Not all knives are made to perform as a "froe."

Not all users use a "knife" as a "froe" with the requisite degree of skill and judgment.

Any tool can be broken.

Absolute judgments, based on second-hand information, as to the cause(s) of damage to a "knife" used as a "froe" are, by their nature, questionable.
 
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Come on, people. I'm of the opinion that batonning isn't something you should do at all with a knife, but if the manufacturer SAYS their knife will stand up to it, who can think of one good reason why they shouldn't stand by their statement and replace it when it breaks?
 
A prime example of the reason you shouldn't baton a knife.... yeah I know.... some of you like it.. good for you...broken knife..

Knife abuse... my apologies to those offended by my humble opinion...

Doc
 
from the way it broke, I'm guessing there was a hidden flaw/inclusion in the steel -- Ontario wants it back so they can figure out what happened to the blade.
If, instead of a phone call you had sent them an email with pictures of the pieces, including an end on view of the break, and a phone number to contact you that they might have offered a prepaid shipping label, but probably not.
package it up, include a print of this thread, since it has decent pics of what you were doing and where, and send it to them signature required. This will cost you an extra couple of bucks, but will give you a way to prove the received the knife in case processing your return goes slowly.

good luck.
 
While I am not an advocate of batonning, it looks to me like there must have been a defect from where the knife broke. It is too clean and right at the "notch" or beginning of the blade edge. I would think that a break there would be from some lateral stress instead of head-on if you can understand my thought process. Perhaps there was some damage from the heat treat process that caused the knife to be brittle at that point.

Hard to know without examining the knife in person. I think the mfg should stand behind their product if they stated you could batton with it. It certainly won't cause them to shut down their business over replacing one knife. Their actual cost of the knife is cheap advertising when used as customer good will and as a testament of their customer service. Keep us informed of their decision. Good luck!

Omar
:rolleyes:
 
Doc_Savage said:
A prime example of the reason you shouldn't baton a knife.... yeah I know.... some of you like it.. good for you...broken knife..

Knife abuse... my apologies to those offended by my humble opinion...

Doc
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Buy a knife built for the task, and you can baton to your heart's content. It's only abuse if you use the wrong knife. Your view, it's narrow.
 
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