Please Enlighten Me

J

Jimmy Evans

Joined
Mar 19, 2014
Messages
84
I don't want to come off sounding stupid or "righteous" in any way, but...what's all the rage about using a knife to "baton"? If I'm going in the woods and think I may need to chop a tree down, I'll take an ax or hatchet. Why in the world would I buy a pocket knife and then complain about the knife breaking when I whacked the mud out of it? I buy the best knives I can afford but I'm not going to purposely put them to a use that I have access to a better tool for. I'm not knocking anybody, I just wanna know "why?".
 
In before the lock!


Seriously though, a "why do you baton" thread? Really?

Just based on how you laid this out I am not sure you know what batoning is. It is in no way chopping and it should never be done with a folder.

I would suggest if you really are concerned about this subject that you use the search function and look up the millions of other threads where this has been discussed ad nauseum.
 
Hi Jimmy . Well firstly , when we talk about batoning we are talking about doing that with a fixed blade knife that is sturdy enough to withstand it . A pocket knife (unless it's a well made small fixed blade) is NOT made for that sort of thing .
Secondly "batoning" would not be used to cut the tree down . It's more for splitting wood that is already cut to length .
Thirdly if you are hiking deep into the woods then carrying an ax is heavy . The better approach is to bring a sturdy knife and a folding saw (the saw being much lighter then an ax) .
Fourthly , standing a piece of wood on it's end and placing your knife blade on it where you want to split it and then batoning , is a MUCH safer practice than swinging an ax and risking it glancing off and ending up in your shin or foot . Especially when you are deep in the woods and far from help . One slip with an ax and you can easily cut your own toe off , where as it takes real dedication to saw it off ;)
 
I camped out all the time in my youth and never once did we have to baton.
But hey, that's just me. :D
 
I never heard of it until I started reading here. We use a saw or ax where I'm from. Also it doesn't rain constantly so we don't need to split wood to get to the dry part.
 
I think of this more as a survival skill. Of course you should always use the right tool for the job but sometimes you have to make do with the best tool you have for the job. Dimes aren't meant to be screwdrivers, sometimes they are used this way. So too with batoning. This is not what your knife was designed for, but it is a useful skill for when you don't have the right tool.
 
I've never malleted a blade thru anything either. This activity is in vogue right now and I suppose it could be a practiced survival skill. It takes a special grind & steel for the knife to pull it off. If the blade does it well, it may not perform well in slicing. DM
 
Only good reason I can think of is, if you are going lite and don't want to carry something like an axe. You can get some very small knives today that will baton easily. If you have the means to sharpen them too, you're set to make a fire way out in the woods, keep warm, survive and do other tasks beside. All without being weighted down. I bought one like this and it's great to carry way back in the boonies.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/941807-A-Small-Knife-I-ve-Been-Playing-With
 
Hey guys. I was just askin'! Maybe I coulda worded it differently but, I could've read something else into what I was reading too. Just treat me like I'm ignorant to the idea 'cause until I joined BF, I had never heard of it!
 
Only once in my long life have I ever batoned. Other than that it's a fad just like flicking and I hope they go away soon -- so I don't have to answer silly questions about why their blades broke doing it !!!
 
mete said:
Only once in my long life have I ever batoned. Other than that it's a fad just like flicking and I hope they go away soon -- so I don't have to answer silly questions about why their blades broke doing it !!!
Click to expand...

I agree.
 
I think somehow due to YouTube videos on it out the wazoo, some people have deemed it to be some arbitrary standard a knife has to meet before it called be called "hard use".

But I agree with you. Seems pretty stupid to me. Unless my life depended on it or some similar situation I suppose.
 
Baton with your knives they said. It'll be fun they said... :foot:;):D


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