Please Enlighten Me

[Sonnydaze]

I thought batoning was supposed to be done with the knife unlocked.

Hey, you've been keepin' up. Good for you. Yes, unlocked...the stress is just on the blade-steel and NOT on the lock. A bit less handy to do it that way, but it can save your knife...and more.

 

[craytab]

Hey, you've been keepin' up. Good for you. Yes, unlocked...the stress is just on the blade-steel and NOT on the lock. A bit less handy to do it that way, but it can save your knife...and more.

How do I unlock my fixed blade?

 

[EChoil]

What's the big deal about batoning some wood now and then? If you have a blade designed for it, go for it.

For hunting/skinning and limited bush activity I've always carried a Schrade-Walden Deerslayer made in the '60's. It's a great piece of perfectly heat treated full-tang 1095 steel that I recently took out of semi--retirement to admire once again. Its design gives it a distinct, thick anvil for batoning and the distal taper doesn't begin until about 2/3 down the blade to keep strength in the middle of the edge. It works quite well. Probably my favorite hunter design.

Done correctly I've never even given a thought to harming the knife when batoning over the years nor was I easy on it. As it's always been my main hunting knife I've probably batoned through as much bone as wood.

I think the current ones are just marked "Schrade" and made in China of 'stainless steel.' Sad.

 

[BITEME]

Why carry an axe ,when you can use a chain saw?-just to be fair I love all cutting tools, so there you have it !!!

 

[craytab]

Nothing wrong with batoning! Do what you enjoy! Do what works for you!

 

[FTR-14c]

I wouldn't want to make these fatwood birthday candles with an ax.

 

[Blades&Bullets]

With that said, I have been lost in the woods before on a very web damp day (in fact there was snow on the ground), and had to build a fire to prepare to spend the night. As wet as everything was, I was still able to easily build a fire using dead branches that were off the ground. So I don't think you really need it to get a fire built. But it would probably be handy. If it was on-hand, I probably would have used it.
Luckily I was found by a search team around mid-night and was able to go back to camp and sleep in a comfortable bed instead of the shelter I built. I remember the rescue person commenting on how nice of a fire I had going.

I can't say I was ever lost, but I was once bewildered for about 3 days - Daniel Boone

Thank you, Tyrone. I live in coastal NC and am old enough, or lazy enough, that if I was out camping, I'd be close enough to my Jeep that the weight of the chain saw wouldn't be a problem. You know what they say about "proper planning", too old to try to impress my wife and daughters with my " Daniel Boone" skills.

Never to old to impress them with your "leather face" chainsaw skills though!

Why do men walk on high wires? Why do teenage boys burn their tires off in front of the high school? Why do men climb mountains or run 20 mile races?
Because it is a way to measure what you are. That and its a way to waste time when your board.

Cause they're trying to impress girls!

But seriously, this is sort of what I was thinking. Other than the survival training, carrying light for hiking, etc., sometimes people just like to do things the hard way and putting in the extra effort. Sure they could probably go 'glamping', but maybe they just like doing the extra work. Just like some people would rather fish with a bamboo pole than a new baitcaster.

 

[cerisdevoi]

If I'm 50 miles in the bush hunting, I'm probably not carrying an axe. So in an emergency situation if I need to build shelter, cut and split wood for a fire, I have a knife fully capable of a good beating. As was mentioned, it is a survival skill. I'm not going to go out in my yard and baton.

 

[inkynate]

Is this kind of knife okay for batoning?:

https://www.google.com/search?q=fro...v&sa=X&ei=SVFYVNuXM9eqyATqsIKoBw&ved=0CEcQ7Ak

I use my ESEE-4 a lot to split smaller kindling for fires in our woodstove. I'm not about to go looking for twigs when it's freezing outside and it's easier than swinging an ax around to do precise work, (for me anyway).

 

[kenash]

If I'm 50 miles in the bush hunting, I'm probably not carrying an axe. So in an emergency situation if I need to build shelter, cut and split wood for a fire, I have a knife fully capable of a good beating. As was mentioned, it is a survival skill. I'm not going to go out in my yard and baton.

I used to think it was crazy, but I tried it and had fun. In my back yard. If I think I would need to do something in an emergency, I'd like to know that I could do something that I have already done. I want to "practice" a task before I actually would need to have to do it. Sort of like the fire steel striking thing. Why bother if you have a zippo or bic. I the gas gives out, could you start a fire for camp?

Just my thoughts.

 

[Deering Knives]

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 !!!

Agreed, well said. Light batoning through smallers logs/sticks to make kindling size fire wood In Wet conditions is useful and can be accomplished by some of the lightest thinnest blades. Smashing through huge logs is asking for trouble. Small hatchets weigh as much and I some cases less than large thick chopping type blades, and can also be batoned if you desired.

It's true, an axe can be dangerous if in the wrong hands and for the inexperienced or clumsy woodsman, a large knife would be safer.

With all that said, I have hatchet\small fixed blade combos that weigh less than some large choppers.

 

[Czechmate]

I don't carrot all about batoning knives... JK JK. Batoning is Nutnfancy cool. :foot:

 

[corwise]

The Air Force SERE school teaches batoning with their 5" knife as "the way" to get dry kindling in a survival situation. Not recommended for large pieces of wood, and most SERE guys I've talked to use a large 'sharpened prybar' type knife.

So there are "knowledgeable" folks out there who push this, which might be why it keeps popping up. Now SERE is a more of a combat survival with minimal resourses scenerio, doens't apply to a lot of what most of us do. But it still puts the information out there and people take it and run with it.

 

[Shotgun]

Because carrying a 20 ounce hatchet for a job that can be done with a 4 ounce knife doesn't make sense to anyone with half a brain. Right tool for the job fellas.

 

[Rhinoknives1]

Everyone of the knives shown so far have been larger thicker big chopper knives rather than the 4-5" blade "Bushcraft" knife that is named in most of these threads on Battoning.

I use to make a 12" bladed chopper that you could use for battening It was out of 3/8" Ats-34.

My 4-5" 1/8" at the spine knife is used for cutting. Not as a wood wedge.

 

[Kloepper Knife Works]

Batoning is fun and somewhat useful when you're packing light in an area without much small and medium deadwood. Is it necessary, not usually, but sometimes you have time to kill and it's an easy way to get to cooking coals faster with medium sized chunks of wood.

Just because a knife can baton also doesn't mean it can't be a great slicer when it's the right steel at the right hardness. I'd hate to try and baton anything shorter than a 5" fixed blade, too likely to accidentally do damage to the tip if you hammer it too hard. I've never damaged a decent knife batoning.

 

[C_Becker]

Because I don't carry an axe everywhere I go. I do carry a knife ( or three).
That, and an axe is a lot more dangerous than a piece of wood. Think about it, you're in the woods alone and you hit yourself with your axe

With a baton, you'll break your hand ar worst. Not saying its the only way, but its a handy skill to have

 

[link2derek]

To the OP - the guys talking about batoning with a knife are generally NOT talking about "pocket" knives. They are talking about fixed blades. Locks fail. But when it's just fixed steel vs. wood, then the steel should win (unless there is something wrong with the steel, or you are dealing with extraordinarily hard wood).

 

[jdk1]

A few weeks ago, I emerged from my tent with Emberlit and Starbucks Via instant coffee in hand, only to discover I was surrounded by damp twigs. My trusty $10 1/8" thick Hultafors was used to baton some slivers off the side of a log. Once split (by batonning), they gave me plenty of heat to then use any twigs laying around. I had my coffee in 10 minutes or less and certainly didn't need an axe

PS. Batonning isn't new and isn't a fad, this has been discussed ad nauseam. Some take it to extremes, but who cares? It's a better past time than knocking over liquor stores

 

[craytab]

A few weeks ago, I emerged from my tent with Emberlit and Starbucks Via instant coffee in hand, only to discover I was surrounded by damp twigs. My trusty $10 1/8" thick Hultafors was used to baton some slivers off the side of a log. Once split (by batonning), they gave me plenty of heat to then use any twigs laying around. I had my coffee in 10 minutes or less and certainly didn't need an axe

PS. Batonning isn't new and isn't a fad, this has been discussed ad nauseam. Some take it to extremes, but who cares? It's a better past time than knocking over liquor stores

Ha! Good post....

Love those little starbucks instant coffee things....

I keep some in my go bags. Even if they have been expired for 3 years, still great to have a stiff cup of joe when the world ends, while batoning of course (or not depending on your preference).