Question about batoning a Spyderco Police 4 Lightweight or VG-10 in general.

If I had only a Police 4, I needed a fire, and everything was damp, I might need to split some sticks to get to the dry parts. If I could get by with relatively small diameter stuff that I could split by tapping relatively gently with a baton or even smacking with your hand, I wouldn't be too concerned. If the only options were bigger stuff, I would carve a wedge or two and use the knife to only get enough of a notch to get the wedge started and then pound the crap out of the wedge with a baton.
 
I like the idea of batoning to make a stretcher rather than fire wood. And would risk a knife if say a friend had to be hauled out that way.

There are less work arounds I think.

But there is a video of a guy batoning with a sak

So it might work with a spyderco.
 
While it's not a Spyderco, I watched a guy do some batoning with a Cold Steel SR1 clip point and it worked really well. You may want to try something different spydies seem to be a little delicate to me with that hole in the blade. Oh! the SR1 is 3/16"s thick in S35vn, I believe and quite tough with the Demko Triad locking system. Or like mentioned get a set of suspenders and carry a 4Max at all times.
 
Drop bear said:
I like the idea of batoning to make a stretcher rather than fire wood. And would risk a knife if say a friend had to be hauled out that way.

There are less work arounds I think.

But there is a video of a guy batoning with a sak

So it might work with a spyderco.
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Okay, I'm perplexed but I'll bite. What would you baton to make a stretcher? A long limb or sapling 4 or 5 feet long? How would splitting said limb or sampling help with stretcher construction when you could just use the whole limb or sapling? Or are we saying that we have a large diameter tree trunk that we are batonning because that's the only thing available?
 
Triton said:
Okay, I'm perplexed but I'll bite. What would you baton to make a stretcher? A long limb or sapling 4 or 5 feet long? How would splitting said limb or sampling help with stretcher construction when you could just use the whole limb or sapling? Or are we saying that we have a large diameter tree trunk that we are batonning because that's the only thing available?
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Yeah, I don't think there's any logic to batoning when you're trying to end up with a 4-5 foot relatively small diameter (less than 2") piece of wood. I don't think there's a realistic scenario where your only option would be using a folding knife to baton a 5-foot log into poles for a litter/stretcher. If the wood is the proper diameter and you're cutting it to length, you're better off using a folding knife to cut out a v-shaped notch in the wood (same basic technique used with a competition chopper to hack through a 2x4).
 
Drop bear said:
I like the idea of batoning to make a stretcher rather than fire wood. And would risk a knife if say a friend had to be hauled out that way.

There are less work arounds I think.

But there is a video of a guy batoning with a sak

So it might work with a spyderco.
Click to expand...
I would advise, one person hiking out and forget trying to carry a injury victim !
its impossible to carry a body for any distance, a rescue team ususully takes 6-8 people per victim
 
unwisefool said:
Basically if you never leave the city you will be safe. Unless you go down into the sewers...


...but there aren't really trees in the sewers so you don't have to worry about batoning through wood.
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sewer camp fires...
 
Drop bear said:
I like the idea of batoning to make a stretcher rather than fire wood. And would risk a knife if say a friend had to be hauled out that way.
Click to expand...

This literally says the same thing as "I like the idea of risking my most versatile tool, when the stakes are highest and a life is on the line". Tool breaks, now how will you keep your friend warm?
 
Cutting green 2" saplings could be useful for building a shelter or tools, but you don't usually need to baton to take those down. Just bend it over and cut it at the bend. It's even easier with a heavy knife built for it, or a hatchet.

A bag in the back of a vehicle containing survival gear and a hatchet won't take up all that much space, and if properly secured it shouldn't cause any problems.

In the freakish event that you are in the wilderness with no gear other than what you have on you, you better know how to do more than just build a fire.
 
I'm not an expert in batoning (I've done a couple of times for the fun of it, but that's it), but my impression is that that blade needs to be longer than the width of the wood you are batoning. Otherwise, once you drive the blade fully into the log, there's nothing for you to hit to keep it moving - you need something sticking out the other side from the handle to keep hammering it through the wood. The blade length on the Spyderco Police 4 is a little over 4", and the edge length is a little under 4". So you can only use this to baton wood that is less than 3.5" in diameter or so. With wood that small, you can just burn it as-is, no need to split it in an emergency situation.

So there's a couple of different ways I might answer your question:
1) There's not much point in batoning with this blade., since the things it might be long enough to baton can be burned full-width.
2) You are extremely likely to break this knife while batoning - this is a very thin, slicely blade, which is not likely to survive any serious batoning.
3) It strikes me as a fairly unlikely circumstance that the only way to get a fire going is by batoning. I probably wouldn't baton with ANY knife, if I'm in a serious survival situation and it's my only blade. It's simply not worth it.

-Tyson
 
This is my wilderness survival knife. I'm not batoning Scheiß.
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A dirt nap in the middle of the woods. Nice. Because why go for help when you can just lay there together.
 
Triton said:
Okay, I'm perplexed but I'll bite. What would you baton to make a stretcher? A long limb or sapling 4 or 5 feet long? How would splitting said limb or sampling help with stretcher construction when you could just use the whole limb or sapling? Or are we saying that we have a large diameter tree trunk that we are batonning because that's the only thing available?
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Tree fork snap the limb. Baton to make it a bit less spikey. And even here you might want to baton a notch in the wood.

I think the idea is you just find these perfectly perfect bits of wood.

But I have generally needed to clean them up to use them. Or they get caught on everything dig on to you or him.
 
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Drop bear said:
Tree fork snap the limb. Baton to make it a bit less spikey. And even here you might want to baton a notch in the wood.

I think the idea is you just find these perfectly perfect bits of wood.

But I have generally needed to clean them up to use them. Or they get caught on everything dig on to you or him.
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So I haven't actually tried it but wouldn't it make more sense just to get a sappling of the right dimensions and trim it down with your knife if needed?
 
If there are enough guys on a wilderness outing to carry a stretcher, with one guy riding on it, at least one of you should have brought a hatchet on the outing. Maybe a folding saw as well.

I just can't imagine going out into the wild without something as basic as a hatchet (or in the case of a jungle environment, a machete).
 
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Quiet said:
Man, I'm an outdoorsman myself and am having a hard time visualizing a time when I'd be out in the woods without the correct tools. I absolutely would not consider a Police 4 as appropriate for batoning. It's not designed to serve in that role at all. It's a very thin, stabby, slicey blade that better serves as an EDC letter/package opener, and a self-defense tool in a pinch.

COULD it do it? Maybe? But if you're buying a knife specifically with that purpose in mind, that still needed to be a folder, I personally would be looking at something from say, Cold Steel.
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Or if we’re talking fixed, perhaps the legendary BK2.
 
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