Should i baton wood with an expensive knife?

Beast Steel said:
well the question was “should i baton with it?” there are many things you can use a knife for without batoning? even many old timers saying they never batoned before.

so i just thought that this was an appropriate question to ask for advice about........
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Actually batoning has been around for a long time, as I remember it being done in the late 80's when I got into knives. So not sure what old timers you mean. But I will tell you this much, if I find a knifemaker or knife company that doesn't believe their hard use chopper camp knife can be used for batoning I will walk away and never consider them.


jpm2 said:
What's more entertaining for me are the replies that say NO, do not use your knife, except maybe slicing apples, opening envelopes, cutting toilet paper for sharpness testing....
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So true these days.
 
This one has been batoned a few times. :)

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Beast Steel said:
well the question was “should i baton with it?”
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You've got experience batoning, and you picked a strong knife. I'd say heck yeah, if it makes you happy, go for it, that knife should take it fine. You may eat up batons pretty quickly with that swedge, though, but I doubt the knife itself will notice the beating.

Welcome to the forum BTW.
 
I would sell it and buy a Busse. Then beat the snot out of the Busse. IF you somehow manage to break the Busse, you will get it replaced for free.
 
It's a cold steel. Everyone knows they are virtually indestructable! And looking at their commecials they are toughest/sharpest knives in the world so baton away!
 
I use my Busse TGLB for batoning and it was a wee bit more costly than the AK47...

There is a saying that you can't take it with you when your dead....So you might as well enjoy it while you can.
 
If you feel the need to baton stuff and the only tool you have with you is a knife.... then by all means go for it.

Personally I rarely need to baton stuff with my knives. That has to do with how I do my outdoorsy stuff. I use industrial tools to process my firewood off site and then haul it in to where it is needed with a trailer. I get through a lot of firewood. If I am just backpacking to a nice place to bum around for the day I carry an alcohol stove (trangia) for on site food prep, or even just a thermos for food & drinks. On those days my knives are mostly used to prepare food and open packages. YMMV.
 
not2sharp , thanks for posting that photo. It's a perfect example of the foolish zone hardening showing that the spine is far too soft. When I want to baton I use my Monster Maul that is designed for the job !!!
 
2 parts to my answer:

1. It's your blade and if you buy it expecting to be able to baton it, then you should with no regrets. Plenty of people routinely baton with (what I would consider) expensive blades and many seem to really enjoy it.

2. I personally would never buy a knife exclusively to baton with. I can spend way less money on an axe that is designed for that and will do it better, quicker and with virtually no chance of breaking. If I want to feel really good about a knife I bought, there are other ways to do it. But that's just me and for some reason I've got a bug up my A#$ about baton'ing with knives.... Not sure what that's about. Maybe a talking point for my next shrink appointment ;-)
 
There are tools intended for that purpose that eliminates the hassle and need to baton such as mauls, machetes, and chainsaws. Its a matter of using the right tool for the job.
 
Bufford said:
There are tools intended for that purpose that eliminates the hassle and need to baton such as mauls, machetes, and chainsaws. Its a matter of using the right tool for the job.
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No doubt. In fact, there are many other ways of getting wood without batoning, you can lever small to medium pieces between trees and break them off without ever batoning or chopping. I would hope that if someone is batoning it is because they have to or are testing their equipment and ability to do so. The knife should still be designed to take it.
 
It'll handle wood processing just fine. Food prep and other practical tasks however, would leave much to be desired.
 
Cobalt said:
You do stand corrected because the above is not what you stated, this is:
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Maybe you didn't understand what I wrote? I said "I stand corrected." So, insisting I stand corrected is nonsensical unless there's a point that you're trying to prove? I'm not quite sure what that point is and whether it's even worth the effort you took.

Me saying "I didn't know Porsche dealers offers an off-road trim package" is NOT contradictory to me saying, "It's like asking, "Should I go off-roading in my Porsche." " As a matter of fact, one would think it explains why I didn't know that Porsches are regularly taken off-road.

I mean if what you want is to drive home your point and prove it, I'm open to you taking me off-roading in your Porsche.

Be well and feel good you won another internet argument.
 
I wouldn't baton with an expensive knife (personal choice) unless I was stranded somewhere without an axe/hatchet and had to, then, of course I would :D
 
The chances of significantly damaging that knife by batoning through wood, in my estimation, are effectively zero. I can't see it being a problem. 0.2" of 3V is nothing to sneeze at.
 
Steve6387 said:
I can spend way less money on an axe that is designed for that and will do it better, quicker and with virtually no chance of breaking.
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I've seen plenty of broken and deformed axes.
Bufford said:
There are tools intended for that purpose that eliminates the hassle and need to baton such as mauls, machetes, and chainsaws. Its a matter of using the right tool for the job.
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The right tool for the job is a 1/4 inch thick knife. Done the axe, splitting maul, various hatchets, machetes etc...the quickest and safest way for me to get kindling is with a knife. I haven't tried a froe, but that's what the big knives are. A froe with a different kind of handle.

Now if we're talking splitting a cord of wood, that's WAY different and I think it's this vision of splitting giant logs that leads people to believe you can't use a knife. When I baton with a knife it's to get just enough kindling to get the fire going. After that, if you're splitting wood you're doing it because it's fun and not because you need to IMO.
 
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