Should i baton wood with an expensive knife?

In a survival situation, of course, beat that thing away.

Doing a internet bushcraft video to show off your new knife? Hit that thing hard please and lets see if you can break it.

In a normal situation where you can bring proper tools, no way I'd be batoning my knife. You should use a proper tool for the job, a hatchet in this case.
 
MAD777 said:
Why did you buy it if you weren't going to use it. It's a tool, isn't it? If you wanted a piece of decoration to hang over the fireplace, an old ornate pirate sword & dagger would be a better choice. I hope I'm not sounding too harsh.
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Precisely. For Scagel's sakes you bought the darn thing, do whatever you want with it. Throw it into trees, put it in a safe deposit box, make a little pink dress for it and call it Nancy.

I assume you bought this "expensive knife" for some reason. Do that with it.
 
A true outdoor knife is made to handle batoning. Just don't be silly and baton extremely hard wood or insanely knoty wood.

I've had my 8lb splitting maul bounce endlessly on a 12inch round piece of wet oak.

Use it judiciously.
 
In these threads we eventually hear the "Right tool for the job" statement. While there is wisdom in the phrase. Many items were created for one purpose but still can excel in others. Just my opinion. Overall, you paid for the knife, use it as you wish, have fun.
 
DeadboxHero said:
Just don't be silly and baton extremely hard wood or insanely knoty wood.
Use it judiciously.
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That was my recommendation at the start of this thread.

A $200 knife purchased to use would not stop me from using it "judiciously". A $1000 knife is another story. Use it and discover if it works for you. I think it probably will.

Added: I'm done here unless something changes.
 
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Rey HRH said:
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.
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Sorry, thought you were being sarcastic since porsche does not make an off road 911.
 
Shotgun said:
I've seen plenty of broken and deformed axes.

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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Sounds like too much work, but perhaps its the type of forest at your location. Here in the Boreal forest there is no need to finely chop wood for kindling, as there is plenty of small twigs available for that. After heavy rains and storms it is easy to find dry kindling from the small dead branches found on trees near the trunk, particularly Balsam fir. Its resinous and ignites quite easily. When camping in my younger years further south I used the dry branches from pine trees, worked well too.
 
Bufford said:
Sounds like too much work, but perhaps its the type of forest at your location. Here in the Boreal forest there is no need to finely chop wood for kindling, as there is plenty of small twigs available for that. After heavy rains and storms it is easy to find dry kindling from the small dead branches found on trees near the trunk, particularly Balsam fir. Its resinous and ignites quite easily. When camping in my younger years further south I used the dry branches from pine trees, worked well too.
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It really depends on location and conditions.
The place I camp most often is a bit of a drainage basin, so it's always damp...but I can get things going with twigs for the most part.
However, last time I was out during a storm, after it had rained for a bunch, after a bunch of rain during the week, it was like walking through a swamp rather than a forest, and even the standing deadwood was really, really wet.

That day splitting wood to get something dry was required.
One of the very few times that it was actually required for me to get a fire going.

But you still don't need to split logs. ;)
Unless you just plain feel like it...in that case, go for it! :D
 
I would say - the knife in question should handle batoning with ease if the situation dictates or you just want to have some fun (that is why we pay obscene amounts of money for our knives in the first place, right?).

My point would be that 5" blade is a little too short for any efficient wood cutting/chopping activities. I would rather get something like this or this instead. I actually have that Kanenori Nata Hatchet (keep it under my reserve wheel in the car) - it was impressive how fast I could cut into pieces large wooden palette. It has bad ass carbon steel blade.
 
It's 3v.... You can baton the shit out of it (assuming that you're batoning through wood and not concrete)... It will have zero impact on the knife.

Have you seen abuse tests of knives built with 3v? MBB batons their 3v blades through steel and it comes out hair shaving sharp. Honestly, unless there is a really shit heat treat, the knife won't even know it's being slammed through wood.
 
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Use that sucker! No regrets! The only regret you'll have is if you DON'T use it.
 
And one more. Not to do some real work with a knife like that is like buying a Subaru and asking whether you should take it on unpaved roads :) ... of course you should! :D
 
Very interesting set of replies. There seems to me to be two camps here. Ironically, both are saying use the right tool for the job, lol. The difference of opinion comes in choosing what is the right tool. Half of us think his big honking knife is the right tool and the other half thinks an axe is the right tool.

I wonder if the two camps are divided more or less between backpackers vs drive up campers. I saw one mention of hauling in wood on a trailer. Personally, I typically hike an excess of 10 miles per day and there's no way I'm lugging an axe. For my situation, a big honking knife is my axe, as well as serving all my tool needs. If I were a drive up camper, I might have a completely different opinion.
 
MAD777 said:
Very interesting set of replies. There seems to me to be two camps here. Ironically, both are saying use the right tool for the job, lol. The difference of opinion comes in choosing what is the right tool. Half of us think his big honking knife is the right tool and the other half thinks an axe is the right tool.

I wonder if the two camps are divided more or less between backpackers vs drive up campers. I saw one mention of hauling in wood on a trailer. Personally, I typically hike an excess of 10 miles per day and there's no way I'm lugging an axe. For my situation, a big honking knife is my axe, as well as serving all my tool needs. If I were a drive up camper, I might have a completely different opinion.
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Good observation, also climate is a factor. If it's cold and wet an axe is worth the extra weight to make work more efficient and effective.

With batoning, one needs to be more selective with what they harvest (knots,hard wood) even if the blade doesn't break, it will just get stuck and waste calories and time.

An axe can power through knotty wood no problem.

It really depends on if the work needed is worth the weight to get there.
Here in the summer with no rain. No tools are needed for a fire. I could get by with a slipjoint. In the winter I back an axe with my snowshoe camping.

But to the original question, yeah man, baton that sucker.

Its not abuse if done properly.
 
MAD777 said:
Very interesting set of replies. There seems to me to be two camps here. Ironically, both are saying use the right tool for the job, lol. The difference of opinion comes in choosing what is the right tool. Half of us think his big honking knife is the right tool and the other half thinks an axe is the right tool.

I wonder if the two camps are divided more or less between backpackers vs drive up campers. I saw one mention of hauling in wood on a trailer. Personally, I typically hike an excess of 10 miles per day and there's no way I'm lugging an axe. For my situation, a big honking knife is my axe, as well as serving all my tool needs. If I were a drive up camper, I might have a completely different opinion.
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I need some clarification on this. Do most people that Baton, chop a dead-fall down then quarter it up with their chopper into 18 inch chunks then baton/split the wood into kindling? If so that is ridiculous unless this is part of your work out routine. I cant imagine being out in the wilderness and going to this extreme to make a fire. In Canada you collect some small dry wood then add bigger chunks. This works in both winter and summer. I also own big knives and am not against battoning if I thought it was necessary. It just seems that most pictures are posted are some guy splitting chainsawed logs into kindling. Which a large knife will do just fine but an axe is king.
 
MONKEYAZZ said:
In Canada you collect some small dry wood then add bigger chunks.
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There was no dry wood to be found this day:

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And that was in Canada! :eek:

Wet wood split by a Canadian-born Canadian, with a knife made by that Canadian in Canada, with materials all sourced in Canada. :D


Tomorrow looks good weather-wise, so I'll be using the "twigs and chunks" method when I go to the same spot.
Uses less energy, and gets it done quicker. :thumbup:

There will still likely be batonning a plenty, but not due to any need...just because "Me man, me bash knife through wood with big stick" caveman-style fun. :)
 
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MONKEYAZZ said:
So was all that square cut wood that's split cut with a saw?
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Ah yes, my brother had a saw, so he sawed while I split.

There were other pieces split along the way that were not square ends, stuff that was laying on the ground.
Some of them had no dry wood at all, even in the center.
Standing deadwood was the best wood option that day for sure.

I have done the chopping wood to length then split it, but on smaller diameter stuff where the outlay of energy isn't too much, just to get kindling.
 
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