Survivalist's love of "batoning" with a knife seems abusive & impractical

kaotikross said:
I suppose to each his/her own. I'd bet some money that batoning is HIGHLY recommend as a way to "test knives", lol, of course,it falls under "abuse" and guess what happens during failure? The user can buy another knife. :D If ANYONE can show me even ONE guarantee of a knife being "baton proof", I'd like to see it, but you won't find it. So, if makers/companies show these videos but WON'T offer a "baton guarantee", what does that tell the end user? Put on the thinking caps, folks. ;)
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There are several knife companies who have warranties that are essentially "we will cover your knife no matter what". So batoning would be covered.
 
Tuco23 said:
Some people “Get dumped off” some people hike. When you actually have to carry “some supplies” you get realistic about what comes along. That means double duty for certain tools. Nothing new about it.
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The places I go I cant park my car and go for a walk :)

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And believe me I know about carrying weight

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Please go back to talking about your weekend camping trips :)
 
Agree with tuco on the weight, anyway. In my 20+ years of backpacking and minimalist camping, I have never needed to baton to start a fire. I have always been able to scavenge what I need to get a fire going, even in damp weather. On multi day trips. I don't even take a knife I'd be comfortable batoning with anyway.

I do think it's a neat trick and have done it when car camping or when camping with the family out of my camper when supplies and weight were not issues I needed to worry about.
 
asdf12345 said:
What I don't understand about the baton test is why folding knives are tested with the lock engaged. If I remember correctly, the proper way of batoning with a folder is with the lock disengaged.
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This is correct, and does NOT put terrible stress on the lock when done this way. IMO.
The batoning aspect is not generally a planned thing, but rather something that can be done, with care, when and if the situation demands.
Certainly, the one who plans well and spends time in the woods will have an axe, hatchet, larger fixed blade in his possession.
 
JParanee said:
I fnd it funny that this new generation of outdoorsman think they have invented anything
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I can't really speak for the old school outdoors men as they far exceed my experience and age. However, what I assumed with baton-ing is that people have been doing it for some time but only recently (10 years or so since 'bushcraft' got big) have people been talking about it in any detail. It's like it was a thing that did exist but noone bothered talking ab out it because there are tools for the job, but now lots of people go for that 'know more carry less' attitude, we end up with pictures of snapped knives, overly thick blades and bum hurt people who refuse to use axes..

And I do understand the need to go lightweight if you're a backpacker/hiker who travles frigging miles into the boonies but there are light weight axes out there. Not that you'll even need an axe or any tool to process wood as there are millions of tonnes of wood and twigs scattered about anyway! Even when I was a boy I learned how to snap a stick over my leg to make it smaller, so why can't us adults do the same?
 
Great photos! Looks like you had a nice trip to Alaska. I am from Colorado, and know all about guys on guided hunts getting back to nature. Next time try batoning. You will enjoy it I swear and your knife won’t even break. :)
 
Tuco23 said:
Great photos! Looks like you had a nice trip to Alaska. I am from Colorado, and know all about guys on guided hunts getting back to nature. Next time try batoning. You will enjoy it I swear and your knife won’t even break. :)
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Thanks for the advice :)
 
Samon said:
I can't really speak for the old school outdoors men as they far exceed my experience and age. However, what I assumed with baton-ing is that people have been doing it for some time but only recently (10 years or so since 'bushcraft' got big) have people been talking about it in any detail. It's like it was a thing that did exist but noone bothered talking ab out it because there are tools for the job, but now lots of people go for that 'know more carry less' attitude, we end up with pictures of snapped knives, overly thick blades and bum hurt people who refuse to use axes..

And I do understand the need to go lightweight if you're a backpacker/hiker who travles frigging miles into the boonies but there are light weight axes out there. Not that you'll even need an axe or any tool to process wood as there are millions of tonnes of wood and twigs scattered about anyway! Even when I was a boy I learned how to snap a stick over my leg to make it smaller, so why can't us adults do the same?
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I have batoned when in certain situations but all I am saying is that if I am really spending time in remote country I'll lug certain items like a small saw etc. If I am constantly foraging for wood for weeks at a time I'm not gonna consider my knife and a stick my primary wood processing tool

I can say in a lot of years spent in remote places I have never seen people baton to the extent that I see it talked about now

Sure in a jam you do what you have to but in general I'm not gonna beat up my knife to bad
 
I think it's a fad, for most people I think it's even a bit silly.

I don't mind people doing various things with their knives, If you buy a knife and want to abuse it in various ways, that's your business. I don't agree with perpetuating the fad, but certainly there could be someone somewhere that really would have to use a knife this way.

I've been out in the middle of nowhere for days, but I was carrying a tent, sleeping bag and stove in my backpack. I was also only carrying a small light knife and hardly even needed it. If I'm not backpacking then I'm usually near my car and I will carry more appropriate tools. I've actually carried my Cold Steel SRK every time for over 15 years when car camping and never had the opportunity to use it for anything.
 
What kind of small aircraft is that and did you build it? I only ask because several family members are licensed to operate small aircraft, and they opt to build their own from the ground up as well.
 
bdmicarta said:
I think it's a fad, for most people I think it's even a bit silly.

I don't mind people doing various things with their knives, If you buy a knife and want to abuse it in various ways, that's your business. I don't agree with perpetuating the fad, but certainly there could be someone somewhere that really would have to use a knife this way.

I've been out in the middle of nowhere for days, but I was carrying a tent, sleeping bag and stove in my backpack. I was also only carrying a small light knife and hardly even needed it. If I'm not backpacking then I'm usually near my car and I will carry more appropriate tools. I've actually carried my Cold Steel SRK every time for over 15 years when car camping and never had the opportunity to use it for anything.
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I too thought it was a fad but I guess they have been teaching it for the past 50 years at least, or so one fellow member has said. So apparently I was incorrect about that.
 
I just spent 10 days floating the Amazon

In all that time we ate fish we caught

I was with River People that live off the land and are quite handy in all matters of bushcraft

Now don't get me wrong they are not from Colorado :) but they can live off the land better than I would say the average weekend hiker

They of course being South America reall like machetes and they all carried a 8 to ten inch utility style knife

This was there primary cuttng tool

They would find a flat rock and were constantly keeping the edge keen

We made a lot of fires and slept in hammocks when we would leave the boat

Not once did I see them Baton with their knife and they were constantly processing wood

In fact I am sure if I would have grabbed one of their knives and went to beating on it they would have been less than pleased


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When your remote and you can not replace your tools it seems expierence bush rafters use the right tool for the job

Don't dont get me wrong if your kick is weekend camping and you want to see what you can do with just packing a knife more power to you

But in reality in other places around the globe it is considered a last ditch thing to have to do
 
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Im with Joe use the right tool for the job a knife should be able to baton a lot but should be done sparingly if you cant get a new one. Also how did they process wood did they use saws, axes or machetes?
 
sideways said:
That's not a remote, This is a remote. -37.825833, 77.554722
:D
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I'm trying to punch it up but for me it's coming up somewhere in the Indian ocean :)

Where is it ?

You have me curious now :)

The most remote that I have been and again it's not Colorado :) is when I hkied in the Pamirs and dropped into Afganistan thru Tajikistan

Way above timber line 17500 we burned yak shit but again when we dropped below and did burn wood I never saw one person baton and these were hard guys that lived off the land

I bet they knew how to they just could not get another knife and they took care of it

Now they didn't have overbuilt cool guy bushcraft knives but they didn't seem to need them

Sure man has batoned their edged tools since the dawn of time but it seems to be popular with a certain part of the bushcraft market just like today's overbuilt tactical folders. Hell what ever sells knives I'm down for :)
 
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Im kind of a young gun compared to many on this forum(27) but in my whole life Id never heard of battoning until I read about it here. I definately got through life without it for a long time haha and Im a big time camper. Ive also done many "survival campouts" where my buddy and I will go out for a few days with very limited supplies. Usually just a hatchet (or big fixed blade), a folder, a water purifier, and a fire starter of one type or another (a lighter if were feeling particularly lazy) and on some occasions well also bring a .22 rifle or shotgun.

Anyways, I kind of went off topic. I never heard of battoning in about 20 years until I got here. Now I do it quite often. Mainly just because its kind of fun and I enjoy using my knives every chance I get. It will never take the place of a splitting maul or hatchet but it definately has its own benefits.
 
I think you might be confusing Colorado with a far more remote area... not that some parts of it aren't uber cool and all. ;)
 
It's about as far away from people as you can get. It's a two week boat ride from Mauritius on one of the supply boats. There is no other easy way in. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Ele_Amsterdam

Penguins, big old crabs, feral cows (culled in 2010), and about 20 frozen scientists and supports staff.

Now I'm curious about the right way to baton yak shit. :D
 
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