To baton or not, that is the question

[Tuxdad]

For me in low light or needing precision splittling, I'll baton.. If I had a decent hatchet or axe(lost it while limbing trees), I'd use that for daytime work where I could see pretty good..

I do know a few folks who baton simply because they don't feel all that comfy swinging an axe or hatchet... I'll admit I was pretty much the same way until I found a good axe or hatchet that fit me well..

 

[baldtaco-II]

I have done the baton thing but I guess rather like throwing knives at trees or digging them into ground that may contain rocks, it is something I grew out of a long time ago.

That said, I think I should be more precise about what the use of a baton means to me. The reason being that simply because I'm using a striking implement in no way necessarily means I'm doing some of the stunts I hear of. I've got no qualms about chisel cutting. I'll happily strike the spine of a knife with the palm of my hand or a small stick. To that extent I suppose I am using a baton, but I'm not driving it any harder than one would a chisel or to drive tacks. Even when I've brought the #2 rather than an ax I seldom need to compensate for my poor judgment by hitting it much harder than that. Even though I'm certain the #2 can take much more than a moderate drift through, that would defeat the object of the exercise. It's not a survival situation so learning to muddle through by clubbing it with a maul is learning wasted, instead what I need is punishment – either to the tune of “go home dipshit and get the proper tool”, or find a solution that doesn't involve cutting / chopping X.

 

[tholiver]

"I've batoned on occasion but prefer to use an ax for such work."

Thats my answer.
Before Ray Mears i though a baton was just the stick thing-y those runner dudes handed to their team-mates in races.


For contrast i've only batoned using my Moras and a Becker Campanion blade blank.
Thin and thick both work for batoning apparently.

 

[Fallbrook Forge]

my thing is this, axes are heavy, and rather limited in thier uses, my thoughts are, well I can chop a tree down, or filet a fish, or make a spear, or split kindling, or cut my cheese, or limb a small tree all with a medium to large camp knife.

not sure I could do all that with a axe or hatchet, that I love knives and using them.

 

[tholiver]

my thing is this, axes are heavy, and rather limited in thier uses, my thoughts are, well I can chop a tree down, or filet a fish, or make a spear, or split kindling, or cut my cheese, or limb a small tree all with a medium to large camp knife.

Most big camp knives are thick and heavy and at least as heavy (if not more so) than a hatchet.
A 14 inch Fiskars will outchop a lot of (or even most) camp knives and is actually lighter than a lot of them.

I have an old Norlund hatchet that only weighs about 17 ounces and is a fierce little chopper.

And IMO most camp knives aren't much better at "finese" work than a hatchet.

That being said i do love both! lol!

 

[SubaruSTi]

I baton all the time. If I didnt have a Busse to do it with I probably would never do it though. You need a knife thats tough enough / made for abuse.

Batoning is a hell of alot safer than to swing a axe and it does a better job.

 

[Flotsam]

I do it all the time to split kindling for my firepit - I've split a whole lot of 2-3" rounds (or equivalent chunks) of seasoned maple w/ my Frost's Mora Clipper - still going strong. I use a maul for the really big stuff (>12" diameter) & and axe for the in between stuff.

 

[BarberFobic1992]

batoning has its uses and i baton often, especially when i need a specific thickness of wood. however, i do prefer an axe for splitting large quantities of wood.

 

[defaultuser]

I admit I baton quite a bit, as I find it safer than swigging an axe. For big logs, though, a heavy axe is my prefered tool...but I never have to split big logs while camping.

 

[pitdog]

I will usually break my large rounds down to smaller sizes with an axe but once they get too small to stand up on their own, say 2" across then I batton with a knife to get my small stove kindling. I find it hard to understand how someone could find it easier to use an axe on this small stuff ?

 

[Vivi]

I'm amazed that after I've posted videos and photos of me batoning such knives as a Spyderco UK pen Knife and an Opinel #10 it's so controversial. It's really not that hard on a knife if you use good technique. It's not something I do every day, or even every month, but it's a useful skill to know. Why such drama over a damn skill for the outdoors? It's like crying about someone boiling water or making a trap. No, you don't need to build traps every time you go on a dayhike, but it's a good thing to know how to do.

I will say that wood split into 4 sections burns much more efficiently than a whole log.

 

[pitdog]

I'm amazed that after I've posted videos and photos of me batoning such knives as a Spyderco UK pen Knife and an Opinel #10 it's so controversial. It's really not that hard on a knife if you use good technique. It's not something I do every day, or even every month, but it's a useful skill to know. Why such drama over a damn skill for the outdoors? It's like crying about someone boiling water or making a trap. No, you don't need to build traps every time you go on a dayhike, but it's a good thing to know how to do.

To me it's not even a skill for the outdoors, I just do it most days this time of year to make kindling for my woodstove !!!

 

[kgd]

This thing about batoning being hard on an outdoor knife is kind of a shame I think. I've batoned every knife I've had and never observed this to cause stress on the knife. I've done this out of curiosity with my Henckle butcher knife, and the edge was no less for wear. Batoning doesn't even dull the edge, or at least, no more than whittling.

You don't need a busse to baton. A mora will take it just as well. Whether you think it is efficient or not is a very personal choice. But this claim that the act is hard on outdoors knives, stick tang or not, is I think a complete myth.

 

[jackncoke]

I will usually break my large rounds down to smaller sizes with an axe but once they get too small to stand up on their own, say 2" across then I batton with a knife to get my small stove kindling. I find it hard to understand how someone could find it easier to use an axe on this small stuff ?

I agree...I just went out in my backyard again tonight to try and split some more wood with my G.B. hatchet to get some additional insight to this debate. I agreee with this poster in that splitting medium sized pieces of wood is more cumbersome with an axe/hatchet when the wood won't stand on it's own. It was a waste of my time to say the least. I think axes are perfect for splitting LARGE logs. I think a hatchet is perfect for removing limbs, chopping down small saplings, and cutting in general. I do not find them useful in splitting wood whatsoever. Each tool has it's place and each of us has our preferances.

 

[MorkalebKN]

Right tool for the right job.

I feel that if i'm in a situation where my axe won't do the job it was made for as well as a knife that is not made for it. It's a crappy axe. I can use my axe for any task an axe is made for, from splitting a log 2' wide all the way down to splitting a piece of kindling less than 1/4" wide. The only task i use my knife for when it comes to firewood work, would be making a fuzz stick, or feathering a piece of kindling.

In the past, I used to carry a BK9, which is a great knife and I used it for all my firewood needs, up to and including splitting large logs. I have since discovered that axes are faster and more efficient for all of these tasks, and my BK9 was retired (ok, it was stolen and I didn't replace it, same end result for me though). I now carry a benchmade 201 activator in D2, and a fiskars axe or hatchet, depending on where I am going.

 

[Vivi]

Right tool for the job?

Right tool for splitting wood using a baton would be a froe. Oh, and look, a froe more closely resembles a large knife than a hatchet.



I find hatchets and axes good for many things. Not very good for splitting apart logs for firewood though. Maybe if you have a chainsaw handy so you have nice 8 inch logs that can stand up, but in the wilderness I tend to leave the chainsaws at home.

Seriously though, I find it easier to control a knife with a baton than I do trying to swing an axe into the top of a log I broke by stomping apart. Much less risky IMO.

 

[MorkalebKN]

That's why you need the right axe, just lay that puppy on it's side, one easy half swing and the log is in two, two more easy half swings later, and it's quatered.

 

[falnovice]

While I am not directly opposed to batoning I will say I have never found the need for it. I live in Downeast Maine and even in the middle of mud-season I have never had to resort to spilting wood to find something dry enough to burn.
In the interest of full disclosure I will admit that I am more of a hatchet guy when it comes to general purpose woods tools. And yes, I did pick that up from my Grandfather. He wouldn't head into the woods without a hatchet on his belt.
Of course he always had at least one knife with him at all times as well.

 

[Bushman5]

sounds like some of you need to get some proper woods time with an axe and hatchet.

You would be amazed what a good axe and hatchet will do, everything from shaving fuzzies for firestarting to splitting kindling, to felling trees, to splitting firewood, dressing game, food prep, cabin building, canoe building, lean to building, trap building, shingle making, ice gathering, finishing off an animal, splitting logs lengthwise, pounding in fencepoles, breaking animal bones to get the marrow, notching poles, notching logs when raft building, splitting upright chunks of firewood, splitting firewood lying on the ground.

I cringe when i hear people say that they cannot chop firewood because the ends are not flat....one only needs to place the non flat chunk of wood between a couple of stout chunks of wood to brace it, or lay it flat on two pieces of wood and split it horizontally or lengthwise.

this country was built with axes. not knives. Knives played a VERY important role yes, i will not deny that, but our forefathers and pioneers (both USA and Canada) used axes.

back to the debate!

 

[Grampa]

I just don't get the problem with batoning! I've been doing it for as long as I can remember being in the woods, with anything from a SAK to a machete. Never done any harm to the knife. Never knew it was called batoning - I just called it "splitting or notching wood with a knife."

I'm no stranger to an axe, and have spent a myriad of hours chopping and splitting with one, but when hiking, I not going to carry a full-sized axe, and a 4" blade knife is a heck of a lot lighter, and can do what all I need.

Split a couple of cords of wood for the stove? An axe, for sure!

Build a fire 5 miles into the woods by foot? A knife, for sure!