Why do you baton?

You gotta split the wood in order to find the spoon!!!!

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Okay - I got the spoon on the head tonight.....So I made this poor excuse for one with this log....
 
Rotte said:
1) Wood that is wet on the outside may be dry on the inside. Batonning/splitting wood reveals the dry interior.
2) Splitting wood x2 creates a sharp edge (a wedge in cross-section) with more access to O2. Easier to get split wood to light and burn.
3) Round logs often don't burn efficiently, but sort of smolder. Split the same log and it will burn hotter. (because of reason #2)

I usually collect the "small stuff" and it will burn okay--but when I am starting a fire, I'll even split/baton some small stuff to get those sharp edges. These split twigs catch more easily and burn hotter.

Fire good. :D
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Well said bro.:thumbup:
 
x39 said:
While I don't dismiss the experience of others, I have never encountered a situation where batoning a knife as prep for firewood would have provided any benefit at all. In fact, here in the Maine woods I rarely need a cutting tool of any kind to make a fire, regardless of the weather.
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Exactly my experience and thoughts. That's why I started this thread.

I never used any edged tool for fires for years. I always used hemlock twigs and/or birch bark for starting. I broke small stuff with my hands or over my knee and bigger stuff by stomping it. Really big stuff got dragged to the fire and pushed in farther as it burned. I started carrying a small axe on cold-weather camp-outs because cutting made it easier to stack logs for a longer burn.

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
when i was out camping on an island, we had a fairly large crowd and the majority did not know how to build a fire, besides my friend, me, and a couple of swiss soldiers that we met, no one knew how to build a fire. the only person with a knife was me, it was a small mora clipper. we dragged long pieces and set it so that the middle of the logs were in the fire and eventually the fire burned through it. after that we would just keep pushing the logs in and it kept burning. was quite a neat experience. what im trying to get at is that i agree with you its not necessary to have a knife to make fire.

as for the batoning? i like to split wood and make feather sticks for lighting my fire. i also use pine knots and pine pitch. birch bark as well. i guess i do it just because thats how i was taught to do it. gather wood. split wood. feather wood. light wood
 
Mongrel said:
If I am truly serious about being faced with the prospect of needing to build a fire in a wet environment I will adjust my load out to reflect it.

I see no advantage to carrying a 14" chopper over carrying a small hand axe. .......

:D
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Well, a lot of the knives i have made have been used for batoning, and are lightweight 4 and 5 inch blades. Sure, the 1/8 inch spine 9 inch blade choppers like tonym, monkeybutt, (and soon barberphobic) have are fun for batoning, they aren't really *required*

I find that batoning is easier for long rip splits than a small hand hatchet or hawk. The hawks and axes are really nice for notching. But there again is another reason to baton. Notching shelter poles.

For fires, several people have mentioned dry centers in wet wood, there are also woods that burn more easily or less easily. a good split often gives you some good fibers to get at to help with lighting, too.

If you do need to do shelter building, cross and rip batoning are both very useful.
 
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A saw would actually make more sense to cut say a 2 inch tree into sections, but if you split that it would burn a lot easier. You could split a 2 inch log with a mora though.
 
Bah Humbug! :D

i will never abuse my edged tools by whacking them on the spine. Nope, aint happening.

I WILL thunk them into the end of a piece fo wood and start a split, and THEN baton wooden wedges or stone wedges into the wood to further split it.

:grumpy:
 
I prefer to put whole round log into fire.
Because it burns slower and keeps fire longer.
Moreover, it produces better charcoal than cracked wood.
Good charcoal is very important for slow, stable cooking.
 
Most reasons have been allready listed... the main reason for me to use battoning is to get to the dry inner parts of wood. Once the fire is started, I too prefer round wood. Burns slower. Usually battoning is not needed, but its fun to do anyway, and saves the trouble of finding dry tinder :)

But, battoning doesnt always mean splitting wood. One can also for example cut a thick branch by battoning.
 
As someone who doesn't have a lot of experience with any size axe or hatchet, I find batoning to be much safer for the most part. When I was winter camping this past year over New Years Eve, I took my new GB SFA to use. It did an amazing job at limbing big dead trees, but when I got all my woods-plunder back to camp, anything other than sectioning the thick limbs was a tad awkward. I ended up using my BK7 to split some of the wood to help get a fire going. I didn't have a good base for chopping, and I even landed my SFA's edge into the rocks once or twice. So, my lack of skill and experience doesn't mean that the axe is inferior, but I am! When my hands were worn out, cramping, and frozen from gathering the wood and using the axe, I got clumsy with the SFA. There are safety arguments in the other direction I'm sure.

I'm actually out by the fire right now w/ my laptop, just enjoying the crisp weather. I just got a new small load of firewood today, and I had a lot of 2-3" rounds that I just put on the fire a few minutes ago next to some sections thin sections that I had split off with my SFA, and the thin sections did burn much more efficiently! I love learning new stuff!

Oh, and I'll raise my hand for being ridiculous!

Just some thoughts.
 
I generally dont need to baton to get firewood, I can usually find it as well. But its nice to know my fixed blade can handle the job if called upon. Like others have said, especially in a wet environment to get to the dry stuff. I dont carry a saw or axe with me usually although Im currently working on making a portable saw for myself.
 
gazz98 said:
I generally dont need to baton to get firewood, I can usually find it as well. But its nice to know my fixed blade can handle the job if called upon. Like others have said, especially in a wet environment to get to the dry stuff. I dont carry a saw or axe with me usually although Im currently working on making a portable saw for myself.
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Why type of saw are you making?
 
x39 said:
I prefer to break it by levering it between two trees or big rocks. Seems a bit safer to me and doesn't require quite as much energy expenditure. :thumbup:
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I do the same. It also impresses people that have never done it. Get plenty of leverage and watch them snap to usable sizes. Actually, if you will be there all night, just push in longer pieces if you don't need the room around the fire. Loosearrow
 
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