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Why?

ron finkbeiner jr

ron finkbeiner jr

Gold Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2012
Messages
3,357
First of all I cry ya'lls pardon if I placed this I When the wrong forum. I did so I guess to get an answer from your Pov instead of the other side. Why do people baton wood with a fixed blade? I have seen so many videos of broken blades on YouTube and have made a few comments to such when the people break their blades and blame the manufacturer for inferior manufacturing practices when the blame clearly falls on the consumer. Right tool for the right job! Common sense right?
 
First, to answer the why. It is done to get at the dry material on the inside of the wood and to create facets and surfaces that can catch fire.

Regarding the right tool for the job. Why would a knife be the wrong tool for this? It can be done, it can be done safely and it can be done fairly easily and without training. And if a piece of HARDENED STEEL breaks because you beat it with a stick then maybe, just maybe there was something wrong with the manufacturing process. Put another way, if you were to put the piece of steel on the end of a stick, swing it at the wood and the steel split in half, did you use the wrong tool for the job?
 
Machetes I can see but a regular field knife was not designed to be beat on. Field knives are good for field task light chopping, dressing game, carving spear points etc. I am just stating an opinion nothing more. I never used a knife like that when I was a Navy Corpsman stationed with the Marines, we always used a hatchet or axe if we had one. Usually did as they were issued out with our hummers. It just seems like the batonning thing is a fad in my opinion. Better to have an axe or hatchet.
 
Yes, you could argue that an axe or a hatchet is a "better" tool for the job but you stated that it is reasonable to expect a piece of hardened steel to break if you beat on it with a stick. Additionally you claim to have spread this opinion, and what good would this do except help protect the profit of manufacturers that make inferior and in some cases even dangerous products?
 
I think some people really just prefer batonning, and thick bladed full tang knives are better at that.
 
This thread pertains to an ongoing discussion on the merits of large knives vs. axes and the thread starter wanted the opinion of admitted "axe people",so this was moved from the Axes subforum why?
 
It is lots of fun, and IMO easier (if not faster) than a hatchet or an axe. Plus, a knife is lighter weight, and you can chop and cut up your food.
 
And Becker and ESEE say in the warranty that they were made for it. Ethan Becker has gladly replaced people's knives that have broken from batoning. (In fact, he replaced a broken Camillius BK9 with an updated version just a few weeks ago.)
 
Why?

Batoning is both a safe and fast way to split firewood!

c9te.jpg


The pic shows a Gränsfors Mini Hatchet and a Fällkniven Odin.
The Odin outperformed the GB with a large margin!

Regards
Mikael
 
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As long as you apply a bit of common sense, batoning is fine. I always try to save weight since I don't car camp, and tend to travel long distances outdoors. Even on a horse you have somewhat limited space (although I do pack a khukri or something like in a saddle bag). So I don't usually have the luxury of an axe or a big chopper.

I've been batoning through wood for a couple of decades, since before I knew it was called "batoning" or had read anything about bushcraft, and I've yet to damage a knife. I don't tend to use super thick sharpened prybars, either. I've batoned with my Scandi knives lots and lots of times. You just need to select the wood carefuly and understand the limitations of your knife. On YouTube I've seen blokes trying to baton through huge logs, that's asking for trouble.
 
I always have an axe at camp, but when I am out hunting I only carry knives. Batoning wood is a good technique that saves energy. It also may not be feasible to bring an axe along with you. Perhaps the OP should try batoning before casting judgement...

Furthermore a machete or kukri are not the be all end all for wood chopping...I live in canada where there is a lot of hard wood, which a machete would not be suited for. Our soft wood typically has a ton of knotts in it. Using a machete on a tree out here would be exhausting.
 
I think the more important question is why does a new thread get started on this subject almost daily.
 
This is the technique used at my camp...

[video=youtube_share;hOMxnWPgUlk]http://youtu.be/hOMxnWPgUlk[/video]
 
Anyone that finds themselves in an oh crap situation, car sliding of a back road, broke down, lost hunting, etc., is likely not going to have on their person an axe, hatchet, maul or any number of tools better suited for processing firewood or cutting poles for shelter. Your survival knife is the one you have on you. As others have mentioned certain knives can split more efficiently than a hatchet, especially for small knidling, and knives tend to carry more efficiently. Hence you are more likely to have one if oh crap happens. Get your fixed blade, go to the woods and learn how to use it, and carry it. You will be able to build a shelter, get dry firewood to keep warm, and pick through the ice to get water, if the need ever arises.
 
But if I am not lost, broke down or car sliding why not use an axe, hatchet, maul or any number of tools better suited for the task at hand?
 
I burn about 7 to 8 cords of oak every winter. There are two seasons where I live, wood making season and wood burning season. I never use a knife, axe, hatchet, maul, or any hand tool to cut or split wood. I use chainsaws and hydraulic wood splitters. I own all of the above just in case, but really, why do I need them? I need them just in case. That's why. If camping, I'll bring my G-B hatchet along, but I can split fine kindling much easier and safer using a knife.
 
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