Why?

[mcrow]

Batoning IMO is really only something you'd do in a real survival situation or if you knife guy that just likes to see what a knife can handle.

In most situations where you need to break up/chop wood you'd likely have an axe or hatchet on hand that will get it done easier.

 

[Firestrike]

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?

It's Practical, it's fun, and gives us a reason to own big knives.

What's more fun is cutting a car to pieces with a Busse.

It's not practical but it sure is fun.

 

[ron finkbeiner jr]

I care because I want to. I care because I don't want to see someone damage their equipment needlessly when an ounce of prevention prevents a pound of problems. And I guess to be honest it just rubs me the wrong way. It's America, everyone is entitled to their opinions.

 

[dogstar]

Why?

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

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

Regards
Mikael

I find this hard to believe. Sorry. You sound like you know what your doing, but...

With batoning, it's whack, whack, whack.

With an axe, it's whack, twist.

Are you getting through the wood with one blow of the baton?

I'd like to see a video of the knife being faster than the axe.

 

[HwangJino]

I think batoning serves a purpose in case your Axe breaks?

 

[dogstar]

This is the technique I'm talking about. This guy is working pretty slowly and methodically. It is not dangerous, nor particularly strenuous. Do you think you can do this faster, with less effort, by batoning?
[video=youtube;7pGdq7Pzvr8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=7pGdq7Pzvr8[/video]

 

[Mikael W]

I find this hard to believe. Sorry. You sound like you know what your doing, but...

With batoning, it's whack, whack, whack.

With an axe, it's whack, twist.

Are you getting through the wood with one blow of the baton?

I'd like to see a video of the knife being faster than the axe.

Sorry, I don't do video's.
If my pic's aren't enough, You will have to watch a video from Mors Kochanski.

The video You showed, was with an ax I find too big for my needs.
I have used a knife for batoning, for more than 40 years.
If I say the knife was faster than the ax in the above shown example, that's how it was!

If You choose to not believe my statement, this can only be Your buisness.

The best way to see how it works, is if You do it Yourself and don't rely on Youtube vid's.

Regards
Mikael

 

[dogstar]

Sorry, I don't do video's.
If my pic's aren't enough, You will have to watch a video from Mors Kochanski.

The video You showed, was with an ax I find too big for my needs.
I have used a knife for batoning, for more than 40 years.
If I say the knife was faster than the ax in the above shown example, that's how it was!

If You choose to not believe my statement, this can only be Your buisness.

The best way to see how it works, is if You do it Yourself and don't rely on Youtube vid's.

Regards
Mikael

I have no problem with people choosing to baton a knife instead of using an axe. I just have a hard time believing it is faster than using an axe. Your photo doesn't prove anything.

I started out batoning blades. It worked, but I didn't really enjoy beating on my blades. The axe is efficient at processing wood, so that's what I use.
The video I posted shows a good technique for making kindling with an axe. Did you even watch it? What problem do you find with it?

 

[Mikael W]

I have no problem with people choosing to baton a knife instead of using a knife. I just have a hard time believing it is faster than using an axe. Your photo doesn't prove anything.

I started out batoning blades. It worked, but I didn't really enjoy beating on my blades. The axe is efficient at processing wood, so that's what I use.
The video I posted shows a good technique for making kindling with an axe. Did you even watch it? What problem do you find with it?

If You like the axe more than the knife, I'm ok with this!:thumbup:
I have no problems taking an axe instead of a knife, but IMO the knife is what I prefer.

I did watch the video You posted and I already commented it!
The ax in the video is too big for my needs!
I never carry an ax this big when camping.

The GB Mini-hatchet is the only one I really have had with me in the wilderness.
I have written about it "elsewhere" and I find it less useful than the 8" blade NL2 or the 8" Solingen knives.

I think GB should make an axe like the Hultafors 0,5 kg handforged ax, but at 13" lenght and 14oz/400grams weight.
They did in the past and I envy those who have them!

This knife is what I have carried and used since my early teens and it always managed to do the job.

Today it's retired after 4 decades of service and I use the NL2 or a Bark River Rouge.

I agree that my photo doesn't prove anything and that's why I asked You to check out the Video's with Mors Kochanski.

I'm sorry if You don't believe in what I say, but I can live with this.


Regards
Mikael

 

[dogstar]

I did watch the video You posted and I already commented it!
The ax in the video is too big for my needs!
I never carry an ax this big when camping.

The GB Mini-hatchet is the only one I really have had with me in the wilderness.
I have written about it "elsewhere" and I find it less useful than the 8" blade NL2 or the 8" Solingen knives.

You can use the same technique with the mini GB hatchet... of course on smaller pieces of wood, such as shown in your picture. On larger pieces of wood you have to hit multiple times along the side, but I doubt it will be slower than batoning.

How heavy is your 8" knife? How heavy is your GB hatchet? If weight is equal, I expect the axe to be faster every time. It's just physics. Axe is a thicker wedge. Axe has weight concentrated on a smaller edge.

You keep bringing up Mors... do you have a link to share? I have his book. He writes, "the axe is the most important of the basic brush tools. Outside of fire, little else can contribute more to living comfortably in the wilderness than knowing how to properly use a well-chosen axe." I have a hard time visualizing him saying that batoning a knife is faster than using an axe.

 

[Mikael W]

#1. You can use the same technique with the mini GB hatchet... of course on smaller pieces of wood, such as shown in your picture. On larger pieces of wood you have to hit multiple times along the side, but I doubt it will be slower than batoning.

#2.How heavy is your 8" knife? How heavy is your GB hatchet? If weight is equal, I expect the axe to be faster every time. It's just physics. Axe is a thicker wedge. Axe has weight concentrated on a smaller edge.


3#. You keep bringing up Mors... do you have a link to share? I have his book. He writes, "the axe is the most important of the basic brush tools. Outside of fire, little else can contribute more to living comfortably in the wilderness than knowing how to properly use a well-chosen axe." I have a hard time visualizing him saying that batoning a knife is faster than using an axe.

#1. Yes and I did!
The Sycomore Maplewood was spalted and the GB only split small pieces,as shown in the pic.
The knife split the whole piece in one moment.
Batoning was, as I said faster.

#2. The weight of the NL 2 is 380 grams and the GB is only 320 grams, a difference of 60 grams/2oz.
This makes a lot of difference as the GB also is shorter than the NL.
That's why I would like to see Gränsfors making the 400 gram axe again.
I will ask my neighbour if I can borrow his, for a more equal test.

#3. Mors doesn't say that the knife is faster than the axe, but he sure shows some skilled techniques!
I will never be as skilled as he is, but I have my own experiences and that's what I am showing.
You ask for video's and the best I know of is with him.
If You Google Mors Kochanski, You get all the links You will need!


Regards
Mikael

 

[dogstar]

Mikael,

I am enjoying our conversation, but it is very late in California and daytime in Sweden! 60g is 19% of 320g, but if you add all that weight in the axe head, it makes even a bigger difference. Have a nice Sunday.

 

[Mikael W]

That's ok!
See You later!:thumbup:

Regards
Mikael

 

[McVeyMac]

A little off-topic, but this gave me pause. Why are you burning so much wood? Is this fire place or wood stove burning? I use a very efficient wood stove to heat a 1500 sq.ft single story house to around 70'F, live in NW Montana about 90 miles from Canuckistan, 30 miles from Glacier Nat'l Park, and only burn ~3 cords of much softer dry Larch per season. Our cold season runs from late October through early April, or roughly six months. p.s. I use a chainsaw, then a maul or axe...

To clarify further, my daughter lives across the road from me, and she also has a wood stove. I typically process one to one and a half cord for her each winter. A single mom and business owner, so she does not burn that much. I too burn from October through April. From Nov. through Feb., I burn 1.5 to 2 cords a month, depending on how cold it is. This winter it has been closer to 2 a month.

At 56, I don't want to swing a maul any longer. I own several, and used them up till about 4 years ago. I get them out from time to time to maintain skill and keep in splitting shape, but the lions share of splitting chores is done hydraulically. I do have a Husky splitting axe that is much lighter than a maul. I will use the maul to split bigger rounds, greater than 13 or so inches, once, than go to the slitting axe for the rest. This setup works pretty well for me, and is probably about as fast as a hydraulic splitter if I work hard at it, but man it wears me out.

 

[ron finkbeiner jr]

I reckon I will just have to try this someday. I grew up in a house where my dad taught us to use a splitting maul and wedges when it was tough stuff. I have seen lots of videos where folks use a knife to do the job and when their knife breaks it's the manufacturer's fault. That's the only reason I brought up the right tool for the right job. Save your knives for the important stuff and use an axe for your heavy duty stuff.

 

[gytheran]

So what happens when the axe breaks?

 

[PURPLEDC]

I care because I want to. I care because I don't want to see someone damage their equipment needlessly when an ounce of prevention prevents a pound of problems. And I guess to be honest it just rubs me the wrong way. It's America, everyone is entitled to their opinions.

whenever these arguments come up I always have to reference the saying "more than one way to skin a cat". I dont chop, process or wittle wood. I have tried both methods just to see which I feel I am more comfortable with and I actually prefer the method of batoning. Our entire history as a society is based on constantly improving on ways to do things. And many times this means doing things differently than another person. Because while using an axe may be your prefered method and what you are most comfortable with it may be the exact opposite for another person. So which way is right? Is your way better for the person who never feels comfortable with an axe? swinging a 10 lb sharpened sledge hammer to some is not very efficient. And if someone feels safer and more comfortable doing something different than you it doesnt make it wrong, just different. If someone is doing something the easiest and safest way unique to them then there is NO person that should tell them they arent using the right tool for the job. Because the right tool for the job actually IS the one that they feel most comfortable and can perform the job the best.

 

[Codger_64]

So what happens when the axe breaks?

How does one break an axe or hatchet? In a half century of using both I have never broken one. How do you do it? I read people here saying things about hitting your leg or foot with an axe. Why would you do that? Does one usually hit themselves in the foot or head when they swing a baseball bat or sledge hammer?

 

[gytheran]

How does one break an axe or hatchet? In a half century of using both I have never broken one. How do you do it? I read people here saying things about hitting your leg or foot with an axe. Why would you do that? Does one usually hit themselves in the foot or head when they swing a baseball bat or sledge hammer?

Right Here

 

[KingKoma]

A common way of breaking an axe is overstrikes, but this could be considered a user error. Besides this, if you use a wooden haft you have to deal with a natural material that is as such notoriously fickle with a large spectrum of things that might make it fail. Same as with wood handled knives, if that breaks then so be it. On the other hand, if the axe head broke in half on contact with wood or if it blew out a large chunk of the edge I would suspect a manufacturing error and would want my money back. Same as with a knife.