Dont batton with your knife

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Stringmaker

Native
Sep 6, 2010
1,891
1
UK
Nice one Teepee!

I baton with a knife all the time, using my trusty ash mallet.

I baton usually wrist thick stuff either for kindling or more usually to start my next spoon/carving project. Using an axe for that is overkill as the knife can more than cope with it. Mary's photos also very clearly showed that there is a technique, especially with thicker wood. Don't just hammer and hope for the best; understand and work with the grain and all will be well.
 

Emdiesse

Settler
Jan 9, 2005
629
5
Surrey, UK
I once heard, the right tool for the job, is the one you have on you.
I think the main reason people use a knife is when they haven't got an axe or one on them.
Many do not carry an axe as it's a little overkill for a single overnighter or a weekender or they just do not feel comfortable with one.

I use my axe if I have it
I use my knife if I don't

Bushcraft is all about adaptability, right?

If I didn't have my knife or my axe then i'd need to adapt... look for crack I could jam a sharp rock into and hammer that instead or... something else?

Just anything that means at the end of it I'll have some nice thin kindling to keep me warm.

Then to make the fire...
Do I use matches or struggle along with a flint and steel and a bit of amadou?

Saying that, for longevity I like Daves suggestion you could start the split with the knife by hammering directly above the log, not the tip.
Then carve some wedges and baton those instead.
 
Last edited:

Stringmaker

Native
Sep 6, 2010
1,891
1
UK
Saying that, for longevity I like Daves suggestion you could start the split with the knife by hammering directly above the log, not the tip.
Then carve some wedges and baton those instead.

I always assumed that was a given; apply the force directly to the object, not to one side of it.
 

squidinc

Member
Jun 17, 2013
13
0
United Kingdom
not something I'd ever do with an expensive knife, but with a mora or a hultafors yeah, why not ( if I dont have an axe handy ) they're so cheap they're almost disposable
 

Emdiesse

Settler
Jan 9, 2005
629
5
Surrey, UK
Try change a car wheel with a hammer then, or fell a tree with a screwdriver. :p

Hahaha, well, Of it's all you've got I suppose you could try tap tap tapping the nuts around, maybe? Alternatively, if you have your mobile phone you could try calling a friend or the AA.
The screwdriver, if it's all you've got better get chipping....

I suppose I just think, it's not the 'best' tool, but if it's all you got?

I dunno, just speculating :)
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,709
1,947
Mercia
I suppose I just think, it's not the 'best' tool, but if it's all you got?

I buy that. I also buy Wayne's view that its a weight saver to only have a knife. I just don't subscribe to the view that a knife is the optimal or most efficient tool
 

Will_

Nomad
Feb 21, 2013
446
3
Dorset
Get a John Nowill Survival Knife... You only have to unsheathe it in the presence of wood, and the wood will instantly split into shards from fear.
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
Batton the axe :)

I can't do it; the axe profile is too thick and it's not as long a 'blade' as a froe. I suppose the muscley ones could manage it though.

Mors shows how to cut down an entire tree just using a mora, and the tree is no sapling either :)

cheers,
M
 

presterjohn

Settler
Apr 13, 2011
727
1
United Kingdom
I think people are losing a bit of perspective on this one. If you are solo camping and a good distance from your car and just need a few sticks for a fire why would you lug an axe around? If you are group camping and setting up camp for a few days why would you not bring an axe with you? As others have said it is horses for courses.
 

HillBill

Bushcrafter through and through
Oct 1, 2008
8,141
88
W. Yorkshire
You only need one hit to get it into the wood, then you just lift the axe with wood attached and drop it down to finish the split. :)

I can't do it; the axe profile is too thick and it's not as long a 'blade' as a froe. I suppose the muscley ones could manage it though.

Mors shows how to cut down an entire tree just using a mora, and the tree is no sapling either :)

cheers,
M
 

HillBill

Bushcrafter through and through
Oct 1, 2008
8,141
88
W. Yorkshire
If you are solo camping and a good distance from your car and just need a few sticks for a fire why would you batton anything? :) No need to split kindling, thats what feathersticks are for :)
I think people are losing a bit of perspective on this one. If you are solo camping and a good distance from your car and just need a few sticks for a fire why would you lug an axe around? If you are group camping and setting up camp for a few days why would you not bring an axe with you? As others have said it is horses for courses.
 

Emdiesse

Settler
Jan 9, 2005
629
5
Surrey, UK
You only need one hit to get it into the wood, then you just lift the axe with wood attached and drop it down to finish the split. :)

I remember this being the method Wayne described when you get your axe stuck also (Please correct me if I misunderstood :)).

As in, instead of raising the axe and repeatedly hammering the axe through the wood to raise the axe and turn it so the sharp bit is pointing up and the blunt bit is pointing down and then, let gravity do it's thing, use the weight of the wood down onto your block.

But I ask now... I noticed occasionally the wood would hit the handle of the axe at the top.... clearly my technique needs improving.
i.e. where the weight of the wood drives itself through the head of the axe it'll split but where I had it stuck was the further part of the log originally so it splits from back to front and the front isn't split by time it clashes with the handle...

Clearly I AM doing it wrong...

I can only think:
Wood to big
Wrong type of axe
Technique bad (Taking all safety on board, right height block, wood a back of block, kneeling down for axe which has 60cm handle so I'd put the head into the soil :( instead of my shin:crutch:)
Combination of all three

What I think I must have missed is, with a round, where do you make the first cut and for something gransfors-wilderness-axe-like (my hultafors long chopping axe (£25ish :) BARGAIN)) how round is too round?

All eyes and ears, here to learn :) To seek never-ending improvement
 

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