Splitting Wood With A Knife Is Not Needed in a Wild Forest
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 เม.ย. 2022
- In this video I talk about splitting wood using a knife and baton, how important that skill seems to be when you are listening to survival experts - and how irrelevant it tends to be when you are actually in a wild forest. I make my point by starting a fire in the rain after 24hours of rain without needing to baton anything.
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FINALLY! Thank you for making this point. In all my years going camping, hunting, hiking and just spending time in the woods, I have never found it necessary to split wood with a knife to get dry material to burn. Bashing your knife through wood is the least efficient way to get dry kindling. Where I live in Oklahoma, there are no birch trees. Our woods are mostly oak, walnut, maple and a few red cedar trees. Still, I have never had a problem finding dry fuel even in heavily trafficked places like a Boy Scout camp. The idea of batoning a knife through wood was never even considered. I love that you have dispelled that notion so well.
Thanks man
Now that I think about it, I've never actually had to baton anything to make a fire. Having a eye for where dryer, easily lit stuff is apt to be found.
Same here. All the best.
Day wood is everywhere.....before it starts raining. That is the time to put some in your possible bag.
Thank God.... finally someone who isn't blowing up good knives for ridiculous reasons. As many have already stated. 44 years in the outdoors now ZERO times where I had to baton wood. However I still do own many blades capable of batoning because I have a knife buying issue.
Is there treatment for that? Wait......what? What's that? Oooohhhh....one more knife!
I have over 70 years in the outdoors. Never needed batoning, or wasted time with feather sticks.
@@tomjeffersonwasright2288Then between the two of us, we have almost 150 yrs experience...and I also have never batoned any wood. I never knew of it before YT. An odd coincidence...my spellcheck doesn't like it either. No matter how I spell it, I get the dreaded red underline! Must be an illegitimate word. Or possibly spellcheck doesn't speak French? 😄
@4ager505 same here, I didn't know batoning existed prior to youtube.
@@4ager505 You and tomjeffersonwasright just topped the response I made. I'm only 62. And the TH-cam comment? Right on. Tickles me how a young guy can watch three YT videos then become expert enough to start a channel repeating the same things he saw online. Thing that makes me scratch my head the most is fellow Americans who call themselves "bushcrafters." Until just a few years ago, the U.S. never had any "bush." Growing up, we all only just had woods. Knowing how to build fires, make tent stakes, shelters, camp gadgets... we might have called it woodcraft. Generally we just called it ... Boy Scouts. LOL
Never has a truer statement been made Batoning is for TH-cam bush craft videos not survival or camping facts thanks
Absolutely true I’ve been in the wilderness a lot of times in my life, and I never once had to split a log to start a fire that is all fake nonsense😢😢
Right on man
It was 12 years ago , I made a video on the same subject and much of the bushcraft people I know came unglued. It takes a bad weather front with freezing rain coming in to teach a good lesson. Thanks for another public service lesson .
GREAT TIPS! Every little tip is another tool in the backpack, right? Learning to "read" the available resources is what it's all about.
What a pleasure to hear you say this. I grew up in SA and we used to camp on the beach,making fires from driftwood we collected or up in the mountains. We never had saws or decent knives and never chopped anything. Come to think about it, neither did the Zulus or the Bushmen. We didn’t know about making fire with flints or bow drills or anything then . We would take newspaper with us. But still it’s good to hear someone saying its ok not to saw logs ! I’ve subscribed now because I want to learn more from you. Thanks for sharing. Watching you from Suffolk England right now. Cheers.
Thanks man I appreciate that!
Your video is easily one of the top ones I've ever watched. Having backpacked many decades in the Sierra I've had rain storms create challenges to getting a fire started and never had to baton. But I wondered how to do it in extreme conditions like yours. Thanks for the instruction.
Wow, thanks!
Now that I’ve found your channel I think it would be cool to do a video about a experience of mine. While on a expected 3hr hike with a group of 9 to a waterfall in the Tahoe national forest there was a rock slide along the narrow trail that cut off any easy way out. We were faced with pulling a unexpected over nighter at 6800 ft elevation, a few of us had good pocket knives and lighter or matches. With little more than that it would have been a challenge to provide basics.
These two vids are kind of about that - although I didn't actually spend the night:
th-cam.com/video/ePBzGEhob-Q/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/8q7b05dcgoE/w-d-xo.html
Man, I am so glad I found your channel! This is awesome! I've been making fun of knife channels for a while now because of the stupid batoning craze! I've never batonned in the woods....
The only time I do it is making smaller sticks for my smaller fireplace insert. It's totally unnecessary in the woods
Thanks man
Making campfires as a canoeist for 25 years now, i never had the feel that i need to baton anything and rarely use my tomahawk/hatched/axe for anything other than limbing dead trees to get the smaller stuff for starting a fire or chopping deadwood to the sice i want.
Where i live, there's spruce and pine everywhere, and birch is never that far away close to the water.
Birchbark is great tinder as it caches fire easily even soaking wet and spruce limbs spread out in such a fine web and have so much resin that even they can be used as tinder when you are willing to use a lighter or matches.
Actually i was not even aware that batoning is a thing until recently and even after i found out about it I've never been able to figure out when i would need to do that...
Even feathersticking is a thing that i never really needed to do....
Here here :)
to me it is like this, the people of today want a way to skip the need to learn and use "equations" to solve thingd.
Feathersticking is a concept populated by Mors, but he refered it as a method to use in extreme conditions. However, people are using it for normal fires because they don't understand enough to do it the "hard way".
I would compare this action to using a knife to limb a small branch where a simple swing with a stick breaks a row cleanly.
@alliswell-pb9vo to me, it seems that these days, everything is becoming a cult, and the way it is done in this cult is the only proper way of doing things to the folowers of this cult.
Bushcrafting has become a lifestyle by it selfe, instead of merely being a means to help you enjoy nature.
I mean, I know quite a few bushcraft techniques and I for sure know how to light a fire using a ferorod and feathersticks, I also practice it from time to time just in case I might ever have to rely on it for any reason.
But to be honest, to me, these are things that one only needs in extreme situations, and you have failed quite badly in your preparations long before you need to fall back on them.
For example, for fire making, I always cary two bic lighters with me when canoeing. One in my pocket, in a zip lock bag and one ine my food barrel. That way, I always have at least one that is dry enough to not fail on me.
When I know rainy weather is coming, I collect some dry tinder and kindling just in case I need it desperately to start a fire in a hurry. If I find enough material to start a fire without using the tinder I set asid, I do it and keep it for a nother time. If I have to use it, I collect new tinder and dry it next to the fire, for the next time.
To me, the art of enjoying the great outdoors is not to be the perfect bushcrafter but to be thoughtful and prepared enough to stay out of trouble.
Exactly alliswell !
I do the same things tobias - and I agree, it is like a cult.
Tip for easy fire in the wet spring of the Pacific Northwest, fireweed grows seed pods that can be plucked and opened before they would normally. They have fluff similar to dandelion seeds that can be harvested from inside (closed pods are relatively watertight) and a single fireweed has plenty to spare to act as tinder. This is how I won a one match fire in the rain competition in boy Scouts without bothering with a featherstick
Hmm - apparently we have that here - I'll have to keep an eye out for it
This is how my Grandpa showed me how to build a fire. He only used one match. Always got a fire going
Yessir. One match fires. That was a "thing."
Every time i get lost in the woods, the first thing i do is baton a log, then i make a spoon!
OK that was funny :)
Dude, this is the lesson I have been needing to learn. Thank you for teaching me this awesome new skill!
You bet!
I taught all this wonderful stuff for years and now won't go into the woods without several chemicals for tick prevention. count yourself lucky you can take your son into the bush without the fear of lymes disease. love the videos Gregg.
They are everywhere, but this time of year, near the coast - I find them less of a concern
I literally searched for a video like this to help prove my point haha if anyone is going into a woodland environment, you are bringing a knife and hatchet/axe, period.
And the period
Well done. Like you say, you're unlikely ever to be without any resources besides your knife. When I have my forest tools I'm not choosing my knife for most of what you did. And you did it sans tools anyway, except for when you sharpened a stick, and in the rain no less. Good on ya for debunking the batoning romance.
Thanks man - that's why I made this vid :)
Yes great job on educating the backyard kids. 👍🏻
Take away: "Birch bark is pretty much a cheap date." I knew I liked the woods for more than fresh air.
Thank you so much. I have kept my opinions to myself on this nonsense and feel vindicated by your demonstration it's "not just me." :) I've always thought, bottom line, "Well, yes, you *can* split wood by knife and baton, but ... why?" Nice to know how to do it, I guess. But in over 50 years of hunting trips and low-impact, minimalist camping, I've never once had to do it. Or wanted to. Or even thought of doing it.
Excellent demonstration!...MT
Thank you!
I didn’t know about not blowing too soon, I’ve often blown a fire out because of that and I didn’t know how to collect resin like that either. Thanks man, this was really educational and fun to watch!
Glad I could help!
Cool, I’ll watch them. Thanks, have great New year🎉
I think you have made your point about the knifes. You are not wrong. Now, show us some more inspiring tricks. This is outdoors on the cheap after all : ) I like your method of lighting fires with resign. Have to give it a try soon.
OK man cool - last "anti-knife-batoning" video for a while I promise :)
You ever wonder why old timer's knives were more like hunting and fillet knives or butcher knives... all for processing food, even later Kepharts? None for firewood. Old puukkos are pretty small and thin, good for finer woodcarving, and the odd poking around cutting leather or string. Again, never for firewood. Along comes TH-cam: 1) Unbox and test your new knife by slicing paper, shaving your arm. 2) Then chip chip chip, make a baton. 3) Then bash wood into kindling. 4) Then ... then ... wait for it: Carve a bunch of feather-sticks. 5) Use the spine of your knife and a ferro rod to spark a blaze. *** Extra credit: If you really want to get creative, make a spoon, some tent pegs, or a pot hook. Seriously, there are literally a million videos out showing that exact thing. The best part: most folks are doing this in their back yard. People are great. Charming, in a goofy sort-of way.
You got it man!
Truly excellent vid, I am one of these newbs watching batoning vids and planning to buy a knife, wondering how big it should be. What drove me to this is my love for chopping wood and I’m going on a canoe trip where it isn’t practical to bring my hatchet. But I see I’ll just need to pull out my love for kicking over and crunching wood with my hands instead.
Yes - it's mostly just a sales-pitch to sell big expensive knives
excellent video, thanks!
Thanks
I'm sure there is a Ferro rod somewhere in my pack. I havent seen it in years, mostly because my Zippo works better, and a BIC even better than that. Given a bic will light at least 100 fires, for $2, like we than an ounce an small enough to store anywhere, and has an indefinite shelf life... Ferro rods are...well about 100 years out of date.
Totally agree man
Us old Boy Scouts used to refer to the Bic lighter as "flint and steel." (No lie, right?). :)
How she going right there eh! I agree with the knife idea with the sales pitch think some ppl are making lots of money from it... here in NB I do the birch bark thing I'm going to try using resin sometime... thanks for sharing
A real breath of fresh air! I fully support what you say about batoning, and would avoid it if at all possible. Light batoning like you demonstrated is fine (though I'd use a proper survival knife rather than risk that little blade). I have commented on many channels that wedges split wood just fine, at NO risk to the knife. I also maintain that just being in the woods for whatever reason needs preparation, planning and common sense. If you end up there with a little knife and a small ferro-rod, you've botched up step one from the start.
Another thing, being in the woods requires a saw (this is not negotiable!) as it is a great calorie saver! It takes less than half the calories an axe would to do the same job, and does it better. It is also significantly lighter. With a saw, many other jobs are made considerably easier.
In my opinion, if one is kitting out to be in the woods or other outdoors, you'll probably need more than one knife - at least one larger and one smaller, to do different tasks properly and saving the cutting edges much longer. Of course, a lot depends on the nature of the outing, location, weather, vegetation, water resources, indigenous fauna and flora, etc, and considering these things informs how one prepares for this outing.
As a general rule of thumb (concerning knives) I have boiled it down to two overall categories to guide my selection of what knives to pack. These are: heavy carry and light carry.
Heavy carry: longer term, need for shelter, need to clear a space, etc, but where "camp" may be a bit more static:
Large knife: here I'd take my Cold Steel Trail Master (San Mai III version) for its sheer versatility and robustness. I'd probably attach it to a pack, where it is easy to reach.
Belt knife: for general tasks and for woodwork like carving, notching, cutting, etc. Here I'm currently considering the Victorinox Venture Pro range, which has some very interesting innovative ideas.
Multi-tool knife: for those smaller and unexpected tasks that always crop up. Here my Victorinox Swiss Champ is my Mr Reliable, carried in a belt pouch.
Saw: as there is a "camp" of sorts, I'd opt for a Silky Bigboy.
Light carry: for outings where weight may be an issue, like hiking etc, and no real "camp" as such.
Medium size knife: this would be the general purpose survival type knife. Here I'd opt for the Cold Steel SRK (sabre grind in CPM-3V), worn on my belt.
Multi-tool knife: here I'd go for a more robust multi-tool knife for more varied tasks - Victorinox Hercules, worn with a lanyard from the belt inside my trouser pocket.
Saw: for ease of carrying I'd take the smaller Silky Gomboy (or possibly a S180).
As you can see I reckon that without having to chop logs in half and batoning big logs, one's knife can be used for the tasks they were designed for - cutting. This way they will not have their cutting edges so damaged that they need sharpening in the field. With modern materials, it should never be necessary to do this. My TM mentioned above has a blade that I don't think I'll ever need to resharpen in my lifetime! The occasional light stropping should be fine. If it does, that will be done in the workshop. [However, I do realise this knife does not fit into your category of ".. on the cheap" ! But then, I don't want to risk my life on "cheap"! ;-)
Cheers mate.
Thanks for the thoughtful post man man. Interestingly - I consider the knife I batoned at the beginning of the video to be a "proper survival knife". Here's why: th-cam.com/video/cPXBBdl9N5Y/w-d-xo.html
@@stevanoutdoor Clearly very experienced and skillful. And you are right, I've done all my outdoor activities in South Africa, and only moved here to UK quite recently. The knife laws here are just SO complicated, so I don't do it any more. I'm not much of a traveler so I understand what you are saying, and it's valid. I wouldn't have a clue about camping out in a jungle in Myanmar!
By the way you wouldn't get very far in SA with a phone and credit card! It's a big country with pretty scanty coverage for large parts of it, which is exactly where most people go camping. ;-)
Thanks for the chat.
Cheers
@@stevanoutdoor I share your distinction between "bushcraft" and "survival", and it causes much confusion among TH-camrs. In my comments to posts I often get into hot water about this, especially when it comes to the "one knife only option" type videos! They are frankly ridiculous! I try to be as practical as possible and strive to present real scenarios for real people doing real stuff.
Thanks for sharing thoughts!
@@stevanoutdoor I like your definitions! Then one can even add to that, "living off the land". All these scenarios have different conditions, different dangers, challenges and expectations. So, discussions in these areas should clearly state what those conditions are, within which the discussion takes place. What is appropriate on a overnighter hike may be totally inadequate for a two week stay in the forest, requiring very different gear, knowledge, skills and resources.
So, basically, I once again agree with your approach!
hi, personally in the daily outings that I almost always do on Saturdays or Sundays within a radius of 50 / 100km from my home in controlled and non-survival situations I do not feel the need to bring me an ax, personally I like to feel the emotions that I to chop wood with a big knife like a skrama a lionsteel m7 or the last extrema ratio, but I agree with what she says anyway.
Like what your saying here in the UK we have the you tubers who first thing they do is light a fire and most of them to go great lengths to show how too baton wood with a knife once it's lit the Get a gas alcohol stove/burner or a wood burning camping stove of the folding type and light a second fire too cook on drives me mad because they do it all year round and it's just not that cold here most of these year I never watch them again
Sometimes it is hard to find punkwood like what you are using or dry punk wood. Or it is often not allowed to pick because it is so important to the ecology. But I really do enjoy using it when I can. Nice video of triangle of oxygen, fuel and warmth. So important with the warthm and air which you prove. The fire extender (the resin) is imortant, which adds extra warmth. However, it requires some warmth and flame to get going. Good video.
Technically this isn't punkwood because it's not soft, rotten & it's not fully inundated with fungi. It's just dead and very slightly rotten - such that I can break it up with my hands. In any case, point well taken - and yes, it can be hard to find. It really depends on the ecology. It's fairly abundant where I live and probably one of the easiest things to find for fire starting. Same thing with birch bark. I guess in that sense we're lucky here. You can always find birch bark and/or dead birch/fir/pine. Thankfully there's no rule about using them here. You can't cut down live trees - but they're not much use for fire starting anyway :)
Great channel👍. You are totally right for the environment your in "the real wildernes" Where I am from (The Netherlands) We do not have that luxury for centuries any more. Wet by nature and with only ash, elder and hawthorn in some places having a knife that can baton is a must, unless you harvested dry grass beforehand. In sync with your last video I prefer to to carry two knives most of the time. A Mora and a Austrian fieldknife 78. Fits well in with on the cheap I think.🙂
I'm with you re: the mora - but my friend - what on earth is that fieldknife for? Are there enemy combatants lurking in the forest? In my last video I made the case for why I don't carry a big knife, and gave a pretty lengthy explanation for why "self defense" is probably the worst reason to carry a large knife. The Netherlands is a pretty safe place - why are you carrying a fighting knife into the woods.
@@outdoorsonthecheap It is simply a weight issue. It takes the place of a hatchet in splitting larger wood and saving the edge of my mora. Also it comes in handy for digging/prying for grubs when I need bait. So for where I am and what I do its a useful tool not a weapon. If I travel by canoe I go for a billhook for the same reasons and is ability to clear schrubs and brambel. It all depends on the environment your I think. That does not make your view less valid i think.
I don't see how a combat knife takes the place of a hatchet in any sense. The hatchet is a good chopping and splitting tool. The combat knife is a stabbing tool, that can only split and chop (poorly) with the aid of a baton. Why your digging for grubs with a combat knife is a mystery to me since a pointy stick is a far better (& 2-handed) tool - and by using a stick you don't risk dulling your knife. I don't understand why you are using a billhook when canoeing - I've spent countless hours canoeing rough country and have never thought to myself - if only I had a billhook. Nothing you are saying makes sense to me sir.
@@outdoorsonthecheapAgain, It may be hard to imagine but in Holland there is no real wilderness any more. We can only go stealth camping. Where I am this is in swamps or ash plantations. Try to clear a path through thin Willow and bramble. I have to to get a shore in the swamps over here. The hook grabs the bramble and twigs where as with a machete it would slide of. For fire wood in a bushbox, if there is only ash wood. I use a Fiskars saw and my Glock to process upper arm thick wood. The thinner parts are to moist when is has rained. What it mostly does over here. The Glock is a great splitter for a knife this light. Chopping ash wood is a pain anyway so I do not miss the lack of chopping power at all. This all works fine for me anyway. Again that does not make your view less valid for your situation i think. Regards Gerard.
Great video! I totally agree. Just one suggestion on your presention (take it from a person who spent years teaching and reading student evaluation :) ) Count the number of times you say "right." Ok? (that's another one people say all to often when doing a presentation.
Keenly aware my friend - I'm the one doing the editing. "Right", "umm", "yknow" - I even know what the sound-waves look like in the editing software. Sometimes I get it better than others. Easier when I'm just focused on my speaking - harder when I'm doing stuff.
@@outdoorsonthecheapThat's right!
Thank you very much for this.
I wondered how would one could access natural resin in a hardwood forest. I can hardly find any softwood trees in my local forest, they're all beechwood.
Obviously one cannot access fatwood in a hardwood forest.
That's a good question question - I guess the important thing is to have a good understanding of your ecology to know where to find the resources.
Could be wrong but it sure seems to be a bit easier using bark dust, feather sticks small rips and big rips to build a fire. That being said I’ve never tried it this way myself and it’s always good to learn multiple ways of making fire
In the video I start a fire in the rain. Where would you find bark dust in the rain? When the dampness and humidity is that high - many forms of tinder will simply not take a spark.
so let's talk for real, Matches are really cheap for a lot of them. It is easy to carry them, we need a just be prepared if you're going into the woods video.
Great Video Greg...a bit concerning though about your upcoming video..."strip Greg down and only give him one cheap knife and a ferro rod and send him into the woods"...😳...🤣🤣🤣🤣...hopefully that does not become a series!
Have a great day and Thank you for the video!
Mike 🇨🇦 🍁 👍
No danger of that sir :)
@@outdoorsonthecheap Thank the Lord!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
We all know that. Batonning is not for surviving in the forest. It's for impressing women around the campfire at a brewery or outdoor center. Also, learn how to actually do it before you throw-off on it.
I the stump I was batoning on was unstable. The problem wasn't my batoning, it was my choice of stump/anvil.
@@outdoorsonthecheap There was nothing wrong with your batonning. We are in agreement that you never need to do it in the woods. It's only for splitting firewood that comes in a bag. It's an urban skill, not a backcountry skill. But it's still a skill.
So? It's like a parlor trick? But outdoors?
@@4ager505 Yeah, but outdoor tricks have been around a lot longer than parlors.
Never came across a dead tree that can be pulled apart by hand that wasn't damp as hell all the way through.
Also hardly ever come across birch or pine, etc...
need to spend more time in the woods I think
"what are the odds, huh ... that a raindrop land in your resin???"
my GUESS about 150% that rain/sleet/sno (even if "just" falling from higher branches/leaves) will do that. 🤣🤣🤣
IF I may make a suggestion, young Sir ...
When you are prepping to go afield, roll up about 10 foot of Sissell or hemp twine in a ziplock sandwich bag, to help ensure it says dry, and put it in your pocket or fire starter box.
IF your budget allows, a couple FIRE ANT or FIREFLY kindling in your fire starter box or in your Victorinox's or Wenger's corkscrew isn't a "bad" idea, either.
A flint & steel or ferro rod will light these.
Shaved magnesium chips or "steel wool" is a lower cost option that lights with a spark, even "if" ... make that "when" ... wet. (Lets be honest ... "when" is probably the case over 95% of the time. 🙄)
Personally, I have a lighter (Zippo type or BiC) and a cleaned repurposed Vape Juice unicorn bottle filled with Zippo lighter fluid or Charcoal Starter along as well.) Admittedly ... this might be "cheating" ... (when I need a fire, I want it ASAP with as little drama as possible.)
Well yes of course, if you bring a bunch of flammable stuff with you it's easier to start fires. That's not what this video was about. Yes it's always handy to have something like that in your kit, and I always do.
Great video. Nevertheless, your comment on fat wood is a bit shortsighted. Where I live, we are tripping over it. Whereas birch bark is unavailable because we simply do not have birch trees.
good point man - its hard to speak to all contexts. The fat wood guys talk about that like it's everywhere and I guess that irritates me :) I guess the main thing is that there's always something right
@outdoorsonthecheap Absolutely, and when a resource is readily available to someone, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that it might be scarce or even unavailable for some people.
"Put your knife down you never see it again"
Yup. I have pretty severe ADHD; I ONLY buy knives in bright colors.
(My form of ADHD includes a near inability to form habits. Every "habit" of mine is a checklist that i must mindfully run through. ANYTHING that interrupts a checklist may result in something put in the wrong place. I have had a hard time turning building fire into a series of short checklists so my knife is always in danger of being lost.)
looks like bigfoot country...got any stories? :)
Hey where do you recommend getting your budget axe from?.
I didn't have an axe in this video - but if you are referring to the one I used to make the canoe paddle - I got that at canadian tire.
😎👍
I think batoning with a knife is just a terrible idea. Never have I ever witnessed my grandfather pounding on his knife making a bush fire when i was a kid. Hatchet yes but pounding on a expensive knife no. Potentially destroying a tool that can save your life or dull it into oblivion is just a bad idea. Dont get me started on the ferro rod. That is the 2nd worst way to start a fire.
Practising the worst ways makes one be more able to handle not only easiest ways. Only practise what is easiest limits skills.
@@stevanoutdoorSurvival worldwide depends on survival where you are, at any given moment. How does that imply that batoning is a universal requisite for survival?
You could collect the ants. They can take a spark.
Of course you don’t have to baton wood to start a fire. But If it’s raining and you can’t baton large pieces of wood, you won’t have a fire large enough to keep you warm through the night because large pieces of wood will be wet on the outside. Having a knife you can baton prevents you from having to carry a hatchet. Yes, you do need a saw…but that prevents you from having to carry an axe. You also need to baton wood to make a Swedish Torch. You also need to baton wood to process firewood inside a shelter because there’s no room to swing an axe/hatchet.
I literally start a fire in the rain without batoning in this video.
@@outdoorsonthecheap You obviously didn’t read my comment.
I thought the fact that I started a fire in the rain after days of rain without batoning would satisfy all your arguments if you applied a little introspection to your thoughts. Anyway, here goes - I will speak to all your points. 1) "But If it’s raining and you can’t baton large pieces of wood, you won’t have a fire large enough to keep you warm through the night because large pieces of wood will be wet on the outside" - In a wild forest there will be adequate deadwood for this. The fact that it is wet on the outside doesn't matter if it's dry on the inside, because the fire will generate enough heat to evaporate what water is there and keep the fire going. A large enough fire can handle damp wood, especially if you stack the wood near the fire in such a way that it dries the fire. This is all a matter of experience. 2) "Having a knife you can baton prevents you from having to carry a hatchet." - Having a knife means you have a knife, and not a a hatchet, and not an axe. A knife is not an axe, and is a very very poor substitute for an axe. The more "axe-like" the knife is, the less "knife-like" it will be, such that is becomes less useful as a general cutting tool. It is also unwise to continually baton a knife, because each blow puts the knife at risk... unless it is axelike... 3) "You also need to baton wood to make a Swedish Torch" - I've never been in a situation where I needed a Swedish Torch - so your are implying a necessity that simply does not exist; also, you really don't need to baton to make a Swedish torch - there a way to do it just using pieces of wood rather than one big piece split into four. 4) "You also need to baton wood to process firewood inside a shelter because there’s no room to swing an axe/hatchet." - you can baton an axe just as well as you can baton a knife, and since an axe is a better splitting tool (it's a steel wedge for goodness sake) it will be a more efficient operation. In any case you last argument is irrelevant because it is based on the premise that you need to baton wood - which you do not need to do in a wild forest because there is always dry wood that can be found, even after days of rain. Knife batoning is a bushcrafting skill that has it's place - but the idea that you need a super knife the can handle constant heavy batoning is a sales trick man. It creates a necessity to create a market. I'm 51 years old. I've never needed to baton wood. I've done it in camp as a parlour trick to fascinate children and adults, and I've done it for very specific reasons - like if I am making something and I need a perfectly shaped piece of wood... but to split wood to stay warm all night? Dude - you make a huge fire with logs from dead-standing trees that you tip over. Some of them can be broken in two, and some of them can't - but all of them can be burned in two. I mean - how on earth do you think stone age men were getting by? Do you think they were batoning wood all day an night?
@@outdoorsonthecheapthat reply deserves a hearty AMEN!!!
@@danielgrubb9668 We all read your comment. "Having a knife you can baton" prevents you from carrying a hatchet." Which... you not only also can baton, but splits wood better than a knife.