Batoning Wood?

[Barney]

How tough should a blade be and how long in order to cross cut and split a 4"-5" tree? In other words how big and strong should a survival blade be?

 

[oldsarge]

In any survival training I ever did, I never needed anything that large in diameter. I always got by with at the most 3" Dia. I'm happy with a 5-7" blade. My Buck Night Hawk does well for me right now but I'm looking at getting one of these, Ontario Blackbird SK-5 Wilderness Survival Knife.
Everyone is different in their techniques, only your own experience will tell in the long run.

 

[Gondor]

I guess you need a blade that is at least long as the tree is thick. And you don't have to split through the center, you can go from the sides and work your way in.

 

[Michael]

I don't really see any reason why I would need to split a 5 inch log, other than messing around.

You only actually need to baton wood a small amount of the time. Most realistic scenarios I can think of would involve getting to dry wood at the center of small logs in order to get a fire going. Once the fire is going pretty well and there's a bed of coals, you can burn wood whether it's wet or dry.

Once the bed of coals is going well enough, you don't even need to chop the wood at all. You can feed a long, thick log into the coals and it'll burn just fine.

 

[Gondor]

I guess you are right, but unless you're packing an axe which are heavy, you're gonna need a way to split that wood (knife), because you need a serious fire for a 5 inch log to catch it.

 

[dinosaur]

Gondor is correct. A heavy bladed knife with a bevel grind can be quite useful for splitting wood if you don't have an axe or hatchet. But, as Gondor said, if you go around the outer rim and split pieces off reducing the circumference, it will weaken the core to your efforts and make it splittable.

 

[Michael]

I guess you are right, but unless you're packing an axe which are heavy, you're gonna need a way to split that wood (knife), because you need a serious fire for a 5 inch log to catch it.

I've never made a camp fire and not been able to find plenty of 2 and 3 inch thick logs to burn. So I'll just stick with those until I have enough coals to burn the thicker stuff. Or I'll just stick with those, period.

I haven't ever been camping and needed to burn thick logs. I haven't ever needed to baton a single log because I didn't have enough thinner logs.

There's a reason I bring a saw with me for processing wood. It's because 99% of the time I'm just cutting wood to the right length to fit into the fire.

 

[Newanderthal]

I've turned a sapling into a crutch with a 3.5" buck knife that cost me $15. It's a cheap folder with a plastic handle and a straight edge. Keep your knife sharp and it'll keep you alive.

Usually you can gather wood and break what you need without chopping. Wedge long pieces between two trees and push until it snaps or lay it over the fire and let it burn through. I never chop wood when camping. Break it or burn it.

 

[dinosaur]

Usually you can gather wood and break what you need without chopping. Wedge long pieces between two trees and push until it snaps or lay it over the fire and let it burn through. I never chop wood when camping. Break it or burn it.

Here's a guy who knows how They say there are two times the average person is warmed by wood, once when he cuts it and once standing by the fire.

My previous post was more an application of technique for splitting wood learned from woodsmen preparing their wood stock for Winter. I've done this many times and still heat with wood at my cabin. But a campfire? I do it exactly the way Newanderthal does it.

If I find a dry log, I just lay it over the fire and let it burn in two, then feed the two burning ends into the fire along side eachother.

 

[Pathfinder1]

oldsarge;

Ontario Blackbird SK-5 Wilderness Survival Knife.
Everyone is different in their techniques, only your own experience will tell in the long run.


Hi...


I was impressed with them also...although a bit pricey. I see the price shown on the site was considerably less then advertised in the video, though.

 

[back2nature]

If I'm doing anything beyond a few hour hike, I have a small axe on me. I'd rather be safe than sorry and an axe gets the job done. That way my knives stay sharp for other things.

 

[Grandpa]

When backpacking or hiking, the only time I have ever needed to split a stick of wood was to get to the dry inside to get a fire going. If easy to burn ground wood is not available when backpacking, I just do without the fire anyway. So many wildernesses and parks are beginning to ban fires, especially when fire danger starts to mount that a campfire is purely for aethestic reasons for us.

In campgrounds or hunting camps, an axe is always at hand. In fact, many western forests require a bucket, shovel and axe in every vehicle.