Is this 'batoning' and firewood chopping with a knife a passing trend?

Thomas Linton said:
But, for me, being prepared is still consistent with fun. Besides, I am usually responsible for others.
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I tend to go prepared enough as well, but I've known some who go overboard.
The first time I went on an over-nighter with my stepbrother, there was enough stuff for over a week in the woods in comfort...in his pack alone! :eek:

You want fire? He had: 4000 matches; 5 lighters; a fire steel; a magnesium block; "survival candles"; vasoline impregnated cotton balls ( a whole baggy full).
Food? My God, we could have gained weight if we got stranded!

But he was enjoying the hell out of it all, so that's cool.
(and if we got shot, he had a full trauma kit with chest bandages and suturing supplies too...and Quik-Clot...)
 
Well see there? The fire was almost dying and I got it stoked right back up without batoning. And it has been raining here for two days and continues through the night. :D :thumbup:
 
stabman said:
If you live in a house or an apartment (and yes, that applies to all "rural" locales if you live in a house), all your outdoor gear is for fun.
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You assume that no one does or has worked in the outdoors. Or that every trip outdoors is for recreation. Returning home at night does not change that.
 
Not all outdoor gear and skills are not for fun. For example, I don't know many people who buy heavy wool pants unless they are outdoors types, hunters, or preppers. But if you work outdoors, they are a piece of attire that might be of significant use.

Batoning is not that hard to do and I don't consider it a big skill deal at all. Starting a fire without normal means is difficult and a skill to be learned. But for me, learning fire making is not something I worry about since I don't hit the woods without a couple means to start a fire. I even take paper with me.
 
I hate wiping on pinecones myself. And TP is nice and flammable though it doesn't burn very hot unless you sacrifice some bacon grease or neosporin ointment.

As for knife play, I have been woodsrunning off and on for over fifty years. I use my knives when I need to use them, not as entertainment for the most part. I did do that when I was a kid. I bet most of you never played stretch or mumbly peg.
 
stabman said:
I tend to go prepared enough as well, but I've known some who go overboard.
The first time I went on an over-nighter with my stepbrother, there was enough stuff for over a week in the woods in comfort...in his pack alone! :eek:

You want fire? He had: 4000 matches; 5 lighters; a fire steel; a magnesium block; "survival candles"; vasoline impregnated cotton balls ( a whole baggy full).
Food? My God, we could have gained weight if we got stranded!

But he was enjoying the hell out of it all, so that's cool.
(and if we got shot, he had a full trauma kit with chest bandages and suturing supplies too...and Quik-Clot...)
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Sounds like your step brother has been cold, wet and hungry. I carry multiples for fire aswell because I have been cold wet and hungry. I work for a lodge in the summer where it is only my wife and I on a fly in lake with guests. She enjoys it because she knows I can get a fire going in anything if the need be and that's because I carry multiple fire sources. If we were at the other end of the lake and a lightning storm came we can have a little fire and shelter going in a matter of minutes and maybe even a couple of fish for lunch. But in years past I have been stuck in storms with no fire source and cold, wet and hungry. Never batoned for a single fire I needed.

Codger_64 said:
I hate wiping on pinecones myself. And TP is nice and flammable though it doesn't burn very hot unless you sacrifice some bacon grease or neosporin ointment.

As for knife play, I have been woodsrunning off and on for over fifty years. I use my knives when I need to use them, not as entertainment for the most part. I did do that when I was a kid. I bet most of you never played stretch or mumbly peg.
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Depends what stretch or mumbly peg is....not sure I wanna risk googling it??
 
In Scouts, if you played stretch or mumbly peg you lost your Knife and Axe badge.

Which meant you had to play it when the Scout Master was not there................
 
Thomas Linton said:
I suppose some go to be miserable, but not you and me. :thumbup:

But, for me, being prepared is still consistent with fun. Besides, I am usually responsible for others.
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Yeah, that was what I was getting at... There are different definitions of "fun". For some the fun is in testing their skills using less efficient gear. Stabman is of course correct that the most efficient way to camp out is at home in your house. :)

I have worked a job where I was required to spend some of my nights outdoors. It was not about fun then but more about having the most efficient all around system I could at a price I could accept. Yes I had a knife, but I also had a saw and hatchet, mummy bag, sleeping pad, large tent, stove, etc etc. The tents were also shared by large groups since that meant fewer hours tending the fire for each person in the group.
 
neeman said:
In Scouts, if you played stretch or mumbly peg you lost your Knife and Axe badge.

Which meant you had to play it when the Scout Master was not there................
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Ahhh... someone who knows what those old boys knife games were! Would I be incorrect to guess that your Scoutmaster did not give instruction on beating knives through logs? :)
 
stabman said:
If you live in a house or an apartment (and yes, that applies to all "rural" locales if you live in a house), all your outdoor gear is for fun.
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A lot of it may be fun and recreational, but not always entirely. The fact that my wife and I have both spent most of our adult careers teaching and/or guiding outdoors, and that we now own a house in a rural area aside, much of the outdoor gear we own is both for recreation and for backup. There are all sorts of feasible scenarios (and no, I'm not referring to the #%&$ing "zombie apockylips") in which outdoor gear that we own would, and has, needed to be pressed into service. Maybe if I lived in a mild climate and/or an urban area, I might think it was all just about fun, but where I live, there are times of the year when it can quickly get more serious than that. Having good outdoor skills and gear that you know you can rely on, is just a good idea, for more than just fun recreation. That's where self-sufficiency begins to enter into it.

Woods Walker said:
Hard to argue with that. To each their own. The real question is why do batoning threads gain so much attention? I can sorta understand the action packed bear attack stuff but splitting wood with a knife? It isn't just this community as others seem to be infected with the "B" virus as well. Some people actually get all emotional over it. As if their mother, sister or wife got insulted.
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My question as well. And people getting worked up about merely questioning why its receives such an inordinate amount of attention is either sad or funny, depending on how much you want to think about it...
 
You can blame the big bushcraft names for the hype! :D

They made it look so cool to beast the woods with just a knife. And although its a worth while 'skill' to know, it isn't essential to having fun or making a fire. Here, in England where the ground is damp nearly all year round I still find enough dryish stuff to get a fire going. Unless we're in a leafless wood and its been pissing down for days would I rely on batoning or splitting wood.

The fact that you can split wood with a saw is enough for me to not bother with using a knife to do it. And most people seem to saw their wood before batoning it anyway! Lol




Is that a Mark Hill custom you have there mate? (Got several customs on order myself ATM)




Mannlicher said:
I can't recall a single time when I HAD to baton through a chunk of wood to get firewood. On the other hand, I can't recall a single time when doing so wasn't fun.
What I really can't figure out, is why anyone would care enough about what others do when afield, to start a thread about it. :eek:
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Todd21969 said:
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. :)

Out behind the barn I was the king of Stretch long ago......
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We played it on the playground at recess from first grade on. I would have been five the first time I played.
 
Smithhammer said:
...My question as well. And people getting worked up about merely questioning why its receives such an inordinate amount of attention is either sad or funny, depending on how much you want to think about it...
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Amused is the term I would use. "Don't sweat the petty thing and don't pet the sweaty things" is a good motto. :) :thumbup:
 
Codger_64 said:
We played it on the playground at recess from first grade on. I would have been five the first time I played.
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I used to play it with my SAK! Much harder on it than batoning!!!! :D

running, laughing, ducking for cover...
 
Sullie said:
Sounds like your step brother has been cold, wet and hungry. I carry multiples for fire aswell because I have been cold wet and hungry.
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Yeah, but 70-80 pounds of pack for an over-nighter?
Seems a tad much.
And 4000 matches? :eek:
 
Codger_64 said:
Ahhh... someone who knows what those old boys knife games were! Would I be incorrect to guess that your Scoutmaster did not give instruction on beating knives through logs? :)
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Interesting word, "beating." (And Germans in WW I were the "Huns.")

I Scouted mostly in Southern California, where the mountains were often subject to fire bans and getting a fire started was rarely a problem. The contrary was true.

When completing the Pacific Crest took me to Washington, it was another thing entirely. We did not wait for the alleged "dry" season. We did not have an axe or a saw (mistake). Firewood was prepared solely with knives (in a mostly vain effort to get something - anything - dry).

We did not "beat," nor did we bash, pound, or crush. We did what we had been taught (and teaching was rarely by adults as teaching in Scouting is supposed to be primarily by leaders - other Scouts, not adults). We had been taught to use knives to prepare firewood. In my case, it was a 225Q. The other three in the crew had MK II's. (The Army-Navy had piles of them for cheap.)

I know I could damage a knife batoning. I just can't think of why.
 
Thomas Linton said:
I know I could damage a knife batoning. I just can't think of why.
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I also never learned how to baton badly enough to damage a knife...any knife.
Maybe I need to watch more YouTube videos...they seem to give people the ability to screw anything up. ;)
 
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