Best Battoning Grind/Blade shape

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vcbvcbvcb

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I've searched the site and can't find a post on the best grind or blade shape for battoning.
I carry a saw so I don't need the ultimate chopper. I would like the ultimate battoning knife. Any suggestions?
 
When searching for a batoning knife I always go for a sabre grind. It adheres to the same principles as a splitting maul or wedge. You'll need to consider the length in the equation. What size logs you intend to baton apart. Carbon steel is best and the thicker the stock of the blade the quicker it will split.The sabre ground Spec Plus Gen II knives are perfect choices.
 
You'll hear different opinions. Some swear on full flat and some on partial flat grind. I guess convex would be the best, but those are rare among production blades. In any case, the thicker the better.

From my experience, partial flat (saber) grind works better than flat, especially on large, thin and wide blades like RTAK II for example. Lots of friction surface and not enough of an wedge.

I guess, SP51 would be decent batoner. The new and upcoming Woodsman too (full flat grind though).
 
I usually put a convex edge on all of my outdoor fixed blades because in my opinion that is the best overall grind. It wont roll over easily on you and it stays razor sharp
 
I have tried both and the Sabre grind is far better for battoning, a full flat grind gets stuck. Just got an SP10, I that will be fantastic.
 
Your best bet would be convex grind. If you want top of the top, it would be Bark River Bravo 1.5 or Bravo 2 in CPM 3V. Everyone I know that owns a Bravo swears by it, including me.
 
I have found the saber grind of the Raider to be a fine overall wood knife, it Batons well,



It batons cross grain well,



It chops well enough to make your baton if need be,



It even handles the fine work well.



I find it handles all the fire related tasks quite well..



I agree with what was said above. Length, grind, and thickness all come into play. Sharp is always better. No matter what the grind.

If you look at a piece of wood when you are batoning. After the initial penetration, the edge for the most part is in open air with the thicker part of the blade behind it doing most of the work.
 
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I agreed with the concepts above, until I started using knives back to back more often. And once I started using knives back to back, I realized that I would have to try to share my experiences lol

What I found was that for my area, full flat grind did better at... everything. Everything except aesthetics.
I found that a steep saber grind like on the Sp10 was detrimental for EVERYTHING, comparatively, while the less manly looking Sp5 REALLY excelled everywhere that the Sp10 lacked.
As I have compared Saber grinds to full flat grind in this large knife competition, I have gained A LOT of respect for the full flat grind.
I think that the Bk9 still does well with a partial flat grind because it used thin stock.

I think that the saber grinds creates friction while chopping, which is turned into vibrations.
I think that the saber grind creates too much friction while batoning, which turns into extra work and vibrations.
I think that the saber grind gives very little extra strength.

But contrary to all of that, I think that the saber grind LOOKS AWESOME.

Check out this video, it is pretty impressive, and i the further I get into the series, the more I am surprised by the results.
 
I would not buy a knife for it's ability to do one thing well, rather it's overall usefulness.
However if battoning is your thing look for a froe.
 
I was showing certain knives ability to baton at a preppers convention, and a guy was telling me the same thing.

I tried to explain that batoning isn't a primary task, but secondary or even tertiary task... But he didn't get it lol
 
Does the hardness of the wood come into play? I only have one saw, with ex-large teeth so I can't compare. I've read that smaller teeth are better for hardwood and larger teeth are better for soft wood. With knives, it would seem that a flat grind might give better penetration on hardwood and a saber grind better wedging on softwood. Any thoughts?
 
I lurk and learn, but don't post much. Is it possible to be notified when someone responds to my post?
 
vcbvcbvcb said:
Does the hardness of the wood come into play? I only have one saw, with ex-large teeth so I can't compare. I've read that smaller teeth are better for hardwood and larger teeth are better for soft wood. With knives, it would seem that a flat grind might give better penetration on hardwood and a saber grind better wedging on softwood. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

It is really highly subjective. No two pieces of wood are the same. No baton strike is the same, etc. Then there's knife overall design. From size, thickness, handle. Grind is only small part of the equation.
And sometimes difference is so small it's hardly noticeable.

Find the knife you like and see if it works for you.
 
Well, to answer your question, I think that blade grind is simply less important in soft wood than hard.
A general rule is thicker is better.

But for hard wood, in my experience, the fat saber grind just wasn't "cutting it", where as the shallow partial flat grind on the Bk9, and the full flat grind of the Ontario RTAK II and Sp5 did great.
The Khukuri I believe did great due to its slick finish (lack thereof), and the angle at which the blade travels through the wood.

There are a lot of variables at play here, but a lot of the experience most people have is with one knife, and most any quality knife can baton well.

It is only when you have a hand full, and do them back to back, imho, that you really see which knife is more effective.
 
Beachmaster you are a mind reader. My next question was going to be "what about khukuris?". I have a saber grind ed Martin wsk and a flat grind swamprat camp tramp. I asked the question about wood hardness because one knife will be better on one piece of wood, and the other knife will be better on a different piece of wood. Like you said, more side by side comparisons are in order.
 
Excellent videos, I watched and liked all 3. What is your opinion of the various khukuri makers and their different models?Got any info on the Condor heavy khukuri? Congrats, way better than most videos.
 
Thanks man!
I am new, have poor equipment, and am not great on the camera, but I really try to have good content.

I can't tell you too much about khukuri manufactures. H.I. is a member of the forums here, and they have a great reputation for quality and quality control, but are a bit more spendy, and don't necessarily have the models that I am interested in.
High polish and fit isn't so important to me.

Ex Gurkha Khukuri House is the largest manufacture of traditional khukuris in the world, and they are working hard with me to bring all of their products to the USA, and to get a lot of products that are "americanized"
We have a long way to go, but I am working directly with them to achieve this.
For that reason though, I am biased towards them, and i am not as familiar with some of the other companies.
But I believe EGKH is the only place to offer a lifetime warranty.

Condor makes so good products, no doubt about that, but I am not sure that they are differentially hardened.
That is one of the biggest factors, imho, with traditional khukuris, is that they use 5160, and differentially heat treat it. That makes the blade much stronger than a blade that is not differentially heat treated, and 5160 might be the toughest high carbon steel that you can buy.

With that being said, I will be doing a comparison of machetes soon, and khukuris.

I think Ontario will do well in both of these other comparisons too!

Check me out on Fb if you have one at Facebook.com/RevelationBlades, Facebook.com/beachintactical, and Facebook.com/thepreppersbunker
 
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