Splitting Wood With A Knife Is Not Needed in a Wild Forest 

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.

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.

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.

Never has a truer statement been made Batoning is for RU-vid 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😢😢

Every time i get lost in the woods, the first thing i do is baton a log, then i make a spoon!

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 .

This is how my Grandpa showed me how to build a fire. He only used one match. Always got a fire going

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....

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.

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

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.

GREAT TIPS! Every little tip is another tool in the backpack, right? Learning to "read" the available resources is what it's all about.

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

Take away: "Birch bark is pretty much a cheap date." I knew I liked the woods for more than fresh air.

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.

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.

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.

Dude, this is the lesson I have been needing to learn. Thank you for teaching me this awesome new skill!

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.

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!

Yes great job on educating the backyard kids. 👍🏻

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.

Cool, I’ll watch them. Thanks, have great New year🎉

Excellent demonstration!...MT

excellent video, thanks!

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.🙂

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 🇨🇦 🍁 👍

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.

"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.)

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...

"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.)

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.

Hey where do you recommend getting your budget axe from?.

Splitting Wood With A Knife Is Not Needed in your type of Wild Forest

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.

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.

😎👍

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 RU-vid: 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 could collect the ants. They can take a spark.

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.

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 think learning to baton with a knife (or machete) is a very important survival skill and not just for firewood or starting a fire. Take a 10 euro Hultafors GK or a 12 euro Mora Robust and you can't break it so you don't need an expensive knife at all. These dead tries standing that are rotten and you can break up with your hands you can't find everywhere. So you are basically saying you don't need to baton your knife because of the environment your in. But you also don't have to survive there because you can just walk back home. So what you demonstrated is you don't always have to baton where you live! Your part of the forest. Survival is all about staying alive in every condition and environment worldwide. I agree there are often ways to work around it but they could cost you pressious time or cost a lot more energy. Energy you have to replace by food. I travel and on every continent I visited they baton with a knife (or machete). And I visited the local country people in both South America and Asia. They baton because it's effective and energy conserving. And they don't practise survival but live it every day. These are the survival experts! So I have to give this one a NO because you're only focussed on where you live.