Please note the wood is SEASONED MULBERRY. I don't know about you, but seasoned wood of that hardness and size is the FINAL addition to my fire. I can also state axes are just as prone to catastrophic failure with the wrong set of conditions. The idea of knife batoning is an expedient method when axe carry is not possible. As an expediency, it takes a little thought to do a tougher job safely for both tool and user. No knife; Swamp Rat, Mora and everything else in between is immune.