Personally I have never
planned to baton through any wood. When I did so, it was more a question of had to because there wasn't any other way to get the job done.
Such as:
http://www.gardenerstoolshed.com/hudson_bay_ax.htmlWhich is what I would take with me if I knew in advance I had some cutting/splitting to do. Very few knives are designed to be heavy duty cutting/splitting tools, while most axes are.
Frank2135