Batoning with a multi-tool blade

It seems like lots of people carry multi-tools as part of their EDC. Anyone try batoning with a multi-tool blade? How'd it work for you?

I EDC a multi-tool and when I go into the woods, I bring a full kit. For the sake of preparedness, I like to try stuff out in the safety of my own yard first, so I have batoned with my multi-tools. I know that they were not designed for that, but I rather break one at home and buy a new one than break it when I need it and be stuck.

Enough rambling from me...

I cut branches with the saw of my Wave and Spirit. Both work well, but not as good as the larger Gerber saw I carry in my pack.

Spliting the branches by batoning yielded interesting and not altogether unexpected results. The Spirit is the batoing winner. Splits wood easily and while the lock fails, it remains undamaged after. Splitting with the Wave was much harder and the lock also failed, but the flimsy liner lock was damaged after.

All the more reason to have a good fixed blade on your person when out in the woods.

Interesting. What size branches were you batoning?

-Blast

The branches weren't very thick, only about 1 1/2 inches thick. They were not green, but dry.

I wonder if the liner on the newer models are stronger. Mine is pretty old.

I would never think about batoning with a multitool lol that's a good one! When I read the topic I was wondering if it was a serious thread lol...

I wanted to see if it would work. Now I know I can split wood easily with the Spirit but not easily with the Wave. My urban EDC does not include a fixed blade but includes a multi-tool or SAK. I am more used to a SAK for EDC so wanted to test the limits of the two multi-tools I have.

When I am out in the woods, I carry a Fallkniven S1 with a Gerber saw in the pack. And depending on where I am going and what I am doing, a kukhuri. Camping this weekend. Will not take kukhuri, but my Wetterlings axe for firewood cutting. Sometimes I keep my fixed knife in the pack too and have only a SAK or multi-tool on my person. I already know what the SAK is capable of.

I would welcome suggestions or comments.

I wouldn't normally baton with a multi-tool either. That is why curiousity got the better of me. I have a strange desire to know before I have to find out the hard way.

It seems, to me at least, that the Victorinox Swisstool Spirit is more robust than the Leatherman Wave.

That's cool aloha. Thanks for sharing your experiment.

Frankie

Posting this has led to a couple of tips I haven't thought of.

One is leaving the blade unlocked to baton, thus leaving the lock undamaged.

The second is to drop a big rock on the branch and pick out the kindling.

.... or cut/saw the branch and use it to "beat" the big rock and gather the fragments (of the branch of course!)

Could someone explain to me the need for batoning your knife in a survival situation (or any situation, for that matter)?

I understand the idea is to split wood. I imagine to get to the dry inner parts if the wood was wet. But aren't there better ways to reach dry wood besides putting your knife at risk with this pretty brutal technique? Like finding a smaller stick and carving/shaving it with your knife?

If you're in a survival situation wouldn't potentially destroying your knife be a rather counterproductive thing to do? I don't think you could adequately test for baton-proof-ness of your knife. Ten successes at home doesn't prove the next try (for real) in the wild wouldn't destroy your knife. That's like playing Russian Roulette: "Well, the first five tests didn't do anything to me, so I predict the sixth try will be OK too."

The idea is to use a knife as a wedge. As you correctly say. Many of the tecniques presume that you don't have a proper logging axe and a splitting wedge on you. It's really intended to split larger chunks of wood longways so as to reduce them to something that can be burned. It does little or no damage to a decent quality full tang knife. Simply because the wood is a lot softer than steel. A poor quality knife will probably break. Batoning with a multi tool is probably a no-no. Why anyone who has a perfectly usable saw to cut standing wood with would want or need to baton is beyond <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />me. <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Batoning can help get to the dryer wood inside larger branches. Smaller branches and fingerlings tend to have more moisture from being in contact with the ground.

How practical is it to use non-knife tools for splitting wood? I am thinking of something like a Prybaby or a Ti-shark. These pocket-sized prybars have wedged edges and are plenty strong but not sharp.

Perhaps one of these would fit the bill:

Hacking Knife

Pete