That was 6 years ago and I did change my mind slightly about batoning. The advantage as I see it is that it creates sharp edges in the wood that catch fire better. This is important as forests are often moist. The sharp edges and exposed inner wood also makes the fire less smoky, and this is a big deal as these particles hurt the eyes and seem to seek you around. These are valid reasons for splitting even small diameter fire fuel. Other than that it is a bit hard on the blade, especially going bigger than the thinnest diameter worth splitting, since what the grain is doing to the edge can be unpredictable. I would say it is a small, valid part of knife use, but to be avoided if the forest is not too wet, and small low dry branches are available.I have spent as much time in the wood as many people, and around here I have never found a piece of wood lying around that was suitable for use as a baton, even if allowing for one cross-grain cut for shortening it...
A baton here always involve much searching and preparation...
Anything on the forest floor is always either too thin, too thick or too rotten, no exceptions, EEEEVer...
The way I see it, a useful baton is something you have to manufacture out of something big, or bring it with you...
Also batoning to cut cross-grain is a big effort, more than likely it will do some edge damage, and if you don't do that, where are you going to get the square-cut wood to split? So then you have to prepare the wood by cutting it square with a folding saw... Well... I you have a folding saw, that is one thing, but you still have to make a suitable baton, so there are five things to do for the initial ONE split: Cut both ends with a saw to prepare ONE split, and also cut both ends of the baton after spending half an hour to find it (plus carving an acceptable grip on it, so maybe six things to do), so finding it plus four cross-grain cuts minimums before you can even get started...
I have no problem with batoning itself as an occasional emergency back-up technique to get to dry wood, but I do have a problem with the amount of preparation it requires as a "routine" technique: Usually fire or shelter building deals with diameters that don't require splitting. I mean, splitting is for at least 4" diameters: That stuff where I live (Canada) is always rotten on the ground, so you are taking down a 10-12 foot live tree for a fire?
I would just de-limb the bottom of live trees for a fire, and shelter building doesn't require splitting anything 4" or over, so all batoning is good for is really big fires with lots of very large split logs... The thing is, even a wet forest will have the lower branches dry because they dry faster from being smaller: You start a fire with smaller diameter, then the fire you get will dry the other branches as you add them to it...
I have to say the more I think about it, the less batoning makes any sense to me... One of the few rational arguments I heard about it is that is saves on the edge, but looking at all the broken knives I'm beginning to wonder... Also the grain in the wood twists the blade, or there can be an inner knot, so you never know what might happen: I'd stick with chopping smaller diameters...
I think batoning is basically all about making a small knife do big knife tasks, and that has long ago been dismissed: It is the other way around that works...
Gaston
Batoning is not hard on any knife and nowhere near abusive. All of that is up to the user, has nothing to do with the knifes limitations, but a clueless user will destroy any knife quick if they watched a YouTube video and went to the backyard to try it.
No straight cut squared off end. No chopping block. No super high end mandatory super steel knife. Just a lowly $8.00 Hultafors safety knife. On a February 2015 winter hike my son wanted a fire to warm up. It was 13F. So I told him you want a fire, then you build it, you know how.
He knows you don't push down as you strike, he knows you don't lay the blade across the log or branch and go full on hulk smash hit the spine. He knows you lightly tap it until the spine is past the end of the wood.
I've seen 3V (gasps) get a bent edge by a know it all who went full hulk on dense non rotted dry Hickory. You just don't lay a blade on some wood and bash away, that's not batoning.
As to cross grain.
If you know what you are doing then that lowly Buck in 420HC will cross grain baton through a sapling in the way of your shooting lane 10X faster than you read your super steel chopper will chop it down. In both cases, chopping or batoning, you need to be taught how it's done, not just read some online posts or watch some YouTube videos then do it.
I don't care if someone else uses different tools. I carry different things at different times but I didn't have an axe with me or a saw so I cross batoned properly down the offending obstruction. Was actually no big issue or controversy at the scene. Just a chore that needed taking care of and a chore that got taken care of.
If you have been taught how to do it and know how to do it without damaging tools then do it.
Heck, I used a Glock filed knife constantly for 11 years to do "bushcraft". I never knew it was called bushcraft or batoning until I looked for new woods tools in late 2014 online. What I did know was someone taught me right. I can easily say I have never broken a knife batoning, chopping or any kind of woods work. I even have a 7" long 3/16" thin D2 knife I baton with that has given me zero problems. I've even watched it flex back and forth going through knotted up wood. I'm sure someone else could have easily broken any blade in the same piece of wood. Then posted here about it.
Little bit of D2 flex.
I was listening to the wood snap crackle and pop as the grains of wood released their grip from one another. You'd be amazed at how 30 seconds of letting the wedge effect split the wood makes it so much easier on them thicker logs or branches.