Splitting Wood With A Knife: Four Different Methods

[@SliceyMcChop]

Nice vid. Very clear & informative. Thanks for sharing your time & knowledge for us👌

[@americanwoodloreandforestcraft]

Thanks very much! I greatly enjoy talking about anything to do with the woods and the outdoors, and I'm glad you enjoyed it

[@dougjochims7491]

Good information. That wind was crazy!

[@americanwoodloreandforestcraft]

Thanks! And yeah, it was something for sure!

[@dennisleighton2812]

Hi there, and thanks for that informative video. What I would have liked to hear is your understanding of why wood-splitting is so important that it has almost become a whole industry in itself. It still baffles me a bit. People go to extraordinary lengths to first cut (or saw) through a large log (4" +), then split that down to sticks the thickness of a finger in order to make such fine and intricate "feathersticks" that a specailised tool (Scandi grind knife) is required to do it! Why? Some say it's "necessary" for creating tinder (very fine curls) in order to make a fire out in the wilderness when it's wet. OK, but is that the best way? There are dozens of ways of providing tinder and kindling that don't require even a fraction of the time, effort, tools and expertise required to make these "feathersticks". Others say they do it to practise their bushcraft skills in case they should ever need them out there. Maybe so. Can't they just plan a bit better to ensure that it doesn't happen? My feeling is that the more likely answer is that it has become a hobby, or possibly bordering on a competitive "sport", with "rules", traditional methods and suchlike, to elevate the "journeymen" from the "apprentices" and amateurs. It has in fact become a de facto Guild (much like knifemaking). So why don't they just say so? Why hide it behind "essential skills to save your life"? Back to the video. Firstly I agree with you 100% about batoning. If it is light (as in the video) and one does have a robust knife (like my Cold Steel Trail Master) then that is fine. But, your method of using wedges IS the more sensible method, and will not endanger your knife. [I recently saw an interview with a person from ESEE saying that the vast majority of knives they receive for replacement suffered damage from batoning!] And those are pretty robust, high quality knives. Also, wedges are very sustainable, and if it gets damaged one merely cuts another one! In most forest environments, one can with little effort find standing dead trees with tons of dead wood on them. In harvesting this one gets loads of various different size branches, sticks and twigs perfect for fire-making as is, with no need to split. Even if branches are thick, they can still be burned as is, they just last longer. Once the first fire is lit, one can dry out other wet wood for an indefinite supply into the future. Thanks for some refreshing views and hope to hear your comments on my post. Cheers mate!

[@americanwoodloreandforestcraft]

This is a great comment, and you bring up many good points! I decided to give my answer in a video, so I'll be uploading that later today. I hope my comments provide a suitable answer to your questions or at least give an idea of my thoughts on the subject. Once it's uploaded, I'll try to link it in a reply here. If that doesn't work, then I'll reply again to let you know the video is live. Thanks for the comment and the resultant video idea!

[@americanwoodloreandforestcraft]

I'm not entirely sure how to send a link, but the video is now up

[@dennisleighton2812]

@@americanwoodloreandforestcraft Hi, and sorry to be a bother. What is the title of the video you mentioned? I can't see anything obvious. there are no videos that I can see.

[@dennisleighton2812]

Ahh, just found your video library, but which video should I view ?

[@RobMongey]

Nice Tutorial. I've never been the biggest exponent of pointing a blade towards any part of me (It was just drilled into me that this is a no-no), but I see it's value in the examples demonstrated.

[@americanwoodloreandforestcraft]

Thank you! Yeah, I generally advise against that in most situations. However, I have found that there are certain knife techniques that go against that rule and tend to work quite well. I do try to mention that there is a certain amount of risk involved and how to possibly mitigate the risk as much as possible. In my experience, though, they can be quite safe if performed properly with good knife control.

[@badgerkadar8589]

well done good sir

[@americanwoodloreandforestcraft]

Much appreciated!

[@jamesparker6383]

Felix Immler showed a good way to baton with a folding knife by opening it up halfway and batoning with it.

[@americanwoodloreandforestcraft]

Indeed he did. I've seen that also. That's a good way to do it, and it can certainly work quite well

[@johnrevill1087]

Nice this is what I prefer to do with wedge but I always carry a tomohawk head a a small folding saw

[@SoldierDrew]

What kind of neck knife are you wearing? Thank you.

[@americanwoodloreandforestcraft]

It's a Green River Ripper knife that I modified. I cut the blade down to about three inches or so and sanded the handle until it was more comfortable

[@DistortedSmiles]

I dig your hat, it has a face.

[@americanwoodloreandforestcraft]

Thanks for watching, and I do like my Tilley hat