>>2439737It's important to remember with batoning that you aren't trying to split logs and big shit in half. A lot of LARPers want to act like you can part the fucking red seas with a victorinox and a rock when in reality the most effective use is in splitting kindling-sized chunks off a relatively straight-grained piece of wood so that you can start a good fire. As twig stoves show, you can maintain surprisingly hot and durable fires without using anything much more than an inch or two in diameter. If you have a large chunk of wood, start from an edge and baton diagonal triangle slices off slowly moving inward - you don't need the girth of a Clydesdale's meat stick to have a hot fire. I recommend experimenting with starting fires with only tinder and kindling, incrementally moving up in the size of wood you put on ONLY when the fire is hot enough to effectively light the next size (i.e. not laying 20 lbs of logs all helter-skelter like your uncle's specialty gasoline guzzling "instantaneous light" bonfires) and you'll become familiar with how big the wood needs to be to maintain stable heat without using large chunks. Godspeed and may your tiny coals glow brightly
