>>393692Batoning does not necessarily mean splitting.
Some years ago I tested a cheap small Blackfox hunting knife. I managed to cut through 15 cm diam. tree that had fallen on the trail. I just made little v-shaped cuts, lots of them. The hollow grounded knife used was defenitely not designed for it, but this made zero visible damage to the knife. I believe the key is to use a light baton, hit exactly in right angle and not to too hard.
When using an axe, about one of three hits don't land where I'm aming them, which means a lot of wasted energy. When batoning, you just place the blade where you want to cut and you can't possibly miss it.
Can't see any every day applications, just a survival skill. Anyway, you imagine a big, about 90 degree v-cut so, that the the lowest point of the v just goes through the object. Then you just take one layer at a time, small v-cuts, size depends on size of the knife. If it's possible to hit different sides of the object, then choose a different approach. Just don't make a small v-cut and widen it as you go. That's what many people do with an axe.
