Survival Lilly: Why Batoning is Great and Why Lanyards Suck

In a recent video, Survival Lilly shares her thoughts on a couple of popular knife topics: Batoning and lanyards.

Why Batoning is Great

In case you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past few years, batoning is basically beating on the spine of your knife with a heavy wooden club to drive it into something. Some folks use this method to split kindling and such, while others shudder at the thought and will take every opportunity to berate those who employ it. I mean, why not use a light axe or hatchet to split kindling?

Lilly addresses this by pretty much saying, “Hatchets are great, but I don’t always carry one, but I usually do carry a tough knife.”

Survival is an unknown situation. You can have an axe with you… but sometimes you don’t have an axe with you. Than you have to take what you have with you, and that’s maybe — hopefully — a survival blade which is thick enough.

It can also be much easier to control a batoned knife while splitting wood, as opposed to chopping with a hatchet or axe.

Why Lanyards Suck

I fully agree with this concept. Most lanyards I have encountered for just about any purpose are either useless, more trouble than they’re worth, or actually detrimental to the use of the tool or object to which it’s attached. But some folks feel that everything needs a lanyard, and they’re willing to put up with the aggravation of trying to use them. That’s great for lanyard-makers, but I don’t have much patience for things that get in the way instead of helping me.

Her first example of why lanyards aren’t great is admittedly pretty weak. Say you’re sawing away contentedly, when a bear shows up and you take off running? Well gee, then your saw is hanging off your wrist flailing about as you run.

Hmmm.

Next, though, is a fair point; if you slip and fall, you should have the option of tossing your knife or saw away so you don’t fall onto it. With a lanyard tying it to your wrist, you lose that option.

Have a lanyard but don’t put it over your wrist? That’s also dangerous, as she explains. Not to mention that lanyards can allow a rogue shrub to pluck your knife right out of its sheath…

She ends by saying that closed lanyards are fine by her, and adds that:

There are so many different opinions as there are people on this planet.

You can say that again, Lilly.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.