Some time ago, I joined a conversation on the subject above.

My angle is, that I will prefer a big knife to an axe, unless I need to process a lot of firewood.

I was the presented with the statement; "you can not make a Nying fire with only a knife".

First you may ask, what is a Nying fire? There may be an American term for it, but do not know it.

It basically is a split log, a big one, there you start the fire in between the two halves of the logs. Placed on top of each other.

Check this link(view the pics, as the writing is in Danish)

http://www.bushcraftdk.websitetoolbox.com/post/bcdk-don-p%C3-%A5-tur-6897480?pid=1282795431#post1282795431

Done by a couple of guys I know here in Denmark.

Well, I set out to show, that a big log could be split, using only a knife.
I decided to bring along my trusty 711

Here are some pics from that day. I know we all enjoy seeing a Scrap Yard knife getting a good beating.

Decided on an oak log



Did a test on how long time it would take









Moved on to some Beech wood









An big knot in the wood, prevented me from splitting the entire length of the log. An axe would not have made much of a difference.

Also did a third one. Also Beech wood









There is no point in hiding the fact, that the wedges did most of the work.

The knife was beaten into the log, untill the first "crack" was heard.

WOW, a LOT of work! And thank you for the effort and pictures. I've seen what you are talking about before but don't know what they called it. Oh and what I saw, the used about a 4-6 inch pair of logs (one at each end) to keep them separated so the fire they built would have a better chance of biting into the logs.

Awesome stuff. Thanks for posting. I may need to try this my next outing.

Now to be fair to the other side. A good hatchet can do similar tasks that a knife can do, ie. wood processing, food prep, processing game, etc. It just isn't practiced as much.

Thanks for sharing, Rasmus. I have never seen a fire built that way before. I'll have to give it a try. I have too much time to do it - still looking a job. All these new short offer knives and me with no money! It's KILLING me!!!

Great post and yes I will take a large knife over an ax almost all the time. One for portability and two for versatility.

Great post! And even better that you wore a Tag Heuer out there to beat up that log. Tough knife and a tough watch.

I like it. Good job and thanks for posting this up!

Great post! I love it.

Mors kochanski talks about splitting logs in this manner in his book
Northern Bushcraft

Thank you for your comments!

A fire like this stay lit for about 7 hours. And it warms the length of your body, when sleeping out in the open.