I'd never heard of this 'batoning' thing before maybe 5 years ago, when it started showing up with a few survivalist influencers. I'm guessing it might have come from some silly Bear Grylls show previously, influencing the influencers to adopt it as received wisdom from a 'real' survival expert? Whatever the source, when I first saw this being done to a brand new, $200 knife, I was kind of surprised. Guy broke the knife. Why? What was being proven? That using a tool incorrectly might result in tool failure? He hit that thing pretty hard with a chunk of wood. Not really 'a thing' in my books then, and still not.
I have a nice little Hultefors hatchet for chopping small stuff. I'm left to wonder - are these idiots imagining some post-apocalyptic scenario where you're only allowed to have 1 sharp tool? Or that zombie hordes have stolen all the hatchets? What, exactly, are they prepping for, by abusing knives? Do they open tins of food with their fine hunting knives too? Because that's how you ruin a knife...