Location makes such a big difference in what you need. I am going tomorrow for a quick overnight trip with my BCS and roll-up stove to to some prototype testing. I plan on burning a fire for quite a few hours but doubt I will take a saw, an ax or more than my little neck knife. The area I am going is covered with beetle killed Ponderosa pine and there is plenty of wood in limb wood from small twigs to a couple inches in diameter. All wood that size can be broken by hand or foot.
The biggest safety advantage that I see in batoning with a knife over a hatchet or ax is in making kindling. It is one thing to use a full size ax to make kindling at the cabin where I have stable chopping blocks and another on snow covered ground with cold hands.
