Beginner Throwing Knives?

[GrimPanda]

I am really interested in starting but I want to know what a beginner should get. Do I need anything besides and target and knives? What knife and/or target do you recommend?

 

[Windwhistler]

Everyone has their favorites but I can say I wish I had listened to a couple of folks who warned me against light and short knives when I started. I could have saved some dollars and lots of time by starting out with heavy knives 10" or longer. They are just much easier to control and throw and they stick in more easily so you are picking less up off the ground.

 

[P.Brewster]

Knives -- minimum 3/16" thick, minimum 9 or 10" long. Probably longer if you plan to do end-over-end spin throwing. Fancier is not better. Avoid stainless, look for carbon steel.

Targets -- for knives, a best to worse list would be end-grain wood (e.g. a log round or wood block target), side-grain wood (boards or dead tree), dense foam or rubber (e.g. archery target), plywood.

You'll want a big file to sharpen and knock off burrs.

 

[jimh0220]

Read a book that the author suggests when starting at least, visiting the local Lowes or Home Depot, buy steel pieces, get out the angle grinder and make yourself. Point being, the knives will be abused and hardened steel is brittle anyways, so why not learn on homemade knives that cost pennies, and buy your fancy knives if you want to once you can hit and stick more than miss.

 

[Windwhistler]

jimh0220 has it right. Don't spend a lot till you can do it. Check out my spikes in the weird throwing things thread. They cost about $1 each.

 

[Rat Finkenstein]

hardened steel isn't always brittle. Mild steel makes poor throwers, they will deform freely and half your time will be spent straightening them out.

Spikes should be hardened, so that is one option for the cheap. If you get a decent set of something like the 14 inch condor throwers, you will have a longer lasting better quality investment that will give more satisfaction in the long run, all depends on what you want to spend. I would avoid mild steel anything, though.

 

[gregorio]

Cold steel does decent throwers, and are economical in my opinion.

 

[Viper1357]

hardened steel isn't always brittle. Mild steel makes poor throwers, they will deform freely and half your time will be spent straightening them out.

Spikes should be hardened, so that is one option for the cheap. If you get a decent set of something like the 14 inch condor throwers, you will have a longer lasting better quality investment that will give more satisfaction in the long run, all depends on what you want to spend. I would avoid mild steel anything, though.

+1 on that.
I started on 12" and 14" Condor Throwers, and absolutely they have been a fairly inexpensive yet quality investment in affordable beginner throwers. I still put them in the mix several times a week when I get the chance to throw. Just a long lasting quality investment as Rat stated above.

 

[zzyzzogeton]

I just started throwing, and I decided to go with AngelFire "Heavy Talon" knives. They happened to match P.Bs criteria. They are locally made in Austin and he will "touch'em up" for free when they get dinged. The guy who makes them was inducted to the IKTHOF Hall of Fame in 2009 and his fiance won the female championship last year. I figure he knows his knives.

He differentially heat treats them on both ends - the butt and points are heat treated for hardness, but he leaves the middle "less hard" so that the knife has some little give to it. He makes 8 - 9 different patterns, some for Mountain Man style throwing and others for "regular" competitions.

 

[zzyzzogeton]

As a novice, is it better to concentrate on 1 style of throwing, e.g., spin throwing, 1/2, 1, 1.5, 2, etc., vs no-spin only, or should you practice "both" styles (spin AND no-spin) simultaneously?

 

[Viper1357]

As a novice, is it better to concentrate on 1 style of throwing, e.g., spin throwing, 1/2, 1, 1.5, 2, etc., vs no-spin only, or should you practice "both" styles (spin AND no-spin) simultaneously?

That's a good question, and I figure it depends on the individual and his or her goals, time commitment, tools, etc...

As a very novice, novice myself, (with bum shoulder joints, but currently cortisone helping) I tried both (spin and no spin) at first and have migrated back to spin at this point. **One other point to your question, or at least an issue I found was as a beginner was jumping from 7" 3oz. knives to 14" 1lb+, and everything in between when I was really first learning. Yikes, that was a challenge in itself as distances, grips, arc, you know, was all different. So while I am doing better most every time I practice, I try to stay with more evenly sized and weighted knives as not to mess myself up more than I already am..

Looking forward to other's experiences and thoughts as well....

 

[Windwhistler]

Seems to me it all depends on what you want to do with the skill. If you want to throw about anything that might be available and hit targets high or low, near or far with pretty good accuracy, then practicing with lots of different weights and lengths of knives against targets of varying size, height and distance seems like a good idea. If it is the plan to stand at a prescribed line and throw in contests at a target of regulation size and shape, then I would stick with a knife of acceptable length and weight and only practice with that knife against regulation targets.