Kevin, I hope you get some, knife throwing is a fun sport. You can use any kind of knife blank for throwing, the best would be heavy with soft temper... I know you can think of many materials to make one. I like some kind of handle to fatten it up, but you could simply wrap it with duct tape. Leather looks better, of course, you can get that from old belts bought at the thrift shop, epoxied on, no rivets required. As I said, you don't want to use fancy wood or horn, you will be disappointed when they chip or split after a couple of throws.
I emphasize the word "sport". I don't think knife throwing is a good offensive or defensive tactic. I'm sure that there are throwing experts out there who could take down an enemy. I can cut a card with a knife or hawk but I wouldn't try it on a fast moving enemy.
I chuckle at some of the frontier movies where the hero throws a lightweight dagger at an enemy and kills him. I think we can all agree that it would take considerable force, weight, impact, and good placement to penetrate cloth, leather, muscle and bone.
For the rest of us, I think throwing a weapon for real offense or defense is a bad idea. At best we might cut or scratch the enemy, but would also piss him off, he might gain the use of our weapon and come after us with it. Ooops. I would prefer to keep the knife or hawk in my hand and see what happens next.
Throwing knives is a fun sport, like throwing tomahawks, darts or spears.
When I first met my son-in-law, we bonded in the backyard throwing some of my knives, hawks and small axes at a tree slab. He was pretty good at it, I decided then that he would take good care of my daughter

Throwing is a fairly simple thing to learn, just a matter of finding your distance. You throw it like a pitcher throws a baseball. Start with the knife or hawk over and behind your right shoulder, step forward with the left foot, and let it go, follow through. Southpaws do the opposite. After a few throws you'll find your distance.
By the way, where is Fort Turner and what is that all about? I agree that they gave you good honest advice about not expecting a heavy throwing knife to be a camp knife.