Fort Turner

Nope but they look strongly made . Huge rivet/pins leather handle so it can,t break or shake loose . solid looking blade/tang . Its a simply made knife for that much money but it proabably won,t break because of its stout nature . Let me know how they are .
 
Darn I was hoping someone had some personal experience with those knives .
They look like a great thrower I was wondering if they could double as a camp knife ?

Everything I have heard of Fort Turner says they are great . A throwing knife which doubles as a general camp knife would be doubly great .

Maybe you couldn,t skin a squirell with it . I betcha you could baton firewood like a champion with it .
 
Kevin, I have not owned a Fort Turner throwing knife, but I have purchased another similar one and used it...and made another one for myself out of a leaf spring, which is probably a pretty good use for leaf springs.
I've been to a couple of rendezvous and thrown stuff and my observations about these are:
1. They want to be heavy and thick, like a leaf spring, so they can stick well into one of those "cookie" tree slabs.
2. They want to have a wide broad leading point, like a tomahawk
3. They want to have thick hard leather scales fastened with cutler rivets; leather scales will take a lot of abuse; wood or horn handles will be shattered within minutes.
4. You want to buy one of these at a rendezvous from a big burly guy with a beard named "Bear". Just ask, somebody will point him out to you.
5. These are great in camp for splitting timber. Not much good for filleting a trout.
 
4. You want to buy one of these at a rendezvous from a big burly guy with a beard named "Bear". Just ask, somebody will point him out to you.
Quote: Coldwood :

REPLY : Second laugh of the day in less than two minutes .

I have never seen leather slab handles . They look neat and durable as you say . We are of a similar opinion as to their optimal uses . I asked at Fort Turner if theirs would make a good camp knife and they honestly said no which puts them quite a few notches up the esteem pole with me .

I betcha their criteria for what makes a good camp knife might be more severe than mine . They didn,t want to lead me in the wrong direction . Almost positive I will pick one up to try soon and a couple of others later to make a set .
 
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.
 
If you click on the link in the first post in this thread it will bring you to their site I think there is a short bio on them there . I do not know much about them except that it seems like they are a class act .
 
Good to see you here Coldwood. We got a love of carbon butcher knives together and now knife throwing. Thanks for posting and your input.
 
Thanks Ellis! This addictive hobby goes all over the place ;) I'm sitting here right now with about 15 different knives on my computer desk top, fondling them, wondering what to say about them ... I probably should have met more girls when I was a kid ;).
 
Kevin, I looked up the Fort Turner website, surprised to find out the place is in Yreka, CA. That's an old logging town, where I grew up as a cub at my father's knee, learning to play with knives and hatchetts and looking out for timber rattlers.
 
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