Glock field knife for no spin/Thorn style throwing?

[Jahicks]

Hi everyone,

I'm pretty new to knife throwing overall, and have a couple of sets of Gil Hibben throwers. They're pretty nice, but I have little luck throwing the larger, heavier competition set no spin. Beyond that, my interest is mainly from a tactical standpoint, so I'd like to use a field knife rather than a specialty throwing knife. I've seen a lot of great videos of people throwing the Glock 78/81 field knives, but I haven't seen them thrown in a no-spin style. Does anyone have any experience with throwing these knives that can weigh in on their performance in no-spin/Thorn style throwing? Are there any other field-ready or tactical knives that anybody would recommend as being more suitable? I'm not particularly concerned with how good a knife may be for a beginning thrower since I've got those Hibben sets to get the basics down with, and the smaller set seems to do a pretty good job for me, but I'd be quite interested in hearing about knives that would be a good step between the Hibbens and my end goal.

I really like the knife that Mr. Thorn used in his videos. If I am not mistaken, he can be seen throwing a Bobby Branton #17 - way out of my price range, but it almost reminds me of a smatchet, and seems like that could be pretty cool.

All in all, I'd just love to hear your thoughts!

John

 

[Windwhistler]

I've tried a Glock field knife for no spin. It isn't bad at short range but just doesn't have the weight for much penetration at further than 10 feet or so. The blade configuration and balance work pretty well. Two things that have an effect on my throwing is handle configuration and whether or not a guard is sticking up and prevents me getting a finger on a spine balance point. Guard on Glock doesn't effect my finding the sweet spot on the spine and the rounded plastic handle provides decent grip and easy release. If there was one thing I'd change I would make the blade heavier weight steel. You can throw about anything but in order to do any damage when it arrives, serious momentum must be conserved. I like those Hibben Competitions for longer ranges.

 

[jeverettk]

Well for strictly tactical purposes, I like a 1lb or so cold chisel as my throwing knife. I've got two at about 12" long, a Dasco and a Stanley, with modified edges/points, but that doesn't seem to be the direction you're going.

Pros:

• Excellent penetration/stopping force - I've split logs throwing these 'knives'.
• It looks pretty freakin' batman meets caveman awesome
• Technique is sorta secondary - as long as you hit your target
• Least likely knife to have a target pull out and throw back at you
• also works great as a club, hammer, stake, prybar, and of course a chisel

Cons:

• It's REALLY heavy
• Bouncebacks are TERRIFYING - pack an extra pair of pants
• possible injury just from throwing - it's really heavy
• shorter target life - (which is why the tactical advantage)
• I'm not sure from gauging others reactions, but it may actually look crazy stupid to do this
• It might just be unreasonably heavy (but very tactical)

All kidding aside, the Dasco is actually really fun. The wide flat rectangular surface along the 'back' of the 'knife' is superb for no-spin throwing, and it's just light enough to almost make sense. The Stanley handle is hexagonal, which is weird, and of course for some, it's...a little heavy.