Has anyone here ever tried throwing a Kukri-like object?

crimsonfalcon07

crimsonfalcon07

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Not talking about an actual Khukuri, just a khukuri-like-object, such as a cold steel or kabar kukri. I made the mistake of posting a comparison thread on knifeforums and gave my admittedly inexperienced opinion about the HI and the Kabar, which are the two types that I own, and made mention of throwing the Kabar kukri for fun. Got mocked for that by most of the moderators and senior members... So is throwing a kukri or other knife not technically designed for it completely idiotic? I never could get a straight answer from them there outside of mockery as to why that's so horrible.

I'm also told that under no circumstances would anyone ever throw a knife or other object in combat (except maybe for a tomahawk, for some reason those aren't included). So am I as crazy as Mike Stewart and the others there seem to think? Or should I only be throwing knives designed for it? Please tell me why?
 
Knives not designed for throwing are usually hardened more, making them more prone to developing fractures from the vibrations associated with throwing (more importantly, impact).

There's a thread around here somewhere about a guy breaking his BK2 that explains it pretty well. .earch should find it,

However, I still say, "Science be damned!" I enjoy chucking an old Kabar quite frequently. No doubt in my mind that it will be destroyed by this activity (seen it happen to a few predecessors), but it's still fun!
 
Welcome to Bladeforums!
We like to mock crazy people, too. :)

But I don't think you're crazy. That's why we have this forum for throwing knives. Sure, there are knives designed for throwing. They are shaped and balanced for it, made of tougher steels and tempered properly to take the shock. But the first knives and axes and spears were whatever the throwers had handy, and might even have made themselves. That's how you learn.

There's a famous kukri-shaped object that was probably first made for throwing tens of thousands of years ago: the boomerang. So there's nothing wrong with the shape. Next, get a good carbon steel blade to avoid brittleness and go for it.

Ontario and Ka-Bar and Cold Steel all have relatively inexpensive examples you would enjoy trying.
 
crimsonfalcon07 said:
Not talking about an actual Khukuri, just a khukuri-like-object, such as a cold steel or kabar kukri. I made the mistake of posting a comparison thread on knifeforums and gave my admittedly inexperienced opinion about the HI and the Kabar, which are the two types that I own, and made mention of throwing the Kabar kukri for fun.
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I have thrown my Cold Steel Gurkha Kukri SK5 one time. I didn't care for the results. Like any knife that you are going to throw it will take a few tries to get the rotation right. My first throw bounced back and almost hit my son!. I keep that knife damn sharp and was very luck we didn't have a quick trip to the ER.

IMHO it is big enough and Heavy enough to be a good thrower. Micah Posada used to have a few videos up with his Kukuri throwing, Damn Impressive stuff. But for me it is just too expensive a knife to be throwing around.
 
Glad to hear I'm not the only one. I actually found the Kabar Kukri to be fairly easy to stick, it just required a slightly earlier release, but I could just gently lob it, and it still had enough heft to sink in deep (was only throwing at a large sheet of plywood, not a log or anything though).
 
And no, it isn't "crazy" to throw knives not specifically meant for throwing. You just need to understand the limitations that come with the knife you choose. As long as you understand that and don't over work the knife, you should be fine. And if you were thinking about throwing in combat, just understand this: you need to be personally confident in your throwing ability and know that the knife you threw is no longer in your possession and could very well be used against you. Throwing is more of a parlor trick now, but there's now doubt that knives can injure or even kill if throw well.
 
Nope, not thinking about throwing in combat. Honestly though, if I'm down to my knife in a modern combat situation, I think I'm in more trouble than having my knife used against me. That kid is pretty good!
 
I have thrown a lot of different knife styles.

Bowie, Khukri, dagger, bayonet, and knives designed for throwing.

You just need to be prepared to have a broken knife. As long as you realize that it is a possibility, throw away.

A great big beefy full tang khukri from HI would work. You will loose the handle pretty fast though. They use natural materials, that can crack under normal use, let alone a bad bounce on a miss throw.

a .5 thick khukri would make for a meaty thrower. One design issue is that the narrower part of the blade might be easier to tweak with a bad throw (I guess you could call it the waist of the blade). You have a big heavy front and rear of the blade, and the skinny middle where there is less metal from edge to spine.
 
I hand craft knifes, and as one poster says some knifes are too brittle or hardened for throwing. Example. Most knifes meant for cutting or holding an edge, are tempered so that the blade is hard, the edge is hard, but soft enough to be sharpened, but hard enough to hold an edge through use. The center bulk of the knife however is generally if well treated soften all meant for "CUTTING".

I have found 440stainless the best all around thrower. I have thrown knifes made from spring steel etc.. and you have to keep them in an annealed state (soften state) otherwise they break easily.

440 after the tempering cycle for a good thrower is hard enough to not chip, but it's properties are also soft enough to not shatter. Generally for throwers. I harden only once to magnetic north. Then I temper twice getting the edge blue instead of bronze like for a cutter. I always keep the tip magenta during the second temper. So the tip is tough, takes impact, and will bend instead of breaking, and can be bent back into place a few times before finally breaking.

In simple the process for a thrower is somewhat similar to a cutter, but generally most cutting knifes steels are brittle and made for cutting only, and do not take shock very well! It's a trade off.. toughness versus razor edge holding endurance.

With good tempering you can get the best of both worlds, but the cost for such a knife wont be worth it for someone who throws knifes all the time! I makem , and the hours to make such would easily run someone 200$ if you took minimum wage, and the hours for me to make the knife alone!

You can see knifes I make on my youtube channel. Just youtube Cody Oebel
 
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we call it "E-nep" not kukri it's Thai knife yes it's look like but different.
 
I used to throw a Cold Steel Kukri Machete and it worked pretty well. It made the most amazing wooshing sound on the way to the target. The only problem was that the blade eventually broke inside the handle. I returned it to CS and they replaced it. I figured it was an isolated problem until my replacement kukri broke in the same place.
 
Yes as others noted everybody is getting a little off topic with the E-nep. Throw the kukri? I would worry about the strength of the steel, personally I think the 5160 spring steel is better than a stainless in regards to throwing, since the knives can bend and way more resiliant. Hell thats why americans been making leaf springs out of them since forever. The video posted above features eneps thrown by thai person.
 
I threw my condor kukri machete one day, it worked pretty good. I've been thinking about buying one of those cheap $25 kukris just to throw for fun.
 
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