Brian Jones
Moderator
- Joined
- Jan 17, 1999
- Messages
- 7,560
Welp,
Just got back from practicing throws with my Ranger Spike Hawk. Be warned, this is highly addictive!
I'm a true novice at this, so I thought I'd share some observations on my learning process from today and past days.
I went out into the woods, and set up an approximately 14" diameter pine log that I found. I set it horizontally right on the ground, with the cut-end facing me. I decided to set it this way, instead of monuting it higher, since, when I'm in Idaho at the end of the month, I'm gonna be hunting smaller game that is about this height or lower from the ground.
I started from about a one-spin distance (about 15 or so feet), dug a line in the dirt with my heel, and threw overhand at first. I killed a lot of divots out of the ground, or killed a lot of air above the log on the first few throws...LOL! I realized right away that the pivot/spin point feels very different from knife-throwing. On the hawk, obviously it's at the heavy blade end, but you're holding it down about a foot from there, and the bottom of the handle. I tended mostly to be high at first, because I was aiming my hand right at the heart of the target. This caused the spin to happen above the target, and made the hawk pass high.
I adjusted, and aimed with my hand releasing near the bottom edge of the target, and then was sticking the hawk fairly consistently. The only thing I ran into was the handle sometimes bouncing off the ground just before it hit, flipping the hawk over the target. My stance was like the one in Bobby's video clip, throwing right-handed with the left leg forward. I also realized that sometimes I had the tendency to try to spin it too much with a flick of my wrist, causing too much spin and releasing the blade a little early, and the hawk was inadvertently functioning as a digging tool on those throws...
. So, I made sure to follow through,and let the momentum of the throw create the spin, and allowing the release to happen naturally -- that's when the hawk started sinking in pretty regularly.
However, as Andy said, Peter LaGana used to throw sidearm (like a throwing stick) at small game, so of course, I began doing that. I got it to stick somewhat consistently this way right away. It felt really cool to do it sideways!
I bent at the knees and brought the hawk down to my side from the overhand ready position and relased at target level (about my knee height), sending it in a straight line-drive into the target.
I then played with different stances. In my martial art, we are taught to throw blades with the same leg forward as the arm, to let the whole spine and body together in motion create the throw, rather than "left leg forward/right hand throw". I was a little more consistent this way on the overhand throws, but had to practice a little more on the sidearm throws, so my leg didn't get in the way. I got better with time.
Then, thinking I may have to run out and ambush game when I hunt, I wondered what it would be like to take a few full speed running steps and release into the target as I ran to the line I dug for the one-spin throw. Timing of my steps was important here. I found that the "same side/arm leg" type of position works best here, as you are throwing with out twisting at the hips and screwing up your balance/momentum. I started the runs with the hawk up in the throwing position. This type of throw worked great for both sidearm and overhand throws, because I didn't lose momentum in my run. I ran right up to the target each time and touched it, as if I was tackling stunned game, then did a few more running throws with my knife in my other hand, and stabbed the wood as I reached it (the coup de grace in case my throwing mught be off).
I then doubled my distance and have been practicing basic two-spin throws. I need a lot more work to get this consistent. More as I get the hang of it.
Also, today I played more with chopping, and wood working. I was doing figure-eight chopping motions on the wood, back and forth, to build up arm strength. This hawk chops surpisingly well! It digs in, and doesn't bind. The edge held very nicely against the heavy pitched filled pine. I then sunk the hawk blade first into the wood, and used the spike to drill holes in another piece of wood, by spinning the wood on it while pushing down.
I also sunk the spike into pieces of wood and twisted hard in a sideways circular motion (like cranking a car jack on a lug nut), and it pried the wood apart beautifully and quickly. I sunk the spike deep and locked the blade facing straight up, and took other logs (about 6 in diameter, and threw them down against the blade to split them. The weight of the log with my momentum split them like toothpicks over the hawk edge in one shot each time (caveat -- I used only logs that were long enough that my hands were down away from the blade edge.). This made for very quick work on the wood.
The blade and spike have no damage to them, other than minor rolling of the blade, due to the fact that I had a thin rolled edge still on it. A few swipes with my ceramic and it moved back into place, shaving hair on my arm again. On my first day in the woods with it a week ago, the spike did suffer a little blunting on the point when I hit a rock with a bad throw (oops), but no chipping -- it just kind of "mashed it" a little. But it was easy to stroke back into a fine point with my sharpening tools. Now I'm just careful to throw away from rocky areas!
But even if I did hit something again, the softer edge steel is easy to refile/resharpen, so no worries. The handle has some nicks and dents on it, and it looks cool -- like it has gotten some use and is truly a period piece. It's been broken in now!!!
This is a little rough, since I'm typing quickly, so, I hope it makes sense!
More soon!
Best,
Brian.
Just got back from practicing throws with my Ranger Spike Hawk. Be warned, this is highly addictive!
I went out into the woods, and set up an approximately 14" diameter pine log that I found. I set it horizontally right on the ground, with the cut-end facing me. I decided to set it this way, instead of monuting it higher, since, when I'm in Idaho at the end of the month, I'm gonna be hunting smaller game that is about this height or lower from the ground.
I started from about a one-spin distance (about 15 or so feet), dug a line in the dirt with my heel, and threw overhand at first. I killed a lot of divots out of the ground, or killed a lot of air above the log on the first few throws...LOL! I realized right away that the pivot/spin point feels very different from knife-throwing. On the hawk, obviously it's at the heavy blade end, but you're holding it down about a foot from there, and the bottom of the handle. I tended mostly to be high at first, because I was aiming my hand right at the heart of the target. This caused the spin to happen above the target, and made the hawk pass high.
I adjusted, and aimed with my hand releasing near the bottom edge of the target, and then was sticking the hawk fairly consistently. The only thing I ran into was the handle sometimes bouncing off the ground just before it hit, flipping the hawk over the target. My stance was like the one in Bobby's video clip, throwing right-handed with the left leg forward. I also realized that sometimes I had the tendency to try to spin it too much with a flick of my wrist, causing too much spin and releasing the blade a little early, and the hawk was inadvertently functioning as a digging tool on those throws...
However, as Andy said, Peter LaGana used to throw sidearm (like a throwing stick) at small game, so of course, I began doing that. I got it to stick somewhat consistently this way right away. It felt really cool to do it sideways!
I then played with different stances. In my martial art, we are taught to throw blades with the same leg forward as the arm, to let the whole spine and body together in motion create the throw, rather than "left leg forward/right hand throw". I was a little more consistent this way on the overhand throws, but had to practice a little more on the sidearm throws, so my leg didn't get in the way. I got better with time.
Then, thinking I may have to run out and ambush game when I hunt, I wondered what it would be like to take a few full speed running steps and release into the target as I ran to the line I dug for the one-spin throw. Timing of my steps was important here. I found that the "same side/arm leg" type of position works best here, as you are throwing with out twisting at the hips and screwing up your balance/momentum. I started the runs with the hawk up in the throwing position. This type of throw worked great for both sidearm and overhand throws, because I didn't lose momentum in my run. I ran right up to the target each time and touched it, as if I was tackling stunned game, then did a few more running throws with my knife in my other hand, and stabbed the wood as I reached it (the coup de grace in case my throwing mught be off).
I then doubled my distance and have been practicing basic two-spin throws. I need a lot more work to get this consistent. More as I get the hang of it.
Also, today I played more with chopping, and wood working. I was doing figure-eight chopping motions on the wood, back and forth, to build up arm strength. This hawk chops surpisingly well! It digs in, and doesn't bind. The edge held very nicely against the heavy pitched filled pine. I then sunk the hawk blade first into the wood, and used the spike to drill holes in another piece of wood, by spinning the wood on it while pushing down.
I also sunk the spike into pieces of wood and twisted hard in a sideways circular motion (like cranking a car jack on a lug nut), and it pried the wood apart beautifully and quickly. I sunk the spike deep and locked the blade facing straight up, and took other logs (about 6 in diameter, and threw them down against the blade to split them. The weight of the log with my momentum split them like toothpicks over the hawk edge in one shot each time (caveat -- I used only logs that were long enough that my hands were down away from the blade edge.). This made for very quick work on the wood.
The blade and spike have no damage to them, other than minor rolling of the blade, due to the fact that I had a thin rolled edge still on it. A few swipes with my ceramic and it moved back into place, shaving hair on my arm again. On my first day in the woods with it a week ago, the spike did suffer a little blunting on the point when I hit a rock with a bad throw (oops), but no chipping -- it just kind of "mashed it" a little. But it was easy to stroke back into a fine point with my sharpening tools. Now I'm just careful to throw away from rocky areas!
This is a little rough, since I'm typing quickly, so, I hope it makes sense!
More soon!
Best,
Brian.
