How many of you remember your first time ?

K

Kevin the grey

Joined
Aug 26, 2005
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Ah youth . A time of passion . Learning about yourself and others . New passions erupt and we gain expeience in how to penetrate defences .

Alright before some people get the wrong idea I am talking about your first good throw . With a knife . Not those hesitant fumblings full of accidental promise .
A truly decisive penetration that says I did it .

Mine was an underhand throw at all of 4 feet away . I couldn,t throw overhand for beans . Finally I looked at the mechanics of it and said to myself that underhand might make it . Old hunting knife blade with a bare tang . A truly weight forward throw that proabably made it easier . Anyway it got me somewhere . It gave me confidence .
 
Could be one of two stories.

1. I was about 14 or 15, and one of my brother's friends was borrowing a screwdriver to repair a part on his car. Afterward, he and my brother were throwing the screwdriver at the ground, trying to stick it. Good thing my dad didn't see them using his good tools that way... but my brother's friend challenged me to try it. I took it, threw it at the ground, and it stuck perfectly at a 45-degree angle. They thought that was the coolest thing, and instantly... so did I.

2. I was 16, and just purchased my first thrower. Like any 16 year old, I bought it because it looked cool. (Turned out, it's a great throwing knife, and still my favorite thrower) There I was, in our barely finished basement, and thought... what the heck. I threw it right at the drywall, expecting it to stick gently and easily like they do on television. It punched a wicked hole right through the drywall and stuck deeply into the wooden stud behind it. In that split second, I realized that throwing knives have a lot of power... and that I just stuck it perfectly from about fifteen feet. That stays with you, and while I also learned to be smarter about targets, I spent all afternoon throwing at scrap wood in the garage. I hung a map of the US over the hole... and my parents never found out about the hole in the drywall until they moved from that home years later.
 
Watchful , thats a good one . You still have your first thrower ? From when you were sixteen ? I realise that I don,t know your age and you might be seventeen now . I get the idea you are in your late twenties early thirties . Mister I wish I had treated my first knife like that let alone my first thrower . You must be pretty dedicated to things you do .
 
Thanks for the thought! Birthday was yesterday... 39. Yes, I still have the first thrower (and first knife) I bought and still use it.

I bought it in 1983 for $20 used off a friend, who picked it up new in Germany in 1981. There's no name on it... it just says "Stainless - Germany". It's about 11" long, spear head shaped with a slightly tapered handle. Chrome finish.

You can balance it on the tip of your finger, tap it with something, and it rings in a perfect high C.

It's a little scratched up, but still has the original edge and all the punch you'd expect from a blade that size.
 
Well happy belated birthday . Is that 20 dollar knife of yesteryear better than what you would get today ? The only inexpensive throwers I like so far are the S:K:S bayonets . My twenty dollar thrower is just too light . I guess weight doesn,t have too much to do with quality . My nicest thrower is a mini 5 inches and yes its way too light . Its got a neat blued edge to it .

I,m gonna look around for skewers with some weight to them .
 
Thanks, Kevin!

I don't know if the knife of yesteryear is better in any way-- I think a lot of knives today are magnificently engineered and designed. But for $20, this old knife works perfectly.

I've had some $20-40 throwers that stank-- the tips bent or cracked, or never had enough power to penetrate the wood. The CS throwers I got for $20 (set of three) have been great--I just don't care for the overly sharp edges. I want to throw the things, not do surgery. But they're great for the price.

And weight and quality don't equate much, otherwise you could just hurl a brick at a wood round.

The SKS bayonet is widely respected, although I've never thrown one. Ralph Thorn highly recommends them as something great for a beginner that you'll keep throwing as an expert.
 
I had borrowed a diving knife to take hiking with me (I thought it was a throwing knife at the time) so the guy I ended up borrowing it from and I ended up throwing it at a tree from about ten paces.

We must have hit with the tang a hundred times, then I stuck in the tree at zero degrees, my freind told me it was luck and I ended up sticking it three more times in a row and eight more times after that out of turn.I felt so empowered
 
faceplant said:
then I stuck in the tree at zero degrees, my freind told me it was luck and I ended up sticking it three more times in a row and eight more times after that out of turn.I felt so empowered
Click to expand...

correction, 90 degrees perpendicular to the tree. :D
 
I was in a friends basement and we were throwing steak knives at a dart board. My friends kept missing, and I tried, and got a bullseye my first try.
 
saturnine138 said:
I was in a friends basement and we were throwing steak knives at a dart board. My friends kept missing, and I tried, and got a bullseye my first try.
Click to expand...


OMG! welcome to the knifethrowing world pal!:D
 
When I was 8 or so, we used to play mumblety-peg with our boy scout knives, but that hardly qualifies.... I may have tried actually throwing various "hunting" knives, but I don't really recall.
When I was in the army, '64-'67, I had a buddy who was an actual knife thrower, as in he had done some professional work. Guy could throw anything...

Anyway, I got interested, and bought a "Wurfmesser" from one of the local German shops. We spent a lot of time out in "the field" then, and I'd throw at the pine trees. The knife had a conventional tang grip, with the grip made up of dozens of black plastic and aluminum washers. One throw hit the tree sideways, and it broke in half at the tang. Washers flew everywhere!
 
I remember mine. I went to a pawn shop, and I always get atleast one knife a week from them. I analyzed the case and saw two throwing knives in a nice little holster for them. Stainless Steel, not so bad. I looked at one of the guys, motioned him over. Ended up bumping the price from 9.99 to six out the door.

I decided to try safely, with a fence as my backdrop, with a tree. Reading a short little section on how to throw these bad boys. I do it. It works! But, wait.....what the hell? The knife is stuck in the tree, HANDLE FIRST. So, I kept on trying and then I FINALLY GET IT! FINALLY! I felt so empowered, and yet proud with myself that I had vanquished this roadblock.
 
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