Please educate me

L

Lt.Col.Vortex

Joined
Jul 22, 2012
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752
So this forum has been around for around 14 years or so and while I'm sure there is good throwing information here, the Knife Throwing & Throwing Knife section leaves much to be desired. I've seen some thrower dealers and some threads on throwing, but you guys don't seem to be too much into that style of knives. I know you guys are out there so I hope you can educate me on the matter.

For sake of argument assume I know nothing about throwing knives.
So my dad is pushing throwing knives this christmas, its something I've always wanted to learn and get into but I never have. My opinion on throwing knives is this; there are no throwing knives, just knives that get thrown. So while I can throw my Buck Special, I'd rather not.

The "hollywood throwers" are always small and can fit under your sleeve. To me that size knife makes no sense. Why would you throw suck a tiny sharp object? yes its impact foot pounds plus the knifes weight and its sharpens will give it some penetration, but not much. What is a good knife length/weight to throw that will actually be affective.

I'm just fishing for general throwing information, the more I learn them better knife I'll hopefully buy.
 
I dont have too much experience with throwers, but Ill share what I do know from my personal use. I could be wrong or my opinions might differ from what someone else thinks. oh well . . .

1. Must be a fixed blade
2. Must weigh at least as much as a baseball. It can weigh a bit more depending on how strong you are. Lighter is just not effective unless you're throwing at pumpkins or or dont care about penetration. Cold steel makes some quite heavy throwers for example, and there is a reason.
3. Grips are nice and make it comfy, but EVERY grip Ive ever had on a throwing knife or that Ive put on, eventually brakes in some way or another. So now I just stick with a bar of metal
4. It is possibly to throw any knife, but balance in the middle makes it easier.
5. Conventional knife designs arent the BEST. They certainly work but your chances of sticking are greatly improved with a keen corner on the butt of the knife. if it has a guard built in, it heps if they're pointy too. Hence why throwing stars work for even a novice (like me)

Hope I could be helpful, although most of what I said is fairly common sense . . .
 
youre right, imo, lil throwing knives=no good.. more dangerous for beginners also, as they will bounce a mile and a half from the target if you throw hard and hit on the side (seen it a million times). imo, you want a 11-13 inch knife. good weight (pound, give er take).. <<<knifes without handle scales/typical "thrower"... on the other hand, once you get into/good at throwing (and realize you can throw and stick about anything), 15-16 inch bowie knives are fun too (handles or not).. they throw fine with the handles that come with them but, you will, for sure, break them off. i just do a leather wrap after that rather than making new wood scales all the time. a big bowie is gonna be easier, more forgiving to throw that regular/smaller knives. it'll throw more like a tomahawk. i throw the 12 inch hibbens, 13 inch zeils, CS sure balance and perfect balance (13'ish) and a few 15-16 inch bowies.. you'll find you like some better than others
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iKd5MH_Hdk

here is a video of me throwing an ESEE junglas, which i got alot of grief on here for doing. i was simply showing how easily it can be thrown an how well balanced it is.

it is a big hefty blade and it is quite easily thrown.

if you watch all the way through, i show different positions from my throwing perspective. twards the end it shows how far back i am (about 10-15 feet) and i penetrate 3 inches of the blade which would be good if i ever wanted to hunt by throwing.
 
Very helpful guys, thanks.

I was actually going to ask about throwing today, but you guys already briefed over that. I do have a question though on throwing techniques; do you hold teh tip or the handle? or is that a personal thing?
 
Get a paperback copy of Cutlery Hall of Famer Harry McEvoy's book on knife throwing. He started a company called TruBalance Knives. I think his kids run it now. I got a copy from a popular internet book seller. Amazing!
 
Lt.Col.Vortex said:
I was actually going to ask about throwing today, but you guys already briefed over that. I do have a question though on throwing techniques; do you hold teh tip or the handle? or is that a personal thing?
Click to expand...
That depends how far away you are.
For instance, say throwing the knife by the blade, from three ft equals 1 rotation. Well then throwing the same way, from six ft should give 2 rotations. Now perhaps you wanted to throw it from 4&1/2ft, what would you do? Throw it from the handle.
Once I figured this out, everything was so much easier.
 
Dose the knife ever rotate more than twice? I find it rather ridiculous in the movies where the knife thrown spins half a dozen times as it sails across the room eventually landing tip first into the target. I only thought it spun a maximum of 2 times and that throwing knives weren't good for distances greater than 10 feet.
 
i throw, by the handle, for a 1 full spin rotation at about 6 paces... this puts my half spin throw, by the blade at about 3 paces.. sooo, my 1 and 1/2 spin throw is held by the blade at 9 paces and my 2 full spin throw at 12 paces.. theoretically, you could keep backing up for more spins (stand at your 5 spin spot) but, good luck. i myself never throw more than a 2 spin (at 12 paces). i havent measured with tape but im sure my 2 spin is from well over 10 ft. im guessing closer to 15..maybe 19 (however long 12 of my paces are). ive found it easier to judge targets with paces, as i dont always have a tape measure in my pocket (i dont always have pockets either).
all that said, most people try a 1 spin throw from 5 paces the first time...by the handle.. if you dont stick it from there, your knife will tell you whether you should back up a hair or scoot up a hair (1/2-1 pace) if you watch how it hits (and misses). over roate/under rotate. should be sticking in no time.
consistency is the key (to get started). after awhile, you will be able to move around, closer, farther-and use the same throw. throw harder=scoot closer and vice versa. and so on and so forth. like anything, practice practice practice.
 
Sometimes familiarity with a certain knife allows you to throw it. I've had knives not built for throwing, but they were cheap and I used them a lot, and I found I could throw them well. You can have more than two rotations, but you need a nice arc in your throw, requiring experience in seeing the rotations and throwing speed. After years of throwing the Hibben style throwers, I managed to throw a set of four as far as 50 feet, I think. (We didn't measure, but I was teaching my cousins how to throw at about 12 feet with a full rotation, and guessing the rotations and distance in my video, it seems about that far. I'd post the video, but I don't have the time.) While throwing the set of four, I would stick about half the time. It was a bit easy to over throw, or under throw. Later I tried with a different set that I had bought from Cold Steel, and I couldn't manage a stick, this was because they were new to me and were longer/heavier. Again, familiarity with your tools is important.

If you go back further in the history in this section, you'll find plenty more of info. There are different styles of throwing, and some work better with certain knives. Some suggest starting out with basics in a style that has rotations, and using a decently weighted knife with enough length to make rotations easier to see. That's how I started before learning some Shuriken style throwing and if I hadn't moved a few months back, I'd be working on the Ralph Thorn style. Alas, I haven't thrown in months and martial arts takes up my free time.
 
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