I bought these in an Amazon.com auction for $10 + $5 S/H "by accident". The pictured item was Hibben styled 8.5 inch "Jack Ripper" 440 stainless knives. What I got were 9 inch (or 8.75 depending on how you measure, they're not symetrical) Hibben styled, cord wrapped, Skyhawk 440 stainless throwers w/ sheath. Made in China.
The handle is approximately 3/16in thick and blade is about 4.5 inches long. They penetrate 0.25-0.5in into a Douglass Fir plank from 15 feet (but up to an inch w/ "spongy" wood), leaving only a small triangular slit in the wood, and are the sharpest throwing knives I own over 5 inches, but by no means razor sharp. The cord is loosely wrapped on one while stiff on the other, YMMV. They're glued on w/ no holes for cord wrapping.
They feel light and need a good spin to remain stable in flight, cord or no, these will ring when they miss! Throwing from the handle, the strange lump and the end makes it possible for me to control the spin with my fingers. It's hard to explain, but they throw... differently. I still prefer a tapering handle, but the lump seems to work with the lightness of the Skyhawk. [edit: inspired by the review, I played around with them more and found the pinch grip, spine towards target, thrown from the blade to be effective and comfortable]
These knives are far from invincible, I dinged and nicked the spine after only a dozen throws, but so far the blade, tip, and edge have yet to break or chip, though the tip has noticibly dulled. [Edit: After much more throwing, these too have managed to chip concrete without breaking and though the point is duller than when bought, it doesn't prevent them from sticking] Two last oddities: There's a hole in the lump in the handle... I don't know why. Also, you can sometimes stick these handle first... weird. [Edit: Also, the corded area is slightly recessed into the handle, the cordless version don't appear to have this groove... after throwing a bit, the cord has come unraveled, but rewrapping it then covering it with electrical tape, the grooves keep the wrapping from moving up and down the handle]
Overall, it's an alright knife but throwing it doesn't seem to translate well to throwing other knives. It's light and feels like it's doomed to break [Edit: But hasn't- I'm throwing these much more now just to vary my habits], they can sometimes bounce back with a vengeance, and it's Made In China (if you care about such things). On the plus side it's a good length, doesn't damage the target [Actually it's about the same as the Rigids, but both are consider light knives so a 2 inch thick plank will hold up under heavy throwing for nearly three weeks with regular soaking], it's stainless, pretty sharp, and it's cheap [I can't find these anywhere online for the same price I won them at, unfortuately... if anyone can, please reply]. I don't throw these much, but once I break one, I intend to sharpen the other to use as a thrower/camp knife experiment.
[This message has been edited by Xian (edited 04-25-2001).]
The handle is approximately 3/16in thick and blade is about 4.5 inches long. They penetrate 0.25-0.5in into a Douglass Fir plank from 15 feet (but up to an inch w/ "spongy" wood), leaving only a small triangular slit in the wood, and are the sharpest throwing knives I own over 5 inches, but by no means razor sharp. The cord is loosely wrapped on one while stiff on the other, YMMV. They're glued on w/ no holes for cord wrapping.
They feel light and need a good spin to remain stable in flight, cord or no, these will ring when they miss! Throwing from the handle, the strange lump and the end makes it possible for me to control the spin with my fingers. It's hard to explain, but they throw... differently. I still prefer a tapering handle, but the lump seems to work with the lightness of the Skyhawk. [edit: inspired by the review, I played around with them more and found the pinch grip, spine towards target, thrown from the blade to be effective and comfortable]
These knives are far from invincible, I dinged and nicked the spine after only a dozen throws, but so far the blade, tip, and edge have yet to break or chip, though the tip has noticibly dulled. [Edit: After much more throwing, these too have managed to chip concrete without breaking and though the point is duller than when bought, it doesn't prevent them from sticking] Two last oddities: There's a hole in the lump in the handle... I don't know why. Also, you can sometimes stick these handle first... weird. [Edit: Also, the corded area is slightly recessed into the handle, the cordless version don't appear to have this groove... after throwing a bit, the cord has come unraveled, but rewrapping it then covering it with electrical tape, the grooves keep the wrapping from moving up and down the handle]
Overall, it's an alright knife but throwing it doesn't seem to translate well to throwing other knives. It's light and feels like it's doomed to break [Edit: But hasn't- I'm throwing these much more now just to vary my habits], they can sometimes bounce back with a vengeance, and it's Made In China (if you care about such things). On the plus side it's a good length, doesn't damage the target [Actually it's about the same as the Rigids, but both are consider light knives so a 2 inch thick plank will hold up under heavy throwing for nearly three weeks with regular soaking], it's stainless, pretty sharp, and it's cheap [I can't find these anywhere online for the same price I won them at, unfortuately... if anyone can, please reply]. I don't throw these much, but once I break one, I intend to sharpen the other to use as a thrower/camp knife experiment.
[This message has been edited by Xian (edited 04-25-2001).]