Some good no spin throwers

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aerochris

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Could any of you recommend a few good no spin throwere? Where is the best place to find them?

Thank you.
 
If you want real good, at least they were for me, get some of Bobby Branton's large handled throwers.

You might also look into the shurknife, if Patrick of flyingsteel has any available right now. We designed it especially for spinless throwing.
 
I have picked up factory seconds at gun shows before for a few bucks to use for practice. They don`t last forever but don`t cost much when I can find them.
 
I do have some shur-knives and Mumyou-Ryu knives in stock. All are designed for no-spin throwing.
 
I just got into no-spin throwing thanks to Mr. Thorn's book "Combat Knife Throwing". Amazing stuff. Anyway, throwing knives (knives made for throwing) are illegal in Texas to carry around. I decided right away that I'm not going to learn to throw a knife I can't carry on a hike in the woods. Thorn was true to his word in his book about being able to throw a variety of implements using his style of throwing. I started 2 days ago, day three (today) I can throw point first a 5 inch single edge knife (Swedish style blade, similar to Frosts lineup) from point blank back to 12 feet and stick 90 percent of the time and hit the target 97% of the time. 15 feet and my stick rate goes down to about 70%. Frosts knives are very "civilized" looking and are cheap enough to buy a few. They also have an excellent reputation for quality. If you are just doing this solely for fun then use larger blades as they are a bit easier to learn with and hit with great impact and penetration. After throwing my Swedish-style blade and then getting my Bowie, the difference in penetration is significant.
 
What an excellent "testimonial"! It's people like you that make me glad I wrote the book. By the way, you can check out video samples on youtube if you do a search for "ralph thorn".
 
Thanks for the book. I missed my soft target and accidentally hit the cedar fencing plank behind it and it split in two with the scandi-knife. I'm definitely getting myself some Frosts knives. The half guard carbon steel blade in 4 and1/4 inches looks great, priced around 12$ and the handle looks very modifiable with tape if that is your wish. I found that if I use Thorn's grips and place the end pad of my index finger on the spine above the balance point (or a tad towards the point, I can throw them with slow enough spin, by the handle, to hit point first out to 15 feet. That's using the overhand and sidearm throws. I'm getting the wood handled Frosts to allow better release. My current scandiknife by Marttiini has a rubber grip that holds onto my hand a bit more than is useful for throwing. Best thing is, there is no writing (that I know of) by the manufacturer that indicates that these knives should be used for throwing. If you practice first(PLEASE DO) throwing at soft targets, then these knives should hold up just fine. I'll post more next month on throwing these scandiknives (after I get my monthly allowance from my wife).
 
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patriqq said:
I do have some shur-knives and Mumyou-Ryu knives in stock. All are designed for no-spin throwing.
Click to expand...

i just looked at your website. i've thrown knives for awhile, but am a complete noob when it comes to this "no spin" stuff.

i plan on buying the Thorn book and one or two things off your site. problem is - i don't understand the different characteristics of the different products you offer.

is there anywhere on your site that explains the performancs difference betwen the square and rounds ones? or how that one model with the fatter front would fly differently? or how some say they are "with hole" i'm assuming this is for weight reduction in the handle? what kind and how much difference does that make?

a thread (maybe even a sticky) on that, here, would be awesome. or a detailed explanation on your site, maybe (unless there is and i just missed it).

i'm really interested in this, but totally in the dark.

thanks
 
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Thanks for the inquiry, and thanks for visiting the site. (sorry, I'm just seeing this now).

First and foremost, I keep the website devoid of info for legal concerns.

People seem to either know what they want, or ask questions.

Secondly, I'm just a novice thrower and maker, and there is a lot of contraversy and disagreement on the subject (especially regarding the Asian schools and styles). The 528 shuriken is the only piece that I currently sell that I have personally designed. Of course, I can tell you what my intentions were.

Similarly, I am in close contact with Houzan Suzuki (designer of the Mumyou-Ryu wares), and our buddy Ralph Thorn (designer of Shur-knife). So I can tell you a good bit about their throwers.

However, the other items are based on traditional Japanese designs. I can't tell you what the original design considerations were, but I can tell you how one design compares to another in terms of performance.


We did/do plan on making an informational website called WAWT.org (site is up, but blank). WAWT (world association of weapon throwers) is a concepts spawned by Ralph Thorn and his buddies. So far the project has been tied up in red tape.

Here is the outline that I made:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dd6fz4zq_43dxjkpnhm&hl=en

Anyway, I appreciate your inquiry and I agree with you - there should be an informational resource.

I'll work on writing up an overview, and I'll post a link here. In the meantime, here are the answers to your specific questions:

- regarding profile shape (square, round, hex), I would say that square requires one kind of grip, while hex and round require a slightly different grip. The difference is not that critical. A knife grip, however, is a bit different.

- the "model with the fatter front" is the 813, I believe. This is a 'copy' of the traditional Negishi-Ryu shuriken. The fatter front, as you said, moves the center-of-gravity (COG) towards the tip.

-the "shuriken with a hole" is drilled-out to a depth of 2". This also moves the COG towards the tip. Houzan designed this as a modern-day version of the Negishi-Ryu concept.

-to understand the effect of COG position, you need to understand the grip. The basic shuriken/Ralph Thorn grip has the butt of the weapon in the palm (somewhere), while the fingertip (or tips) rest on the shaft. Generally, the fingertip propels the weapon.

The trajectory of the weapon, as it relates to COG, boils down to the relation of the COG to the fingertip. Since the distance from the cradle of your palm to your fingertip is fixed (within an inch or two), what we're really talking about is the distance from the butt of the weapon to it's COG.

In other words, lets say I have two shuriken with the same mass:

8" long, with a COG 5" from butt
14" long, with a COG 5" from butt

then IN THEORY these two will fly the same.

In Mumyou-Ryu and Ralph Thorn's style, it is preferred to have the COG at the fingertip. Note that the "Long Shuriken" (like the 528) does not have any COG-modifying features (other than the tip grind). At 12" long, its COG rests at the fingertip. By the same logic, a 16" shuriken would have to be handle-heavy (like the Shur-knives).

Of course, everything changes if you change your grip, or your throwing style (traditional Japanese techniques use a sliding release, which imparts a back-spin on the shuriken).
 
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I've posted this a few times in the past. If you are throwing into end-grain, the cheapest thing you can do is to get 10 surplus SKS bayonets from Cheaper than Dirt.com and tape up the butt-end to fashion a handle. I think it might cost you $25.

Longer is better for no-spin learning according to Mr. Thorn. I agree with him after throwing a variety of things at my big honkin log.

Beware - SKS bayo's aren't pointy but blunt like a flat-head screwdriver at the tip. They won't easily penetrate face grain.
 
Would these work well for no-spin throwing? My interest is definitely piqued. I want to learn the skill as an effective means of survival hunting. Maybe a combo of 3 knives and 5 darts would make a nice hunting setup. Or what would you suggest for a hunting setup? I like carrying lots of metal when I go into the bush... will count ounces with all my other gear, but when it comes to blades I have no hesitation bringing up to 10 pounds worth of metal tools ;)

Can any throwing knife (or any knife for that matter) be used with this technique, or is it blade specific?

Thanks!
The_Guide :cool:
 
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Yes, the CS True Flight would work. You might need to grind off the spine-side "guard" (the protrusion between handle and blade).

The True Flight comes razor sharp... by all means, grind that off before throwing. When I bought my True Flights, I figured I'd give them just a few tosses at a stump on the ground. Of course, one bounces off into my lower shin. I got one of those nice gashes with a little bit of white fat hanging out. Thats the only time I ever hurt myself while throwing.

Theoretically speaking, you can throw anything if your index finger is at/near the center-of-gravity. When throwing swords and other weapons with the COG far from the handle, Houzan Suzuki wraps the handle with chain to weight it; while Ralph Thorn uses an extra-early release (if I'm not mistaken).

Houzan also has a two-handed throw for swords that are not handle-heavy. The right hand grips near the tsuba, while the left can cups the handle butt. In action, the right hand and the left hand perform the duties of the finger-tip and palm (respectively) of his standard throw.

Those duties are:
finger-tip (or right hand): forward propulsion
palm (or left hand): upward propulsion
 
Pat,

Earlier release for me than Houzan style, yes, but also more of a gradual, sliding release than the more abrupt, pushing shuriken release. The two styles blend into each other and meet in the middle.

RT
 
patriqq said:
I do have some shur-knives and Mumyou-Ryu knives in stock. All are designed for no-spin throwing.
Click to expand...

I would like to comment on the Mumyou Ryu knives I have the one that's heavy towards the tip and it throws very nicely. I very much like this knife.
 
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