Target Materials

[Windwhistler]

In anticipation of Spring, (we are over Winter!) I went today and hit up the cull pile at my local Home depot. It was unusual but they had three 12 ft 2"X10" soft white wood in the pile for 70% off. OK they were warped a bit but when cut 2 1/2 feet long it hardly shows or matters. Don't forget these spots for your spring targets. They are really cheap! Last week I found 8 2"X4" 10 feet long for $8 in the cull pile $1 each.

 

[dario86]

yes i think wood is the best option for target.. and it won't ruin the knife blade! i use wood targets as well.

 

[KnifeThrowing]

Do you have any recommendations as for which wood to take? All I cound find on this topic is "Do avoid wood of leafed trees, it tends to "throw back". Fir is better."

 

[Windwhistler]

I was back in yesterday and they had nothing of value. It is a hit or miss situation in the cull pile. My wife asked why I even look and I showed her a 10' 8X8 I had picked up a few weeks ago. Someone had asked them to cut it and they had cut it wrong. It was still whole but cut half through in two places. Regularly $25 ea but this one was $3. I finished the cuts and set them up in the ground as wide posts about 2' high. I throw at them but also put targets on them or stand targets against them as well.

It all depends on how well you throw, how far you are throwing and how low to the ground you place your targets. Soft fir and softer rounds are great if you can get them. But I even use some pressure treated stuff that is hard. If you take a 2X10 and cut it 2-3' long you can stand it on the ground against something and even if stuff bounces, it will be low and near the ground. I just try to keep my oak rounds, pine rounds full of resin and pressure treated targets close to the ground and use the softer firs and pine rounds up higher since a bounce from them would be a bigger risk. You will also know after a couple of throws whether stuff is sticking today or tending to bounce. (a function of temp and humidity). If bouncing is the norm. throw from further back where the bounces won't reach you. And any target can be covered with one sheet of pasteboard with a bullseye on it to reduce bounce to almost nothing.

I had also said one function is how well you throw. Don't think if it hits on the point it won't bounce! I have hit certain resin filled pine rounds repeatedly and the point would bury 1" into an oak stump standing next to it but will bounce over and over again off the pine resin taking out little chunks and causing me to have to straighten, sharpen and in a couple of cases even reconfigure knife points. Good luck! I just go for the softest stuff I can find as a rule and the widest boards because they can be used with little modification.

Just looking at the other posts, Hi there Christian!! How goes throwing on the Continent?

 

[Windwhistler]

Here are a few shots of my throwing "gallery" it might help you get some ideas about how to use random pieces of wood for targeting. Hard stuff down low and soft stuff higher where bounces would be a bigger problem.





I was out renewing bulls-eyes today. I find I throw much more accurately when actually sighting on some definite small spot. On a tree stump I pick a knot and on a wall I'll use a scar or paint spot. But in my backyard area I just hit the targets with a bit of black spray paint about once every two months. Anyway, you will notice the various stuff. Of course this is hidden in the woods so it doesn't look bad in the yard and my wife enjoys throwing too so I don't catch heck from that angle. I make sure there are no nails and when they split I just stack them out of site in the woods with the rest of the composting timber.