What is the ideal weight for a throwing knife? Let me be more specific; a throwing knife to be used for hunting small game? I read MCevoy's book and he stated that 11-16 ounces was plenty for a novice. I was playing with my CS Pro-flights (10.9) this weekend, and after 25 feet or so, they seem to lose "power" and stability. I have called Tru-Balance, and I'm waiting for their list. How much does the TB Bowie-axe weigh? The HB Forge knife I looked at must weigh close to 2 lbs. That felt almost too much. I'm thinking of getting a bigger knife, large game size, as I would have greater range (up to 50') for small game. Any thoughts or advice on hunting knife weight?
Throwing knife weight?????
- Thread starter hicomp2
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Bobby Branton
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My knives as well as Tru Bal knives weigh approx 1 lb for the standard models. The bigger ones are maybe 20 ounces.
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! pound is a whole lot of knife . 50 foot throws ? Even if you are just talking knocking down small game thats a pretty good throw . There are trhowers called rabbit sticks which might interest you . You can make them yourself too . No matter what anything around a pound sounds good to me .
Have you seen the CS DVD, where the owner throws the CS Torpedo? That is 2lbs, and granted it hits HARD, but it appears to throw more like a hawk, due to the weight. I'm thinking the Tru-Balance or Branton hunting knife might be more what I'm looking for. Now I need to stash my lunch money from my wife for awhile...LOL!!!!
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I am curious if a well thrown rock would be as effective as a throwing knife for hunting small game. It seems to me that would be the case, and if you lost one you would not miss it as much as a nice piece of steel.
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Folks like you and me used to hunt small game with thrown rocks for thousands of years!
I've never tried it against game, but throwing rocks into targets is a great training tool for getting the right amount of "whip" into the throw. There's no doubt that a decent-sized rock would stun if not kill small game.
I've never tried it against game, but throwing rocks into targets is a great training tool for getting the right amount of "whip" into the throw. There's no doubt that a decent-sized rock would stun if not kill small game.
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The ideal weight depends a lot on the mass of your arm and the speed of your muscles. If you are heavy and slow the speed of your throw may be limited by your throwing arm and so a heavier or longer knife is the only way to get more kinetic energy into the knife. If you are young and light and a good fastball pitcher you may be able to get more kinetic energy with a lighter knife and hence greater speed. When I was young I got my best range with a longer and lighter blade. Just like a spear gains more speed when thrown by an atlatl I could get a higher speed for the center of blade mass with a longer blade (up to a point). What I used was a blade sawed off an old Mauser bayonet. I think that the overall length was about 12 inches. On a well marked range I could consistently stick that blade anywhere from 6 feet out to 50 feet.
In order to penetrate a target you need to cut or break the bonds holding the target together. That takes energy. After a knife leaves your hand it only has one form of energy, kinetic energy (linear and rotational). Kinetic Energy = 1/2 (mass)X(velocity)X(velocity). You get a lot more KE by increasing the velocity than you do from increasing the mass. In addition you are much likelier to hit a mobil target with higher velocity. So you try and pick a mass for your knife that only slightly reduces the maximum speed of your throw. Compare how fast you can throw a hardball verses a softball overhand. A regulation hardball is 5 ounces, a regulation softball is 6.25 ounces while the heaviest strength training softballs are 12 ounces. If I were throwing a 12 ounce knife I would want it to be a foot long to increase the radius of my swing. I know that a heavier knife would slow me down considerably. This is less true as I enter old age, but it was very true as a youth.
In order to penetrate a target you need to cut or break the bonds holding the target together. That takes energy. After a knife leaves your hand it only has one form of energy, kinetic energy (linear and rotational). Kinetic Energy = 1/2 (mass)X(velocity)X(velocity). You get a lot more KE by increasing the velocity than you do from increasing the mass. In addition you are much likelier to hit a mobil target with higher velocity. So you try and pick a mass for your knife that only slightly reduces the maximum speed of your throw. Compare how fast you can throw a hardball verses a softball overhand. A regulation hardball is 5 ounces, a regulation softball is 6.25 ounces while the heaviest strength training softballs are 12 ounces. If I were throwing a 12 ounce knife I would want it to be a foot long to increase the radius of my swing. I know that a heavier knife would slow me down considerably. This is less true as I enter old age, but it was very true as a youth.
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I am just about 30 now and am a fairly thin guy, a runners build.
I can throw fast but don't bench much, I used to have great stamina but not so much anymore.
I like the idea of throwing rocks, I notice that if they are too small there isn't enough mass to do much, too large and I can't throw fast enough for anything like a moving target. I can lob some pretty big rocks but the throw itself is very slow and I suspect a snail could anticipate it.
Hearing that a lot of energy comes from velocity is nice, I guess that is why some people were and are able to throw coins with such force that they could stick a quarter into hardwood doors.
I am very interested in learning throwing training methods, I throw only ok, I have a long way to go. Is throwing heavier (but not too heavy) stuff good training for increasing velocity with smaller objects?
Sorry if this is out of place and deserves a new thread.
I can throw fast but don't bench much, I used to have great stamina but not so much anymore.
I like the idea of throwing rocks, I notice that if they are too small there isn't enough mass to do much, too large and I can't throw fast enough for anything like a moving target. I can lob some pretty big rocks but the throw itself is very slow and I suspect a snail could anticipate it.
Hearing that a lot of energy comes from velocity is nice, I guess that is why some people were and are able to throw coins with such force that they could stick a quarter into hardwood doors.
I am very interested in learning throwing training methods, I throw only ok, I have a long way to go. Is throwing heavier (but not too heavy) stuff good training for increasing velocity with smaller objects?
Sorry if this is out of place and deserves a new thread.
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Bambooleaf said:
But rock does not have penatration. But if u throw a nice rock on the head of a rabbit, it sure knocks its skull apart!
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For softball training they have subweight balls that they use for speed training and heavyweight balls that they use for strength training. I think that the biggest issue is accuracy so I would just pick one weight and stick to it.
Rocks make some sense even without penetration. When you hunt rabbits with a bow you use blunt arrows. You don't need penetration if you hit them hard enough.
Rocks make some sense even without penetration. When you hunt rabbits with a bow you use blunt arrows. You don't need penetration if you hit them hard enough.