not2sharp
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Jun 29, 1999
- Messages
- 20,854
We know what throwing are and are supposed to be. All we have to do is to search the term and thousands of imported examples will come up. Before the internet we would have seen throwing knives from True Balance, Randall Made Knives, some US makers, and the usual Solingen factories. However, I would like to question how far back this actually go?
Were there purpose made 19th century throwing knives, or did people simply throw whatever was at hand at the time. Mass production has taken us to the current level of mass consumption. Most people in the past were probably lucky to have a knife and may not have been interested in procuring purposely dull and soft examples simply to toss at random targets. We do have a history of throwing darts or Shuriken and there were various 18th and 19th Century African made knives that are believe to have been intended to be thrown for hunting, and there is also that sneaky Soviet ballistic knife. But, the records are scarce and we seldom see a purpose made stand alone throwing knife in the context of the US Civil War or the American Westward expansion. Usually, when the activity is mentioned it is associated with bayonets, bowie knives or butcher knives.
Let's use this thread to post images of throwing knives, especially those from earlier periods. Lets see what was used by professional circus and sideshow performers, and also that may have been intended for other purposes like hunting, self-defense or even warfare. Just about everything has been thrown by everybody at some thing at some point, that is how we all learned that throwing harden sharp knives is less than ideal. We want to see those knives that were designed and marketed specifically for throwing purposes.
Below: unknown - likely throwing knife (14" OAL, 9" blade from 1/4" steel stock)
N2s
Were there purpose made 19th century throwing knives, or did people simply throw whatever was at hand at the time. Mass production has taken us to the current level of mass consumption. Most people in the past were probably lucky to have a knife and may not have been interested in procuring purposely dull and soft examples simply to toss at random targets. We do have a history of throwing darts or Shuriken and there were various 18th and 19th Century African made knives that are believe to have been intended to be thrown for hunting, and there is also that sneaky Soviet ballistic knife. But, the records are scarce and we seldom see a purpose made stand alone throwing knife in the context of the US Civil War or the American Westward expansion. Usually, when the activity is mentioned it is associated with bayonets, bowie knives or butcher knives.
Let's use this thread to post images of throwing knives, especially those from earlier periods. Lets see what was used by professional circus and sideshow performers, and also that may have been intended for other purposes like hunting, self-defense or even warfare. Just about everything has been thrown by everybody at some thing at some point, that is how we all learned that throwing harden sharp knives is less than ideal. We want to see those knives that were designed and marketed specifically for throwing purposes.
Below: unknown - likely throwing knife (14" OAL, 9" blade from 1/4" steel stock)
N2s