Pet Peeve: Throwing Knives in Movies and Tee Vee

[blindhari]

As a secondary note to this post, The Green Berets was shot at Ft Benning, I was there and worked for the Post Sgt Major after I got thrown out of OCS. If you want to learn to throw a knife, throw underhand. Release point determines length of rotation. Underhand throw is far more controllable, think of softball slowpitch. If you are going to throw overhand, get a good belt axe (Gransfor Bruk?) and learn to carry and throw from a sheath over your strong side shoulder. Like shooting guns/pool or golf all it takes is practice. Oh yeah, old source for knife throw read the Saga Of Andy Burnett in original.

blindhari
Sgt. Ranger

 

[7X57chilmau]

I messed with throwing knives for a while, forged a few experiments. Finally came up with one I can stick 75% or better in plywood, at any range I can hit at (not far, LOL). Granted, this one's a cheater, and pretty useless unless you throw it, but it's a bunch of fun....

Wait a minute, is it a throwing knife or a 2 blade star? I dunno.

It has been a pretty good proof of my HT for 5160 blades, as it has rebounded, ringing loudly, from many a rock and the odd concrete wall and floor (I really shouldn't throw it in the basement!), and taken no more than a minor ding or 2....



For the record, forged from the front coil spring of a Toyota Corrola I found upside down in the woods a couple klicks from home...

J

 

[Taniwha]

I work With a Mad French toolmaker who spends ALL day making knives (not his job). I've seen him throw Knives Hundreds of times and He is a freak of nature. the accuracy, power and skill with which he throws is amazing

 

[Dirty Bob]

The comment about underhand throwing is dead on. A knife held point-first on the palm can be thrown for short distances without rotation. Obviously not something you could do in a hurry in the middle of a fight, though.

I see the thrown knife as a distraction, to either let you get closer or get away. A pound or so of pointy steel flying at someone tends to get their attention.

Love that "two point star"! Is that your own work?

Regards,
Dirty Bob

 

[Oyeboten]

I got pretty good with throwing a Hatchet I had when I was a kid/early teenager...instinctive distance judgments and adjustment to regulate it comes after a while, far as throwing to stick in the Target.


Never tried Knives...

 

[ccsniper]

when I was younger (8 or 9) my granparents gave me a $10 hunting knife they bought at a flea market. I painted a silhouette on the fence and spent around 3 hours a day every day throwing that knife at that silhouette. I never got very good, but I could get about 4 out of 10 to hit the silhouette and stick. I got alot more hits than that, but not on the target and definitely not hard enough to do more than cut someone. I recently bought a $2 folder and threw it at a tree about 8 feet away. The first time I had done it in 10 years and it stuck. Of course it was luck, cause I tried the rest of the day and was only able to get one more to stick for about 2 seconds before it slipped out.

 

[J.Scott]

I'd like to see what kind of penetration most people would get throwing a knife at a person wearing winter clothes. I wonder how bad the wound would be? Would it be a fight stopper? How much force does a thrown knife have, or for that matter need to acheive effective penetration?

 

[Claymore1500]

Well while I can't speak for winter clothes, I used a cardboard box from a car radiator, I filled it with cardboard sheets the size of the inside of the box, I could gererally get an average of about 2 inches with the Kabar, If I put more a$$ behind the throw I could bury it to the hilt from about 10 feet.

 

[ArfinGreebly]

Thin Tool Steel

Many years ago, when I was still young and unpardonably stupid, I was fresh back from overseas with the USAF, camping at the Grand Canyon with my family, and had with me a pair of excellent Gerber hunting knives, a Shorty and a Mini Magnum, that I'd picked up on base while at Ramstein AFB.

I had been practicing with cardboard targets. The Mini Magnum was a little smaller than the Shorty, and though the balance was abysmal for throwing, I had found a way to use that imbalance to calibrate a fairly reliable throw. I was getting four out of five to stick.

This gave me just enough confidence to show off my new-found "skill" (and my entrenched foolishness) by throwing the knife at a pine tree.

It stuck the first time. Impressive penetration. A perfect throw. Snapped off the first inch of the blade.

I remember the feeling as my stomach fell through my feet.

I worked the end of that knife, gently, with a file for days, gradually re-profiling the tip until it looked like it had been made that way. Got a very serviceable edge on it. It looked like a totally normal kitchen utility knife with an extra heavy handle. I couldn't bear to carry it after that. Gave it to my mom for the kitchen. She loved it.

It taught me something about the characteristics of thin tool steel (as the Gerbers used back then).

It also cured me of throwing knives.

 

[J.Scott]

Claymore1500: Whoa! That's plenty of penetration. I'd hate to get hit in the face with that.

 

[BornLoser]

Hello.
I just made this account to answer something on another post... But I find myself liking this forum a lot. My dad was always pretty good at throwing knives. When I was young, he showed me how to throw it so it makes exactly a half turn before striking the target. I practiced with my belt knife for years, and finally, I got the point where I could throw it accurately and start judging and guessing at distances.
I don't think I would get much penetration throwing it into a person though, especially through winter clothes. I found it's much harder to control the throw the more force you put behind it. However, my dad taught me right: Never throw away your last weapon in a fight.

 

[scythefwd]

The only knives I have thrown were at a ren faire. I could stick it every time... but the blade was extremely heavy and thick. My tomahawk on the other hand I could stick every time, under or over hand, from any distance between 5 an 20 ft. At 10 ft, I could nick a playing card every time, and sink it 1/2 -1 1/2 inches into a huge round cut from a tree. I was never that accurate with the knives. I do have a friend that has some knives that he will stick 3 out 4 times... as deep as you want in cardboard. The come straight from the ear, and I still haven't figured out when he puts the knife in his hand. He just raises his hand and the knife appears.

 

[Dirty Bob]

A better distraction "weapon" in a lot of places might be a handful of coins. Totally legal everywhere, but a quick underhand toss could send a coupla' dozen shiny disks flying right at somebody's face, giving you that second or two to start to run. They might even pause to pick up a coin or two.

Not to say that a thrown knife wouldn't work: I'm sure it can. I can't legally carry a throwing knife in Texas, though, and most knives that I can carry legally aren't very well suited for throwing. I can, however, carry some coins in a coat pocket with perfect legality.

I prefer solutions where no one gets hurt. Avoidance works and has worked for me many times. A show of force (and willingness to use it), and a fast retreat have worked for me, also. Distraction and escape can work, too.

Stay safe,
Dirty Bob

 

[M&PVolk]

I know a guy who makes his own knives/hatchets/spears and is also a very good thrower. He has won several competitions, but I have never asked him if he could hit a moving target on the fly. I am betting he could, but I don't know if he could do it on demand every time, especially under life and death stress. I think I will ask him about that.

 

[JCisHe]

Every time the knife is thrown! Someone dies!

That's the coolest part... it sticks in the heart and they DIE! or in the forehead, right in their brain! AND THEY DIE!

I say, "Evil."

Killing another human being is not something to be taken lightly and we get to watch it A LOT.

I don't understand that nor do I like it.

On the OP's post... yeah dude, not reality.

 

[glistam]

What I get even more offended by is the movie physics: Like when a thrown knife from 20+ feet away sends a guy flying backwards from the impact. Seriously? An (at most) quarter to half kilogram knife knocking a 70 kilo thug back 5-10 feet? I outta find the director's physics teacher and konk him one.

Without repeating my earlier Emergency Room commentary on the poor "stopping power" of deep puncture wounds in the torso, it's entirely possible for said thug to pull the knife out of himself and say "Thanks, I needed something to stab you with."

 

[7X57chilmau]

That double-bladed S-shaped knife I posted earlier... I throw it at 5/8" plywood, and generally penetrate about 1/2" with a spirited toss. It's got quite fine points, though.

It'd hurt, but in the end, is more distraction than anything. Not a good weapon, IMHO. Just a plaything.

J

 

[p35]

The other weekend my 15 year old was out in the back lot fooling with a couple Harbor Freight machetes. It took him an hour or so to get to where he could stick them in a cedar tree trunk from a known distance 50-75% of the time. Then the handles broke off. Anyway, I thought it was looking pretty good, and it kept him busy for a while.

 

[SeekHer]

It isn't so much that throwing knives at the bad guy is wasteful of a good knife, nor is it that it requires lots of practice to achieve, nor is it that they always seem to hit the target...although however irksome the above are the fact that the bad guy dies instantly is sheer and utter stupidity!

Another one is the instant knockout drug injected from a dart! Pure and utter Hollywood like the two gun firing, jumping over parked cars, hero!

Throwing knives and hawks is fun...we do it all the time at rendezvous, even won some events but if it's the last defensive item I have I'd much rather "beat feet" as the expression goes...

 

[LoneCoon]

People, this is why ninja stars were invented.

It's like none of you watch ninja movies!

 

[JMusic]

Depends on knife size, distance, half or whole spin handle /blade, how up on the blade or handle you hold. I can hit a 4x4 square at about 15 ft. Would I throw it? Probably not, to be honest I won't knife fight unless trapped or you run my a$$ down. But My father taught me how to throw with an M1 bayonet. And taught the logistic. Paratrooper in the 40's and early 50's. he thought it important. As we say today another tool in a tool box.

Jim

 

[Slamfire]

A slung rock will go 100 yards, 200 yards, if you time it right. This will outdistance a thrown knife any day, every day. And it will kill when it hits.

I have seen lots of historic bows and arrows, spears, and sling rocks. But I cannot recall any serious stone age/bronze age/iron age military throwing knives.

A thrown knife must have been a battlefield failure.

There have been wierd examples of four bladed "knives", and double bladed "knives".

I don't consider those knives, but it is a matter of opinion.

 

[JMusic]

Blindhari, my dad told me the same thing. I think it alloys for less training but I could never master it. But I don,t advocate throwing knives just as I don't plan zippering someone 6 or 7 times with my AR 2. But I can do both and I continue to learn. I wasted too much time in SD physical. Instead it should have been mental prep and then maybe top ten type attacks along with trying to talk your way out of it without disgrace on either side. Sticks and cane use,( I carried a 3Dcell Mag). Knife throwing would be way down the list for me.

Jim

 

[Gunfighter123]

I have been throwing for fun at least 20+ years and am quite good at it. That being said -- I would ONLY throw a knife in "combat" if I had a 2nd knife and the "guy" had his back to me !!!

To get "good" , I learned to throw at wadded up newspaper on a semi-windy day --- every time the paper hits the ground , it lands at a different distance and you learn to "guesstamate" when to release the knife.

IMHO --- "underhand throwing" is nowhere near as accurate or powerfull as a overhand throw.

 

[JMusic]

Ever play chicken gunfighter?


Jim