Throwing Knives

[Ravinsomniac]

I'm 60 and have been throwing stuff like screwdrivers and ice picks since I was about 7. Over the years, I've got a few homemade throwers made from ground down and sharpened hardened commercial lawn mower blades. These are Cold Steel throwers that they discontinued about 7 or 8 years ago. They had a close out sale, so I bought 30 of them. The cheap plastic handles broke after just a few throws, so I made new ones out of aluminum and riveted them into the existing holes. At a little over a pound each, they are some serious weapons.

 

[jcwit]

They look good throwers.

I used to have a slap of cottonwood I used to throw a hawk and knife at.

Can't seem to get another one.

 

[bannockburn]

Ravinsomniac

Cool! Kind of reminds me of the old Tru-Bal Model No.1 Throwing Knife.

 

[Ravinsomniac]

Bannockburn,
Good eye !!
The lowest is an original Tru-Balance I bought new in 1976 for $45. North of Philly.
The 2nd one up, the last of it's kind, I bought new in 1983 for $65.
The 3rd one up, is one a good friend made for me. I said to make it out of 3/8" steel instead of the factory 1/4". It looks great, but even with my throwing capabilities, it's pretty heavy at almost 2 pounds.
The top one, he also made, from a hardened commercial lawn mower blade. That one throws as nice as the Tru-Balance knives.

 

[JShirley]

The aluminum was a good idea.

Some cheaper knife steels are actually better choices for throwers, since they tend to be softer and less likely to break.

 

[Ravinsomniac]

Another indoor sport I have is throwing antique ice picks. I have a large box of these that were made back in the 1930's. I taught myself to throw them from a regulation 5 feet 9 inchs at an old sisal fiber dart board that someone was throwing out many years ago.

 

[Ravinsomniac]

I can stick the ice picks every time, but it takes a lot of practice to hit exactly where I'm aiming. I play a lot of 9 inning Baseball and do pretty good. I'm a lot better with real darts, but ice picks are a real challenge.

 

[JShirley]

Are you throwing with or without rotation?

 

[Ravinsomniac]

The ice picks I throw hard with a half spin. It took awhile to learn to flick my wrist enough to get a quick spin. About ten years ago, I heard of a Company that was selling SKS rifle bayonets for $2.00 each, so I bought 40 of them. I throw those at my outside target with a half spin also. They're almost 2 foot long, so it took awhile to learn how to get them to spin correctly.
All of my knives I throw with a full spin, or at a distance, a double spin. If you go on You Tube and type in Throwing Knives, there are several links that show different throwing methods. Years ago, I had a very heavy double sided ax. From 20 feet away, I threw it very firmly at an eight foot long, 2" by 10" plank and promptly split it in half lengthwise, with one throw.

 

[JShirley]

Oh, I've thrown with and without spin. Without is usually a much closer throw.

My now deceased buddy Byron, similar to you, had bought a stack of Mauser bayonets when they were just a few bucks. That's what he usually threw.

Knife throwing can be a fun sport. If I wanted to stop something, I'd prefer throwing a .75" ball bearing at it.

 

[Ravinsomniac]

Yeah I know, never bring a knife to a gun fight..
I'm also an avid Archer and have two older compound bows. My parents bought me my first wood/fiberglass re-curve bow in 1966 when I was 11, which I still have.
As a teenager in the early 70's my neighbors and the local cops didn't like me shooting guns in my parents backyard. So I took up much quieter sports, and proceeded to get quite proficient at them.
The great thing is... knives, hatchets, axes, spears and arrows have built in silencers....

 

[JShirley]

Oh, I don't know about that "gun fight" saw. At very close range, a well-employed blade is the deadliest weapon. Thrown knives, OTOH, are not reliable stoppers.

 

[dh1633pm]

Throwing knives are illegal in New York. I have some knives that look like the above throwing knives, but mine are labeled for hunting use only. If by accident after cleaning them, I go to flick the water off them, but they slip from my grip, they will stick in a board a short distance from where I lost my grip. So I am careful when I wash them.

 

[george burns]

I opened a sharpening business a few months ago. I specialize in expensive Haircutting shears, $200 and up, some over $1000.00 a pop. I have diamond encrusted wheels and platters for the real precision shears. But I still do other things, I use the Spyderco system on most combat/tactical and pocket knives. I also do micro Beveling on my personnel stuff. I find it to be very soothing also.
I had spoken to another Gentleman in here who also does sharpening, with a honing type platter. There is a fellow on Utube who has a dozen or more videos on knife throwing, I found his tecknique to be quite extraordinary and you might want to Google Utube Knife throwing, He can throw just about anything from a scissor to a full length sabre. I had never seen anyone do what he does. He does it for his living, and teaches also for a fee. I am sorry I don't recall his name but he is in the states and if you look you can find him as I did.

 

[Plastikosmd]

I am more impressed your fence is unblemished and standing! Nice knives

 

[T.R.]

I would never throw a perfectly good weapon at an adversary.

TR

 

[Ravinsomniac]

T.R.
I grew up just a little east of you in the woods of the North Philly burbs.
I like your comment, but, just like a typical newsperson would ask a parachutist, "Why would you jump out of a perfectly good airplane?"

Just like guns. "One shot, one kill"
If you miss your target on the first throw and your assailant is able to retrieve your weapon, now you have changed the category from throwing knives to hand to hand combat, which belongs in tactical training. Which is another subject entirely.

dh1633pm..
Throwing knives are illegal in many places besides New York City. I have three, Snap On brand, fourteen inch long, flat bladed screwdrivers next to the seat in my truck. They are just normal hand tools to regular people, but to me, they are something else.

 

[JShirley]

I train every week with manual weapons, but for thrown projectiles, you'd do better with something like 3 large nuts, and stand almost no chance of ever being accused of having a weapon...while the screwdriver, OTOH, is actually a well-known improvised stabber.

 

[lemaymiami]

One of my very first martial arts trainers (before I went in the service so we're talking 1967...) was an advocate of ordinary throwing darts as shuriken. He could hit a man sized silhouette across the dojo (almost 100 feet -the length of the building...) time after time and we're talking sufficient impact to bury the point into plywood sheeting. Like all shuriken it was meant as a distraction/delay factor to enable the thrower to leave the area without pursuit.... He tossed those darts sidearm, underhand, and straight overhand with impressive accuracy. The best part was that a handful of standard darts weren't going be anything prohibited that I know of.

This thread about throwing knives brought back the memory. Like many young guys I was pretty impressionable - the Army cured me of that....

 

[JShirley]

We are surrounded by items that can be used as thrown projectiles or metsubishi (blinding/distracting). Unfortunately, none of us can reasonably and legally tote around bladed projectiles large enough to reliably inflict serious or incapacitating injury on an attacker. Since we then have to go smaller, small, heavy non-bladed thrown projectiles are our best bet if we cannot use a firearm for defense.