How to Choose a Throwing Knife

In my other blog Absinthe and Flamethrowers, I answer a question a reader posed about how to buy throwing knives.

I was just wondering which company sells the best throwing knives, or which one you trust.
also how much does a good set of 3 usually go for?

First, what exactly is a throwing knife? Wikipedia sez:

Throwing knives are knives that are specially designed and weighted so that they can be thrown effectively. They are a distinct category from ordinary knives.

Throwing knives are commonly made of a single piece of steel or other material, without handles, unlike other types of knives. The knife has two sections, the 'blade' which is the sharpened half of the knife and the 'grip' which is not sharpened. The purpose of the grip is to allow the knife to be safely handled by the user and also to balance the weight of the blade.

When I first started throwing I bought three fairly smallish knives and they were pretty hard to throw consistently. so, I upgraded to larger, heavier model and things were much easier.

From www.absintheandflamethrowers.com:

So, you want to learn how to throw knives? It pays to start with good equipment. The most important thing is to use knives made for the purpose. They should be neither too heavy or too light.

Choosing a knife. The type of knife you choose will have an incredible impact on how much you’re able to enjoy knife throwing. Keep in mind that quality throwing knives do not have a handle. The blade is the throwing knife.
▪ Size: Knives that are between 12”-16” are a good size. They aren’t too big and not so small that you’d have to throw harder and strain to watch them in flight.
▪ Weight: Knives of the above size will fly fairly undisturbed from wind and make a satisfying sound when they hit the target.

more at http://www.articlesbase.com/extreme-sports-articles/knife-throwing-so-you-want-to-be-a-knife-thrower-470112.html

Speed Week at Bonneville Salt Flats

The Bonneville Salt Flats - A whole lot of flatness!

I'm guest blogging on Makezine.com this month. I'm excited for the opportunity because it gives me a chance to provide some additional information about some of the stories I've done for Make Magazine previously.

In this month's Make Magazine (Issue 19) I've got a piece on Speed Week, the gathering of speed enthusiasts that meets in Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover Utah to celebrate all things that go fast on the ground.

The Make Magazine piece focuses on Belly Tank Racers, which are fast cars made from the aluminum fuel tanks of military airplanes (they are highly aerodynamic so they are perfect for car bodies.) The men who make them, make them from scratch, and take them to speeds exceeding 200 mph. Now that's some fine work.

Here are some additional pictures of those way cool belly tankers.

This is Gary Calvert's belly tank racer.


Belly Racer's Engine



Here's the interior


Here's me inside it.


Belly Tankers are "open wheel" machines meaning there is no fairing or cowling covering the tires.


Working on Steve DiMartino's Jesse's Girl just before racing


Ready to race. The belly tanker gets a push start and then streaks across the desert.