Friday, August 21, 2009

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

3 comments:

Throwdini said...

Experienced knife throwers (professional impalement artists and competitive) use knives between 12 and 16 inches that are either single or double edged and are between 2/16 and 3/16 inch thick. The old adage of 1 ounce per inch is poppycock. A knife with that spec will be too heavy to handle properly. Some like handles, some don't. The edges are not sharp so they can be thrown from the blade end. Only the point has to be sharp as it is the only part to penetrate the board, in fact less than 1/4 inch.
Throwdini
www.knifethrower.com

Anonymous said...

If anyone can answer my question, i am going to buy my brother some throwing knives because i lost his,,, and they are 5 and one eighth is that a good size? can you tell me an object that is a relative siz so i can see the size if you get what i mean?

Unknown said...

@anonymous here is a good guide for buying throwing knives