Throwing Knives

I have been interested in knife throwing for a few years when i seen them in a Smoky Mountain Knife Works catalog. I particularly like the Gil Hibben Originals. Does anyone here throw knives?

I am looking for recomendations on knives for beginners along with any good links/reading materials, video, etc.

Thank You,
charge

been throwing knives for 4+ years now...

I use a custom matched set of Newt Livesay throwing knives.

most Chinese throwing knives I've seen are way too light and too short to be effective. it's MUCH harder to throw a short light knife, than a long heavy knife.

most critical part of getting started is figuring out correct distance to make knife stick. once you figure that out, next step is to get your stroke consistent.

some throw tip forward, some tip back. personal preference. try both to see which works best for you.

my preference is tip forward, holding on to handle. how you hold will effect number of revolutions knife needs to turn before hopefully sticking.

once you start sticking, then you will quickly figure out effects of moving forward or backwards on stick angle.

there's another method of throwing with no revolutions. works only for close up to maybe 12 feet. better closer.. deadly accurate with great force. I can hit a quarter sized target burying blade every time.

you need to fab a target with a large backstop when you start. after you get more accurate, you can get by with a smaller backstop. end grain from a large log works great.

Try a google search, there are a few sites out there that will let you know everythgin you need to be a good at throwing knives...including homeade targets and even homeade knives made from spare lawn mower blades...

I would suggest you steer clear of any "throwing knife sets" that have 2 or three sizes of knives in the set. It is much quicker to learn with one "size/length of 1 make. As you progress you can adjust to different knives. I also like a 10 and a half to a 12 inch overall length and not a stainless blade. Stainless tends to be a little brittle and can break the tip even when you get a good stick. (tip sticks rest of blade breaks off) better to have a softer steel that will bend (you can beat it out straight with a hammer). I have only used "less costly knives" than a Newt knife.
Topper

Any recomendations on decent knives?

Well I admit I am envious that cy has a matched set from Newt but that is not best for a beginner (you might decide it's not as fun as it sounds) So I would suggest a less costly set. If you just have one you might just git tired of having to go git it every time. Back when I was semi active I had 8 (same size) so I could toss more than walk. I learned with the Gil Hibben large thrower (I also learned how stainless breaks off at the tip at times)
Topper

topper, glad to see you're a knife thrower too

it's loads of fun throwing blades, tomahawks are wickedly cool!

toppers right on, best start with a blade at least 10 inches long. much better to use a blade with less temper. after you throw a bit and start sticking consistently. you then start to worry about nicking blades robin hooding another blade.

once you start sticking, mark your spot with a wooden peg. then experiment back and fort to find sweet spot. learn to walk off set number of paces to quickly duplicate your sweet spot.

Cold Steel is coming out with some new throwing knives this year. Most of the throwing knives I have used were cheapies. They worked pretty good. If I ever get the time and money I will purchase some high quality throwing knives.

http://www.coldsteel.com/throwers.html

Cold Steels Throwers...You can see them perform in the free Proof DVD...just use the link on their site and fill in the info and gte their DVD free in the mail, some people make fun of it, but I find it entertaining to say the least...

have not used any yet... but those cold steel throwers look the best of any mass produced throwers I've seen offered.

proof is the performance, but they sure look proper.

For knife throwing, go to the source: the Great Throwzini.

www.throwzini.com

I just received the new Boker Knives 2007 catalog. They had a few throwing knives listed.

Funny story about throwing knives...a few years ago I decided to set up a makeshift wooden target for throwing knives. The houses in my neighborhood are close together the when the knife bounces of the target it makes a pretty loud sign. I am out there for about 20 minutes throwing knives and I hear my 85 year old neighbor call me over.

Neighbor, "What are you doing?"
Me, "Uh, nothing."
Neighbor, "Are you throwing knives?"
Me, "Uh, yeah."
Neighbor, "Well here use this one, it belonged to my husband's brother. Make sure the dogs are safe."
Me, "Will do. Thanks for the knife."

She gave me an old Case throwing knife. I do not know how old it is and I never throw it. It stays on the shelf with the other safe queens.

GraniteForge said:

For knife throwing, go to the source: the Great Throwzini.

www.throwzini.com

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DITTO, I forgot about this site, I use to get a great free email newsletters from them too with tips and everything!

You definatly need to check that out!

Just yestersday I started reading up on knife throwing. Check out http://combatknifethrowing.com . His style is unconventional.

Over in bladeforums, it seems like the overall choice for a good thrower is Cold Steel.

The CS tru flight work fine I have several, you want something that is at least 12" and heavy it will give you more distance with less effort..
Once you start getting good think about getting some custom made knive's at least 3.. You will find a huge differnce in the customs verus the cheapo.
Try to stay away from the small knives at first takes alot more effort to throw and wear's out your arm quickly..
Or you can just make your own.. Also ebay has nice selection of throwers and thier is always some customs F/S thier for good price..
Also a Requset to Cy to post a pic of your Livesay thrower I have a nice collection of Newt's knives and had no idea he made any throwers..
Brad

cooool.. another Newt knife owner. hopefully I'll be posting a pic of my thrower soon. made of carbon tool steel with only edges heat treated. I've pounded it back true, many a time.

md10mm said:

The CS tru flight work fine I have several, you want something that is at least 12" and heavy it will give you more distance with less effort..
Once you start getting good think about getting some custom made knive's at least 3.. You will find a huge differnce in the customs verus the cheapo.
Try to stay away from the small knives at first takes alot more effort to throw and wear's out your arm quickly..
Or you can just make your own.. Also ebay has nice selection of throwers and thier is always some customs F/S thier for good price..
Also a Requset to Cy to post a pic of your Livesay thrower I have a nice collection of Newt's knives and had no idea he made any throwers..
Brad

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Has anyone used the A.G. Russell Sting made by CRKT? I've seen a lot of great reviews, but none that show it being thrown...

Moving this to knives.

Bill

wnknecht said:

Has anyone used the A.G. Russell Sting made by CRKT? I've seen a lot of great reviews, but none that show it being thrown...

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Since I've pretty much abandoned spin throwing in favor of my own personal no-spin technique, so knives that don't have at least one flat side usually don't get thrown. That being said - it is listed as being 1050 carbon which many of the CS throwers are made of... I would hate to ruin it though so I would practice indoors with half-spins on layered cardboard before taking it to wood and destroying it. I have a strong feeling that the tip may bend or snap (depending of brittleness) on a hard, uneven throw with that heavy steel handle behind it. I know - why don't you try it out and report back to us???

Shao

wnknecht said:

Has anyone used the A.G. Russell Sting made by CRKT? I've seen a lot of great reviews, but none that show it being thrown...

Click to expand...

I was throwing knives quite regularly several years ago and brought about nine of these at the time because I found them to be really good. The tip actually stood up well to getting thrown into a wooden target so I can say I found them to be good as throwers. It matched the cold steel throwers I have so I was impressed. Actually I might need to get back into throwing again - it was relaxing...