Fighting Thrower

C

copper

Joined
Mar 1, 2000
Messages
79
Hello. This is my first time to the throwing forum. Great reading and looks like another skill I'd like to develop. Can anyone suggest a good fighting knife that throws well or a good throwing knife that would work for close quarter combat. What I need is a good knife that would be used for defense. This means the handle must be more than a cord wrapped around the tang. However I like the idea of the knife being able to be thrown effectively. Is it possible to add handles to a thrower? Any suggestions of the characteristics of a thrower or specific knives that might fit my bill would be appreciated. Also, in reading one of the threads about balance, it seemed that one could "learn" to throw almost any knife. Is that true?

Thanks
 
I'm not familiar with western "standard" throwing style. In traditional Japanese way, I was taught practicing with a cheap ball point pen (very light) to stand into cardboard 6 feet away will enable throwing most knives. Make a tube by index, middle, ring finger and slide the pen (or knife) along them, shoot it to the target with only 90 degree turn. Don't throw, just shoot. This is what I was told. Because it's the easiest way to throw...

For "real" use, there would be advice from experts, but my comment will do you any harm if you try and find no use. Just try it for practice.

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\(^o^)/ Mizutani Satoshi \(^o^)/
 
Thank you so much! Now I am sitting at my desk throwing pens at the walls instead of working. This feels really good. I feel like I could learn this with just about any knife.

Thanks Again!
 
Now try this.
Take a dowel stick up to the size of a broom handle and abt 6 inches long (or 6 inches off the end of the broom handle if wife is not looking), round one end on sander or whatever. Then take large nail, drill hole in middle of rounded end of dowel just the size of the nail. dip point of nail in glue and force it into the hole and grind off the head so as to give it a point like an ice pick. It should now look like an icepick with a 6 inch long handle and about a 3 inch tang. Throw it the same way but start increasing your distance. You should soon be able to hit an 18 inch target at about 30 foot. Size of a man's torso. TRY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT!

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The pen is mightier than the sword.
A soft answer turns away wrath.
The meek shall inherit the earth.

YEAH, RIGHT!!!
 
A good practical combat throw, not a spinning movie or contest throw, can be done with any knife with little instruction. On the whole I'd not throw my only knife away nor rely on the usefulness of a small folder for throwing in a combat situation but, that said, these difficulties can be worked around by the knifer wanting to be able to throw when neeeded.

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The Fighting Old Man
 
Any knife can be thrown short range, longer range works better if the knives are symmetrical along the long axis. Long range knife throwing is not very practical due to the problems of estimating range so that you can get the knife to hit point forwards.

The practical issues are #1 don't break the knife and #2 get the knife to hit point first at a variety of ranges. To not break the knife you want rugged construction and a handle that isn't too heavy compared to your point strength. A long blade and heavy handle apply strong leverage on the tip and is inclined to break off the point. A knife that is not balanced pretty evenly between the blade and the handle tends to rotate slower which leaves target ranges where it is hard to get the point headed towards the target.

I suggest a strongly built knife with a thick blade, broad point, a handle that balances well compared to the blade, probably a full tang, no weak parts to break off, and not too expensive. I would start with a throwing knife to see if you like the activity, then shop for your universal knife. I like to throw from the blade so I favor a single-edge blade. If you throw from the handle you will need a relatively straight grip without bumps and knobs.
 
I agree long range for sd is impractical so I always suggest a set of 1" ball bearings for the times you want to reach out and touch someone!

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The Fighting Old Man
 
Along the lines of carrying 1" ball bearings, a friend and I experimented with using 2" diameter lead "medallions". Make a simple disk shape mold, we used bunched-up aluminum foil and pounded a cylindrical object into the surface. Melt old tire balancing weights and pour into mold. Tire weights are nicely harder than pure lead and you can scrounge them off the street for free. Our medallions were 3/16" to 1/4" thick.

We could throw the medallions edge-on by holding our index finger along the edge and pitching like a fast ball. You can actually stick the medallions in wood. They are just devastating. I don't know of any laws they violate. If you put one in a sock it would become a "slung shot" which would be illegal in some places, California for instance.
 
Hello Copper!

In my opinion the best knife for close quarter combat and throwing is HERBERTZ 101812. This is short (5 inch) commando dagger. Aluminium handle never breaks!
This knife has also good guard. It is perfectly ballanced.
I always carry two 101812 knives.
I practice throwing this knife underhand and
overhand, single rotation and multirotation.

Bye.

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Jeff,
your ingenuity is matched only by your ruthlessness!!
biggrin.gif


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The Fighting Old Man
 
Hi there, I don't have too much experience throwing knives, however for learning to throw my suggestion is to buy a throwing knife which is:
-consistant in shape (ie. a dull double edged blade)
-well balanced (in the centre)
-has no scales (not even cord wrapped)
-and is cheap (as you learn it "will" get messed up!!)
What I have learned is that you can throw "any" knife if you are willing to put the time and effort into it (my first sucessful attempt was with a folding stanly utility knife about 3" long!!)
For control, throw only on the vertical as the knife will turn slower.
An 8' throw is held by the blade = one half turn and a 16' throw is held by the handle = one full turn.

Anyway have fun.
P.S. A thrower doesn't need to be sharp just pointy!!


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Brock the Lumber Guy
 
Don't throw your main fighting knife because:

1. you will no longer have it

2. if the throw misses or even if it hits without "stopping" the enemy will now have your knife

If you want to be able to "throw" your main fighting knife, you could have it on a sturdy lanyard cord so you can retrieve it, hit or miss, after a throw, before the enemy can.
 
Throwing knife on a retrieval cord... hmmm... the Southern troop "rebels" employed this tactic during the Civil War [1860's, USA]. I am not sure how widely this technique was used but it impressed and mortified the Yankees enough that it was documented in writings of the time. Apparently the cord was fairly short leading one to believe that only a half turn was used with the tether.

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Webmaster
The Sticking Point
www.commonlogic.com/knife
 
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