GunnSmokeer
Senior Member
Who else is interested in knife throwing?
I had a couple sets of cheap throwing knives when I was a kid and teenager. I used them against tree trunks in my backyard. (Luckily the trees survived, at least up until my mom decided that her garden needed more sunlight in which case those beautiful hundred foot tall trees had to die so she could grow tomatoes.)
I wasn't too impressed with the size or the quality of those cheap little knives I had when I was a kid, but I didn't know any better. I wasn't familiar with other types of knives that could be thrown .
Nobody I knew had a real set of professional throwing knives, or any other type of knife like a military fighting knife, a Bowie knife, or a bayonet, that they would use for throwing.
Fast-forward to 2017 and later. Recently, my nephew got a set of medium-size throwing knives by Smith & Wesson. I think their overall length was about 8 inches. They're decently thick, and they're not expensive. I think he got a set of six of them for $35.
But those started breaking, usually at the Tips but sometimes right through the middle. Because, in his inexperience, he was throwing incorrectly, and throwing at hard wood targets. Therefore when the blades would hit at a 45° angle rather than straight-in, a lot of the tips started bending and later snapping off. So he decided to get another set of throwing knives that were less expensive, and had more knives in the set, so he could get more practice in.
His second set of throwing knives were more like the junky "toy" ones I had as a kid -- overall length of about 5 inches, almost no weight to them (less than an ounce each) and they're so light weight they're hard to throw. It's like throwing a nail or a giant paper clip -- there's just no mass to it.
Because of their light weight, even if you do hit the target point-first, it barely sticks in. And subsequent throws of other knives may vibrate / jostle the target enough that the first knife falls out. That's not very satisfying.
So I did a bunch of shopping, both online and in person, for a better set of throwing knives. For myself at first, and if they work great I might gift a set of these to my nephew one day.
I found that most so-called throwing knives being sold at places like eBay and Amazon.com for reasonable prices are junk. They're small, they're lightweight, they're made of the wrong material ( often stainless steel, which is brittle) and they have retarded holes and slots forged into them strictly for aesthetics, but which actually make them less- suitable for throwing . The holes and slots not only weaken the blades, but also create an opportunity for the tip of one knife to go into these openings and damage the incoming knife, whereas if these knives had smooth flat sides that knife would just ricochet off the other one more or less harmlessly.
I did find a set of Gil Hibben tanto-type throwing knives on sale for a good price, and they didn't have very many if those stupid holes or slots in them, but I didn't like their size-- they were only medium sized. I believed that having larger ones would spin more smoothly more consistently and strike the target with more penetrating power giving me more sticks and less "bouncing off the target."
I ended up buying a couple of Glock FM 81 field knives. They have a saw back along the spine, but that doesn't bother me at all when I hold them with that part of the spine pressing against my palm. They do not scratch me when I release them.
Although the Glock 81 knives Are not marketed as a throwing knife, numerous YouTube videos show people using them as such and they are plenty tough. These knives have passed every torture test that knife experts have given them. They look a little bit like bayonets (although they are a little bit smaller than the average size for a bayonet). They also look like a typical fighting knife similar to a K-bar, an Air Force survival knife, or a Fairbain fighting knife.
These knives are heavy enough to be very enjoyable to throw. I recently compared throwing my Glock knives to my nephews medium size S&W throwing knives and his cheap little tiny throwing knife set. There is no comparison at all !!!
The experience is so much better and more satisfying using the larger heavier knives .
P. S. to avoid breaking-off the tips of any knives, his or mine, during this testing, I used targets made of tightly stacked cardboard boxes pressed between the 2 x 4" boards in a wooden frame. I also did some testing throwing at scrap drywall panels. Now that I have the correct distances known to hit the target point-first, I could use a wooden target and I don't think I would be likely to break off any knife tips.
But when you're just learning knife throwing, or if you're using a rather fragile knife that wouldn't survive many hits being slapped up against a wooden backboard sideways, backwards, or at odd angles, it might be good to use several tears of corrugated cardboard for your first target backer, and then move to wood (soft wood, like pine) after a few days practice.
I had a couple sets of cheap throwing knives when I was a kid and teenager. I used them against tree trunks in my backyard. (Luckily the trees survived, at least up until my mom decided that her garden needed more sunlight in which case those beautiful hundred foot tall trees had to die so she could grow tomatoes.)
I wasn't too impressed with the size or the quality of those cheap little knives I had when I was a kid, but I didn't know any better. I wasn't familiar with other types of knives that could be thrown .
Nobody I knew had a real set of professional throwing knives, or any other type of knife like a military fighting knife, a Bowie knife, or a bayonet, that they would use for throwing.
Fast-forward to 2017 and later. Recently, my nephew got a set of medium-size throwing knives by Smith & Wesson. I think their overall length was about 8 inches. They're decently thick, and they're not expensive. I think he got a set of six of them for $35.
But those started breaking, usually at the Tips but sometimes right through the middle. Because, in his inexperience, he was throwing incorrectly, and throwing at hard wood targets. Therefore when the blades would hit at a 45° angle rather than straight-in, a lot of the tips started bending and later snapping off. So he decided to get another set of throwing knives that were less expensive, and had more knives in the set, so he could get more practice in.
His second set of throwing knives were more like the junky "toy" ones I had as a kid -- overall length of about 5 inches, almost no weight to them (less than an ounce each) and they're so light weight they're hard to throw. It's like throwing a nail or a giant paper clip -- there's just no mass to it.
Because of their light weight, even if you do hit the target point-first, it barely sticks in. And subsequent throws of other knives may vibrate / jostle the target enough that the first knife falls out. That's not very satisfying.
So I did a bunch of shopping, both online and in person, for a better set of throwing knives. For myself at first, and if they work great I might gift a set of these to my nephew one day.
I found that most so-called throwing knives being sold at places like eBay and Amazon.com for reasonable prices are junk. They're small, they're lightweight, they're made of the wrong material ( often stainless steel, which is brittle) and they have retarded holes and slots forged into them strictly for aesthetics, but which actually make them less- suitable for throwing . The holes and slots not only weaken the blades, but also create an opportunity for the tip of one knife to go into these openings and damage the incoming knife, whereas if these knives had smooth flat sides that knife would just ricochet off the other one more or less harmlessly.
I did find a set of Gil Hibben tanto-type throwing knives on sale for a good price, and they didn't have very many if those stupid holes or slots in them, but I didn't like their size-- they were only medium sized. I believed that having larger ones would spin more smoothly more consistently and strike the target with more penetrating power giving me more sticks and less "bouncing off the target."
I ended up buying a couple of Glock FM 81 field knives. They have a saw back along the spine, but that doesn't bother me at all when I hold them with that part of the spine pressing against my palm. They do not scratch me when I release them.
Although the Glock 81 knives Are not marketed as a throwing knife, numerous YouTube videos show people using them as such and they are plenty tough. These knives have passed every torture test that knife experts have given them. They look a little bit like bayonets (although they are a little bit smaller than the average size for a bayonet). They also look like a typical fighting knife similar to a K-bar, an Air Force survival knife, or a Fairbain fighting knife.
These knives are heavy enough to be very enjoyable to throw. I recently compared throwing my Glock knives to my nephews medium size S&W throwing knives and his cheap little tiny throwing knife set. There is no comparison at all !!!
The experience is so much better and more satisfying using the larger heavier knives .
P. S. to avoid breaking-off the tips of any knives, his or mine, during this testing, I used targets made of tightly stacked cardboard boxes pressed between the 2 x 4" boards in a wooden frame. I also did some testing throwing at scrap drywall panels. Now that I have the correct distances known to hit the target point-first, I could use a wooden target and I don't think I would be likely to break off any knife tips.
But when you're just learning knife throwing, or if you're using a rather fragile knife that wouldn't survive many hits being slapped up against a wooden backboard sideways, backwards, or at odd angles, it might be good to use several tears of corrugated cardboard for your first target backer, and then move to wood (soft wood, like pine) after a few days practice.
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