The physics of knife throwing


Ya know I guess this doesn't have alot of practical uses but......I just needed to share and some of the other boards I frequent just wouldn't get it.

Thanks Mr. Ritter for this forum.

Cameron Ownbey

Seattle Backpackers Meetup Group

Man oh man, I had no idea it was so complicated...

Takes a lot of practice and "learning" the specific knife.
I would NEVER count/rely on throwing a knife for any type of safety or food gathering.

One of my neighbors long ago said he had thrown a knife at a rabbit, trying to kill it. What he did was knock it cold with the handle..... <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Sue

Guess he should have used a rock, and saved his knife for the gutting...

A wise man once told me, throwing a knife does nothing but arm your opponent.

I'd have to pretty much agree with that philosophy. A knife thrown by a skilled thrower has less than 100% chance of working once, whereas a knife in the hand of a skilled wielder will almost certainly inflict some level of damage.

If I have to throw something, I would prefer something such as a shirken (as large as I can handle effectively), or maybe an ojo de dios, or at least a piece of 1/2" rebar with the ends ground to a good point. I can stick the rebar at 40 feet throwing for all I'm worth about 50% of the time, and at that force I am sure it would be effective on most human opponents if it connected.

I saw somewhere that throwing underhanded is actually much more effective than the typical overhand hurl.