               CHOOSING A GOOD THROWING KNIFE

From: klynch@intrepid.net
Newsgroups: misc.survivalism
Subject: Choosing a Good Throwing Knife
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 1996 02:52:18 GMT

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Some of you are into or are thinking about getting "into" throwing
knives.  This can be tricky.  I've asked "hobbiest" Matthew
Rappaport to write an article giving us a few pointers.  

Part of the article is displayed below.  Hope this helps.
Kerry http://www.intrepid.net/~klynch/survival.html
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Choosing a Throwing Knife

What follows pertains primarily to knife throwing for sport, both
target throwing and hunting with throwing knives. There is
considerable debate as to the wisdom of ever throwing a knife in a
self defense situation.

There are masters of the art who could get away with such, but they
are few and far between. In any case, self defense aspects also
involve concealment, and thus fairly small knives. As we shall see,
where throwing knives are concerned, small is not necessarily
beautiful.

First things first:

What's the first thing everyone thinks of when they talk about
throwing knives - Balance!

Well its hooey! If balance were really that important, there
wouldn't be anybody throwing axes I can tell you that! The only
thing balance determines is the knife's suitability as a handle vs.
a blade thrower.

A knife that is handle heavy, throws more easily when gripped from
the blade. A blade-heavy knife (for example a typical Bowie) is
more easily thrown from the handle. Only knives that are balanced
very close to their center point can be thrown equally well from
handle or blade. So what is important? Three things, weight,
length, and the the weight/length ratio....



