Throwing Knives & Sheaths

Something we haven't beat to death in awhile. :haha:
Whos got them and are they only used for throwing? :idunno:

Do you sharpen them? :idunno:

You'll get extra points for posting pics of em'.
:bull:

But I would like to see them. :thumbsup:

I have one I made from a Farrier's rasp that is only used for throwing. I occasionally touch up the edge if it is badly nicked and have a leather sheath to protect the edge/point. That said, I don't participate in Rendezvous competitions with knife, tomahawk or pistol and the knife is loaned out to youngsters that want to practice.

I have one made by an old friend, leather scales riveted on, rugged and well balanced. I don't rendezvous, never compete, use it only to play with in the back yard. I don't have a sheath for it.



I like for my throwing tomahawk and knife to be of about the same weight, helps me switch from one to the other without much adjustment. The knife is 20 ounces, the hawk 22 ounces.



It's a fun gadget to play with, but I've never seen any period documentation for their use, would like to have some if anyone has it.

Spence

George said:

...but I've never seen any period documentation for their use, would like to have some if anyone has it.

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I also never saw the logic behind throwing away a perfectly good axe or knife in a fight. Very dramatic in movies though....

Black Hand said:

George said:

...but I've never seen any period documentation for their use, would like to have some if anyone has it.

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I also never saw the logic behind throwing away a perfectly good axe or knife in a fight. Very dramatic in movies though....

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That's kinda' what I'm wondering?

I think if they would have carried a large knife it would have been used for camp chores and butchering game. :idunno:

So are there any rules that apply to the sharpness for a throwing knife at a Rendezvous?

Having trouble seeing the pics Spence. :idunno:

I do have a few references to tomahawks being thrown in a combat situation, not for a knife, though.

Doddridge: "The Indian then threw his tomahawk at his head but missed him;..."

The South-Carolina GAZETTE
September 13, 1760
CHARLES-TOWN
"At day light Mr. Miln, with the negro Abram, went in pursuit of the deserter as far as Twelve-mile river; but not overtaking him there, returned; and as they were crossing Crow-Creek, which is very near the fort, they were fired at by three Indians, who shot one of Abram's boots through and his horse under him, and as he fell threw a tomahawk which struck him on the back; Mr. Miln and Abram however luckily got back here: A party immediately went out, but the enemy surpassed them so much in activity, that they soon disappeared, and the party bro't in no other trophy than the tomahawk which had been thrown at Abram, and some horse flesh."

From Spencer Records memoir, _Pioneer Experiences in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana_.
“They then sprung towards the old lady, one of them threw his tomahawk, and stuck it in a tree near her head: she however stuck to her saddle, and her horse soon carried her safe home.”

_Frontier Memories_, interview of Col. John Graves, 1786:
"Everyone was killed but one, who ran within 10 steps of me. Leaving blanket, moccasins and all, I threw my tomahawk at him. Next morning we looked, but if he was wounded we couldn’t see any trail of blood. All nineteen lay there in death."

_Frontier Memories_, interview of Sarah Graham:
" ... when she seen the dogs. She was so glad she jumped up run before the men were in sight. An Indian threw his tomahawk at her..."

Secondary source:
From _A History of the Daniel Boone National Forest, 1770-1970_, by the U.S. Prk service:
"When Jemima Boone and the other girls were rescued from the Shawnee, one of them threw his tomahawk at Jemima but missed."

Spence

smo said:

Having trouble seeing the pics Spence. :idunno:

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They are showing normally for me. Anyone else having trouble?

Spence

Addendum:

The Pennsylvania Gazette
June 30, 1757
PHILADELPHIA
By a Letter from Reading, in Berks County, dated the 25th Instant, there is Advice, that on the Wednesday before there was as dreadful a Thunder Storm as has been known for twenty years past, which extended over Berks and Northampton Counties: That the Dams of seven Forges, and six Grist mills, on Manatawney Creek only, besides some in other Places, were broken down by it, and great Quantities of Hay carried away: That in the Heighth of the Storm seven Indians killed and scalped one Trump in Allamingle, and left a Knife and Halbert sticking in his Body: That they made his Wife and Son Prisoners; but that the Woman escaped, tho'pursued so very closely by one of the Savages, that throwing his Tomahawk, it struck her in the Neck, and cut her badly, but the Wound is not dangerous; and the Son some Time after also made his Escape, and got safe in to Fort Lebanon, in Berks County.

Spence

Thanks Spence :thumbsup:

I finally got the pics this morning. I have a throwing knife that looks much like yours.

That is what prompted this thread.

I picked mine up at Friendship this past September. It has the single leather grip with copper?brass, pins. :idunno:

I'm planning on modifying the handle/grip on mine and was looking for ideas on what others may have done.

I really like the feel of a round to egg shaped handle with steel pins.

My knife appears to be fairly well made and has a modestly sharp edge.

I'm looking to improve on the edge.

I would love to turn it into an all purpose hacking,chopping,throwing,camp knife.

I think it would be great to have around just in case those Indians get after another Trump! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :rotf:

smo said:

I think it would be great to have around just in case those Indians get after another Trump! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :rotf:

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Can't get away from current events no matter where you go, can you? :grin:

Spence

smo said:

I would love to turn it into an all purpose hacking,chopping,throwing,camp knife.

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Knives like this are barely good enough to throw and don't work well for other applications.

Use a belt axe for the hacking and chopping - it's what they are made to do. Use a proper knife to do your cutting. Just my thoughts on the matter....

I agree, at least for the type knife I have. It's intended for only one purpose, throwing, and would not be much good for anything else.

Nobody has any documentation of knife throwing in the day, 'eh?

Spence

Spence,
I found these, but as the text isn't available in full, it is difficult to make any conclusion. That said, in one case a knife was thrown at someone by someone else....
https://books.google.com/books?id=...ved=0ahUKEwib-YvB16bRAhVM1WMKHXgxC7oQ6AEIMTAE
https://books.google.com/books?id=...ved=0ahUKEwib-YvB16bRAhVM1WMKHXgxC7oQ6AEIHDAA

Thanks. Hard to figure that one out. Interesting reference, but Bentley's Miscellany seems to have been a publication which would have been mostly fiction.

Spence

Found Bentley's Miscellany online.
https://books.google.com/books?id=...e&q=skittle-ball bentley's miscellany&f=false

Spence

I bought a reasonably cheap heavy carbon steel knife with purdy bone handles, crazy crow sells them( the taos trapper) but I paid much less. I wanted a knife I could use as well as throw at rondy without carrying around a meat cleaver,I did replace the bone with leather scales and made up a nice tacked sheath and it holds an edge

I thought about maybe three layers of leather pinned in place on each side . Then sanded/trimmed into a round or egg shape.

Or maybe just wrapped in rawhide applied wet.

spudnut said:

I wanted a knife I could use as well as throw at rondy...

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A knife that is being used as a knife is not a knife that will be thrown. If it is a knife that will be thrown, it won't be used for anything else. The two are mutually exclusive...

A lot of force is put on the blade of a throwing knife. So, they tend to be thick. You can certainly put an edge on one, but it won't cut well. You could get a set of throwing knives and a sheath knife with similar weight and balance. The throwing knives for durability of repeated throws and the sheath knife to (very occasionally) show off with. You might also develop a no spin/ slow spin technique. But, my hey day was 3 decades ago and I just recently put a bend/warp in a 1/4" blade throwing it. You can damage a good knife in short order by using it in an inappropriate manner.