Throwing knife

Collection of throwing knives

A throwing knife is a knife that is specially designed and weighted so that it can be thrown effectively. They are a distinct category from ordinary knives.

Throwing knives are used by many cultures around the world, and as such different tactics for throwing them have been developed, as have different shapes and forms of throwing knife.

Throwing knives are also used in sport.

Central Africa

A selection of African throwing knives in the British Museum

Throwing knives saw use in central Africa.^[1] The wide area they were used over means that they were referred to by a number of names such as Kulbeda, Pinga and Trombash.^[1] These weapons had multiple iron blades and were used for warfare and hunting.^[1]^[2] A maximum effective range of about 50 yards (around 45m) has been suggested.^[1] The weapon appears to have originated in central Sudan somewhere around 1000 CE from where it spread south.^[2] It has however been suggested that the same weapon is depicted in Libyan wall sculptures dating around 1350 BCE.^[1]

The throwing knives were extensively collected by Europeans with the result that many European and American museums have extensive collections.^[3] However the collectors generally failed to record the origin of the blades or their use.^[3] As a result the history and use of the throwing knives is poorly understood.^[3] A further complication is that the label "throwing knife" was attached by ethnographers to various objects that didn't fit into other weapon categories even though they may not have been thrown.^[4]

Western tradition

Throwing knives are commonly made of a single piece of steel or other material, without handles, unlike other types of knives. The knife has two sections, the 'blade' which is the sharpened half of the knife and the 'grip' which is not sharpened. The purpose of the grip is to allow the knife to be safely handled by the user and also to balance the weight of the blade.^[5]

The knives are of two kinds, balanced knives and unbalanced knives. A balanced knife is made in such a way that the center of gravity is at the center of the knife. Such a balanced knife will follow a near circular trajectory in the flight. For an unbalanced knife, the center of gravity does not match the geometric center. If the knife's handle is heavier, then the circles of the handle and the circles of the blade in flight will be of different diameter, making the trajectory less predictable. The unbalanced knives are generally thrown by gripping the lighter end. There are also knives with adjustable weights which can slide on the length of the blade. This way, it can function both as a balanced or unbalanced knife depending upon the position of the weight. Balanced knives are generally preferred over unbalanced ones for two reasons: Balanced knives can be thrown from the handle as well as from the blade and it is easier to change from one balanced knife to another.^[6]

The weight of the throwing knife and the throwing speed determine the power of the impact. Lighter knives can be thrown with relative ease but they may fail to penetrate the target properly resulting in "bounce back". Heavy throwing knives are more stable in their flight and cause more damage to the target, but more strength is needed to throw them accurately.

References

1 2 3 4 5 Blackmore, Howard L (2000). Hunting Weapons from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century: With 288 Illustrations. Courier Dover Publications. pp. 80–82. ISBN 978-0-486-40961-0.
1 2 Ehret, Christopher (2002). The civilizations of Africa: a history to 1800. Courier Dover Publications. pp. 338–341. ISBN 978-0-486-40961-0.
1 2 3 .McNaughton, Patrick. "The Cutting Edge: West Central African 19th Century Throwing Knives in the National Museum of Ethnology Leiden. A. M. Schmidt and Peter Westerdijk. Leiden: National Museum of Ethnology and C. Zwartenkot Art Books, 2006. 112 pp. Reviewed by Patrick McNaughton" (pdf). Indiana University. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
↑ Throwing knives (Museum label). Room 25, British Museum: The British Museum. 2011.
↑ Dixie, Valdez. "Throwing knives handles and their weight". atlantacutlery.com.
↑ Thiel, Christian. "Balance and the center of gravity". KnifeThrowing.info. Retrieved 30 January 2015.

External links

Media related to Throwing knives at Wikimedia Commons

Knives and daggers

List of daggers List of blade materials

Types of knives	Aircrew Survival Egress Knife Athame Balisong/Butterfly Ballistic Ballpoint pen knife Bayonet Boline Bolo Boning Boot knife Bowie Bread knife Cane knife Cheese knife Chef's knife Cleaver Clip point Combat knife Commander Corvo CQC-6 Deba bōchō Diving knife Drop point Electric knife Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife Gerber Mark II Ginsu Grapefruit knife Gravity knife Gunong Hunting knife Jacob's ladder Karambit Kīla Kirpan Kitchen knife Kukri Laguiole knife Machete Mandau Mezzaluna Misericorde Mora knife Multi-tool Nakiri bōchō Navaja Neck knife Nontron knife Opinel knife Palette knife Pantographic knife Parang Penknife Penny knife Pocket knife Putty knife Puukko Rampuri Resolza Sabatier Sami knife Santoku SARK Scalpel Seax Sgian dubh Sharpfinger Shiv Sliding knife Smatchet SOG Knife Straight razor Strider SMF Survival knife Swiss Army knife Switchblade Taping knife Throwing knife Tomato knife Trench knife Tumi Ulu Utility knife Warrior knife X-Acto Yanagi ba Yatagan

Types of daggers	Anelace Applegate–Fairbairn fighting knife Arkansas toothpick BC-41 Bagh naka Baselard Bichuwa Bollock dagger Cinquedea Dirk Ear dagger Emeici Facón French Nail Hachiwara Hunting dagger Janbiya Kaiken Kalis Kard Katar Khanjali Khanjar Kris Mark I trench knife Ocean Edge Knife Parrying dagger Poignard Push dagger Rondel dagger Seme Shobo Sica Stiletto Tantō Marine Raider stiletto V-42 stiletto Yarará Parachute Knife Yoroidōshi

Knife manufacturers	Aitor Al Mar Knives American Tomahawk Company Bear MCG Benchmade Böker Buck Knives Caber Camillus Cutlery Company Cattaraugus Cutlery Company Chris Reeve Knives Cold Steel Columbia River Knife & Tool Cuisinart Cutco Cutlery DOVO Solingen Dexter-Russell Dirte Knives Eikhorn Ek Commando Knife Co. Emerson Knives Erizo F. Dick Fällkniven FAMAE Fiskars Füritechnics Gerber Legendary Blades Global Golok Hanwei Imperial Schrade J. A. Henckels Ka-Bar Kershaw Knives KitchenAid Korin Japanese Trading Company Kyocera Leatherman Mad Dog Knives MercWorx Microtech Knives Morseth Murphy Knives Ontario Knife Company Opinel Pro-Tech Knives Randall Made Knives Ranz Rigid Knives Rösle SOG Specialty Knives Sabatier Aîné & Perrier Spyderco Strider Knives Survival Aids TEKNA Thiers Issard Victorinox Vox Knives W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co. Walther arms Wenger Western Knife Company Wilkinson Sword Windlass Steelcrafts Wüsthof Yarara Ltd

Knifemakers	A.G. Russell American Bladesmith Society Rex Applegate James Black Blackie Collins John Nelson Cooper Ernest Emerson Jerry Fisk Phill Hartsfield Bill Harsey, Jr. Gil Hibben Knifemakers' Guild Zanjan Knifemakers Jimmy Lile Bob Loveless Bob Lum William F. Moran Ken Onion Ralph Osterhout Bo Randall Chris Reeve Jody Samson William Scagel Mike Snody Robert Terzuola Michael Walker Buster Warenski Daniel Winkler

Book:Knives and daggers Category:Knives / Daggers

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Throwing knife

Central Africa

Western tradition

See also

References

External links