- Joined
- Oct 8, 1998
- Messages
- 8,917
Ever since I wondered on to the Internet, first at Knifeforums.Com, then the birth of Bladeforums.Com the age old questions has been asked...
"What is the best thrower, would you use one for self-defense, what is the toughest thrower..."
All great questions.
My favorite items in this category are a little off the beaten path, so to speak.
The absolute toughest, most accurate/consistent and viable for self-defense throwing implement I have ever owned is an Estwing Hatchet. Not the one with the leather ring/laminated grip (that one holds up pretty good, but the handle will eventually get loose) but the solid steel shaft with a blue handle...Estwing Hatchet.
Once you get good with one, there are no handles/grips to replace, no more custom fitting hammer handles to your favorite Tomahawk, axe or hatchet. I have 2 Cold Steel "Vietnam" LaGana Tomahawks, my favorite for H2H/CQC and it has no where near the impact or durability of the Estwing, nor does my Cold Steel Rifleman's 'Hawk.
Once you get good, you can take an Estwing and routinely bury it in a good target and likewise, routinely cut regular sized playing cards in half.
Now, in State Parks here, you cannot carry anything that can be construed as a "weapon," yet they are most certainly not going to confiscate, arrest or make you leave if you have 2 or 3 Estwing Hatchets in and about your campsite or have one on your person.
***Self-Defense?***
The Tomahawk, Hatchet and Ax are the most viable as they could knock a person unconscious even if the blade did not engage. It is not hard to hit a moving target, it is hard to get a knife to stick point first in a moving target, as per my study. The hatchet is King. It will bust you up from a "technical miss." It allows for a greater margin for error...much more so then the knife.
There are those that say American Indians did not throw their 'Hawks, that it is a myth. This is not so.
I have a wonderful hardcover book from 1963 [Reprint 1994] by Harold L. Peterson titled, "American Indian Tomahawks." This book has some documented instances of Indians throwing and practicing for power and uncanny accuracy.
I can get a couple of you a copy of this book for $65.00 Priority Shipping Included. It is more a pictorial history of the Tomahaken, but is a must have for anyone interested in the evolution of the Ball Head War Club, Gunstock Club and Tomahawks.
For example, I have an Estwing Shingler's Hatchet, a small hatchet with a hammer poll on the opposite side. It has a blue handle, steel shaft, almost indestuctible. Did you know that there was a hatchet identical to this issued as a, "Boarding Hatchet?" Great stuff in the book.
***My Project***
I would like to take a Cold Steel Vietnam Tomahawk and remove the hammer poll and claws from a large Estwing, straight shaft claw hammer, have the remains of the head shaped to fit into the Cold Steel LaGanaHawk and have it welded top and bottom, for what I believe would be the Ultimate CQC/H2H/Throwing Tomahawk. Anyone out there with great metal working and welding skills? E-Mail me with a cost for cutting, shaping and welding of this weapon.
A favorite knife? I love throwing knives too...if I had to pick just one, and even use it in self-defense is need be...it would be my Custom Bowen Bowie. It is huge and even though it is certainly not shaving sharp, it would certainly bury itself, and if the point missed, it would offer a window of opportunity to close with another weapon, or to escape. It is a wonderful throwing knife. The best I have used. Tough as nails too.
I like throwing everything. I love to throw all sorts of shuriken, including spike shuriken, etc., large sewing needles for canvas/tent work, anything that is viable.
I am starting to toy with throwing small screws and whatnot as I hear they can be thrown and a spin imparted and actually stick in wood reliably, accurately and powerfully. You basically "pinch" them and almost snap your fingers as you release to impart the spin. I am toying with the Ricky Jay idea of throwing playing cards as someone on here actually witnessed him throwing common playing cards into a wooden wall...that seems amazing, and hokey to some.
Finally...Vladimir Vasiliev's Knife Fighting and Knife Throwing Video is a must have item for throwing nuts...especially if you want to see someone throw a paper thin double edged razor blade and hear it hit a wooden pallet with a noise far above what you would expect for such a lightweight piece of steel.
Michael D. Echanis' Knife Fighting/Knife Throwing for Combat has a great section on throwing everything, including rocks and dirt when rebounding from the ground...and Marinas' new book on Knife Throwing is neat too, with a custom little throwing "washer."
Nasty stuff! I love it, I'm glad to see this Forum opened.
------------------
"You're about as sharp as a sack of wet mice..." ~~F. Leghorn
"What is the best thrower, would you use one for self-defense, what is the toughest thrower..."
All great questions.
My favorite items in this category are a little off the beaten path, so to speak.
The absolute toughest, most accurate/consistent and viable for self-defense throwing implement I have ever owned is an Estwing Hatchet. Not the one with the leather ring/laminated grip (that one holds up pretty good, but the handle will eventually get loose) but the solid steel shaft with a blue handle...Estwing Hatchet.
Once you get good with one, there are no handles/grips to replace, no more custom fitting hammer handles to your favorite Tomahawk, axe or hatchet. I have 2 Cold Steel "Vietnam" LaGana Tomahawks, my favorite for H2H/CQC and it has no where near the impact or durability of the Estwing, nor does my Cold Steel Rifleman's 'Hawk.
Once you get good, you can take an Estwing and routinely bury it in a good target and likewise, routinely cut regular sized playing cards in half.
Now, in State Parks here, you cannot carry anything that can be construed as a "weapon," yet they are most certainly not going to confiscate, arrest or make you leave if you have 2 or 3 Estwing Hatchets in and about your campsite or have one on your person.
***Self-Defense?***
The Tomahawk, Hatchet and Ax are the most viable as they could knock a person unconscious even if the blade did not engage. It is not hard to hit a moving target, it is hard to get a knife to stick point first in a moving target, as per my study. The hatchet is King. It will bust you up from a "technical miss." It allows for a greater margin for error...much more so then the knife.
There are those that say American Indians did not throw their 'Hawks, that it is a myth. This is not so.
I have a wonderful hardcover book from 1963 [Reprint 1994] by Harold L. Peterson titled, "American Indian Tomahawks." This book has some documented instances of Indians throwing and practicing for power and uncanny accuracy.
I can get a couple of you a copy of this book for $65.00 Priority Shipping Included. It is more a pictorial history of the Tomahaken, but is a must have for anyone interested in the evolution of the Ball Head War Club, Gunstock Club and Tomahawks.
For example, I have an Estwing Shingler's Hatchet, a small hatchet with a hammer poll on the opposite side. It has a blue handle, steel shaft, almost indestuctible. Did you know that there was a hatchet identical to this issued as a, "Boarding Hatchet?" Great stuff in the book.
***My Project***
I would like to take a Cold Steel Vietnam Tomahawk and remove the hammer poll and claws from a large Estwing, straight shaft claw hammer, have the remains of the head shaped to fit into the Cold Steel LaGanaHawk and have it welded top and bottom, for what I believe would be the Ultimate CQC/H2H/Throwing Tomahawk. Anyone out there with great metal working and welding skills? E-Mail me with a cost for cutting, shaping and welding of this weapon.
A favorite knife? I love throwing knives too...if I had to pick just one, and even use it in self-defense is need be...it would be my Custom Bowen Bowie. It is huge and even though it is certainly not shaving sharp, it would certainly bury itself, and if the point missed, it would offer a window of opportunity to close with another weapon, or to escape. It is a wonderful throwing knife. The best I have used. Tough as nails too.
I like throwing everything. I love to throw all sorts of shuriken, including spike shuriken, etc., large sewing needles for canvas/tent work, anything that is viable.
I am starting to toy with throwing small screws and whatnot as I hear they can be thrown and a spin imparted and actually stick in wood reliably, accurately and powerfully. You basically "pinch" them and almost snap your fingers as you release to impart the spin. I am toying with the Ricky Jay idea of throwing playing cards as someone on here actually witnessed him throwing common playing cards into a wooden wall...that seems amazing, and hokey to some.
Finally...Vladimir Vasiliev's Knife Fighting and Knife Throwing Video is a must have item for throwing nuts...especially if you want to see someone throw a paper thin double edged razor blade and hear it hit a wooden pallet with a noise far above what you would expect for such a lightweight piece of steel.
Michael D. Echanis' Knife Fighting/Knife Throwing for Combat has a great section on throwing everything, including rocks and dirt when rebounding from the ground...and Marinas' new book on Knife Throwing is neat too, with a custom little throwing "washer."
Nasty stuff! I love it, I'm glad to see this Forum opened.
------------------
"You're about as sharp as a sack of wet mice..." ~~F. Leghorn