Targets for Knife Throwing

The most ideal target is without discussion a slice of soft wet Pine Tree.

But to get this is not always easy-sometimes you can get fairly well slices from the Nursery on the corner.

With a safe background you can setup a very good practice environment in your garden-please make sure nobody can be hit when a miss happens.

The next and easiest option i got was a specially cardboardbox target.Very much costless compared to an Archery target.

This is fairly cheap and easy to get all the components.also easy to setup and store.

see the attached method and plans.

Knife Throwing Targets easy and low cost.

Holes in broomsticks
10 Cardboard boxes
Broomsticks or laths about 1.6m
Tie-straps through holes and card boxes

what you need:
1. 10 cardboard boxes same size-about 600mm sides
2. 3broomsticks laths 1.5-1.7m
3. 4Tie-straps-long ones
4. Electric drill for holes in broomsticks-for tie-straps
5. Little triangle or square box from Hardware shop –about R5 for a metal one-anything to fit the middle broomstick end into.
Method of assembly:

1.Press 10 boxes flat against each other-new boxes is flat enough-put weight on for one night if necessary.
2.Make a pair of holes close to each corner- each corner4inches -10cm. With a screw driver.
3 drill 2 holes in each of upright Broomsticks according holes in Cardboxes.
4 Make 1 hole at top end of 3rd broomstick .
5 lastly fasten a triangle or box with metal or hard material in middle of boxes surface between the 2 upright broomsticks. Even tape will hold it there for some time.
This will house and secure the last broomsticks end to keep your Target upright at an angle like a Painting easel.
Drawing:

Throwing Knives and availability.

The variety of acclaimed throwing knives is unlimited.
The most offered and most marketed knives are those which are easy to manufacture and easy to throw in a compromising way.
The Broadblade \Flyers are the most common and mass produced mostly in China.
These are made from cheap thin sheets of steel.
At least 99% of them fail the weight/surface test.Without going into mathematics and physics -this is the density per dimension or the weight per size that is a factor in the aerodynamics of any flying object-that influence the way it travels through the air.
The lighter and bigger the dimensions the more it is influenced by the air -and thus very much unstable and unpredicted.
Once a knife leaves your hand it is traveling free and the momentum and trajectory is influenced only by the angle it travels through the Air, and the influence of the Air on the dynamics/shape of the object. The same as with an aeroplane wing or Boomerang.
If your knife has a broad blade and low weight it can easily be diverted and becomes a flyer.
Thats why these type of knives are promoted as a typical thrower in a typical manner-otherwise it becomes a flyer-going anywhere.
To me that is like shooting a crooked arrow through a pipe -it will go to the end of the pipe -but its not the real thing.
These arrow blades are thrown at a vertical angle with limited options-you are bound by the distance determined by the knife or specific knife size.
Otherwise you must increase your distance by measuring a precise extra turn/spin in your throw.-again very artificial to accomodate the knife's physics.
All this opposed to a real knife with a correct weight-dimension factor,which can be thrown from relatively any distance at the same revolution and same style.
We hope to market such a knive soon.
this new SA Thrower was designed and tested and altered with great care.
The result was a knfe that is quite heavy-very stable and very very strong.The 12c27 stainless was treated and crafted by a Master in knife making-especially hardened processes -Chris Fourie
from Pretoria.
The SAThrower can easily go through an old car bonnet and withstand heavy blows and surface contacts. More news soon
Soon we will bring this to the market with a more lighter model also-stil with the correct density.
Especially for all the ladies that shows interest in the sport-to my suprise quite a lot of them.

Knifethrowing can be a very social and safe sport when all the correct procedures are followed.

South Africa Knifethrowing Community

Knife Throwing as a Sport is quite unknown in South Africa. At this stage the most Tournaments and most fans seems to be in the USA and then Europe and Eastern Block Countries.

The knife throwing events is often combined with Tomahawk throwing and other typical Western Arts like whip cracking etc. in the States.

Like all other sports there are various Organizations and Authorities ssuch as seen in Boxing and Wrestling and Martial arts.

according wikkipedia i would like to quote the following:

Knife throwing, whether in a martial or sport application, involves the same basic principles of mechanics. The objective in each case is for the point to stick into the target with a sufficient amount of force. For this to be successful accuracy, distance, number of rotations and placement of the body all must be taken into account. Like a baseball, a knife rotates during flight. This means that the thrower, assuming he/she is throwing the same way every time, must either choose a specific distance for each type of throw or - more practically - make slight adjustments to placement of the knife in the hand as well as to angle of release and torque of the wrist. For example, holding the knife farther away from the center of gravity will cause it to spin faster, whereas holding it closer will have the opposite effect. These variations in throw technique can be combined to allow the thrower to stick the knife anywhere from 0 to 60 or more feet from the target. Throwers may additionally make use of these adjustments while throwing from off-center, around corners and while running.

My personal experience of knifethrowing is based on self-taught technique and practise over many years.

Later with Internet I participated on Gentlemans basis with International Throwers and found that we can easily compete on most events with the best in the world.

My favourite approach is the European rules and events.http://www.knifethrowing.info/thrower-meetings.html#bigthrowersmeeting

Tournaments in the USA seems a bit more Circus orientated with a lot of emphasis on Spinning the knife as much as possible-this opposed to hitting the target from various distances.

Myself Hugo Engelbrecht and my son Jannes Engelbrecht will start with Knife throwing Courses and exhibitions soon -Gauteng and Capetown.

Watch this Blog for new postings

We can be contacted at hugorello@gmail.com