 |
|
|
|
|
by Scott Gracia sgracia@wi.rr.com http://www.throwzini.com ======================================= This newsletter is a FREE service you requested. You are on this list because: * You subscribed at our Great Throwzini web site * You inquired about our products or promotions * You requested our free knife throwing tips or other information. If you'd like to be removed from this list, simply reply to this message with 'remove' in the subject. ======================================= IN THIS ISSUE 1. Opening Letter 2. Light Throwers- Part 2 of 4 by K.E. Sackett 3. A Great Knife Throwing Video 4. Limited Penetration... You be the Judge! by Lee Fugatt 5. Contact Info/Reprint Guidelines ======================================= 1. OPENING LETTER Well I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! I had a great one! I got to see all my family and explain (again), what it is about throwing knives that I "dig" so much! But if you have to explain it to them... they probably aren't going to get it. Anyway, I got a new TRU-BAL Model #79! And a video by the great Harry K. McEvoy! Both make awesome additions to my collection. http://www.throwzini.com Thanks to everyone that submitted info/pics!!! ======================================== 2. GUEST COLUMN: LIGHT THROWERS -- Part 2 of 4 by: K. E. Sackett Continued from Issue #2 SPIKES Throwing spikes offer a great deal of design leeway and cheapness, and may well be your preferred light throwing weapon. Any steel rod of sufficient length and thickness will do. Sufficient length? Let's say between eight and twelve inches; shorter than eight inches and it's hard to control; longer than twelve inches and it's getting a bit large for short-range and/or indoor throwing. Sufficient thickness? Anywhere from three-sixteenths to three-eighths of an inch in diameter is fine for making a plain throwing spike. If you have the means to cut threads on the end of your rod, you can change the balance by screwing on one or more standard nuts; this is a good way to add authority to a spike that's a bit too light. Throwing spikes don't have to be round in cross section. In fact, a square, diamond, or triangular cross section will give better penetration in most kinds of target. Just the other day, I cut a one-yard length of quarter-inch key stock into three equal pieces, filed tapered points on them (I made the profiles of the points long ogives rather than straight tapers, for a little added strength), and found I could pitch them clear through two inches of layered cardboard with ease. The sharp, square cross section, coupled with the super sectional density of a foot of steel, penetrates like a bullet. Cost? All of $3.49 for the steel, and maybe six dollars worth of sweat running that file. Fun! MISCELLANEOUS Root around in your local junk-shop for usable lengths of steel; look for old pitchfork heads, retired rotisseries, worn-out punches, used-up lawnmower grass catcher frames, and other priceless examples of castoff ironmongery. If your piece of steel is as little as six inches long and an eighth of an inch in diameter, don't give up. You can make a dandy icepick-style thrower by fitting a handle. This can be made of hardwood (rock maple or walnut), laminated wood, or, best of all, dense plastic. In a piece of your chosen handle material four inches long by three-quarters of an inch square, drill a two-inch-deep hole just big enough to accept the steel rod. Epoxy this in place, let the glue cure, grind a point to your liking, and you're in business. SCISSORS The next nearest thing to a knife in the light-thrower field is half of an old pair of scissors. Kitchen shears, being large in the handle and short in the blade, are especially well suited. Just remove the axle-screw (but save it in case you ever have to put your scissors back to work for scissoring), sharpen the extreme tips of the blades to bodkin points, and there you are with a matched or near-matched pair of light throwing weapons. Scissors convert strictly into blade-throwers, but this is not a serious handicap; most light throwing will be done at a half-turn. Finally, you can fashion true light throwing knives from the same kinds of steel used to make full-size knives. But take care you don't make them too big and too much like conventional throwing blades. Light knife throwing takes place at short ranges, using springy targets (usually, multiple sheets of corrugated cardboard) that resist penetration by the rather blunt points of conventional throwing-knives. Keep your light knives light: not over ten inches long and not over eleven ounces in weight. Make them slender-pointed: not much more than three-quarters of an inch wide three inches back from the tip, tapering smoothly from there to the point. These design constraints mean that light knives almost have to be blade-throwers. The best approach is probably to build approximate replicas of those half-scissors described above: wide pommels, short and slender blades, and rapidly tapering outlines. The pesh kabz of Afghanistan and northern India, suitably scaled down, provides another good model to follow. Balance in light throwing weapons is more critical than it is in heavier weapons. Because light knives or ice picks weigh only a few ounces, control is difficult unless the weight is strongly concentrated away from your hand. Keep this in mind when building your light sticking-tools. Keep this in mind too: Light throwers need very keen points, and this makes them potentially dangerous. I'll bring this up again when discussing safety... Part 3 of 4 continued in our next issue. Article contributed by . . . K.E. Sackett sackett@dbo.eng.wayne.edu http://www.crl.com/~mjr/knife_lite.html ============================================= 3. RECREATIONAL KNIFE THROWING VIDEO If you want to learn the insider SECRETS, TIPS and TRICKS that the masters use to hit their mark every time, then John Bailey's Recreational Knife Throwing Video is for you. Here is a taste of what you'll get: - 9 inexpensive target designs - 11 demonstrations - How to eliminate the most common throwing error - Master grips, stances and throws and so much more! For a limited time, you can have the ultimate knife throwing video for only $19.95. By acting now, you'll save 33% off the regular price of $29.95 For a full description and ordering details, follow this link: http://www.throwzini.com/tgt_video.html AOL USERS LINK ============================================= 4. QUESTIONS ABOUT HUNTING Every time it gets close to deer hunting season I get a few emails asking about hunting with throwing knives. Not everyone believes that it is possible to bring down an animal with just a thrower. Take Mike Richter for instance. He writes: "I have been an avid deer hunter for 16yrs. In all this time I've never heard of anyone hunting with a throwing knife. I'm not sure I believe it would have the power to bring down a deer. But I think I might want to try! Have you ever heard any such stories?" Thanks for your question Mike! I myself have never hunted with a thrower before... but I have heard of a few such things. I read about a man bringing down a 275 lb. wild boar using a TRU-BAL BOWIE AXE! I can't imagine the adrenaline involved in that! And I saved the following article from a post off of the internet. It is from Lee Fugatt. Lee is one of the top throwers in our sport. He has too many trophies to list so we'll just say he placed at least 2nd in every throwing competition he has ever entered! Lee also makes his own line of throwing knives. You can get to his web site from our LINKS page. http://www.throwzini.com ================================================== 4. LIMITED PENETRATION... YOU BE THE JUDGE! by Lee Fugatt "There I was, No stuff... One night about 2 & 1/2 years ago, at long about 0100. I woke up to a racket in my dog kennel which is up along side my house. My 4 month old puppy "Booger" was screamin' like somebody was tryin' to peel her with a rusty nail. I jumped up out of bed and ran outside. Only when I hit the porch did I realize I weren't wearin' nary a stitch. Nor did I have a weapon neither! I did have a number of knives stickin' in my kindlin' stump on the porch though cuz I had been playin with 'em the day before. I grabbed up a 14 1/2 inch bowie type thrower and ran on naked into the moonlight. As I came 'round the corner of the house I saw the problem. There was a critter that had my pup backed into a corner of her shelter inside the kennel. At first I thought it was the neighbors McNab And I yelled at it to go home. When he turned 'round though I saw it was a coyote. (I lived in a rural area of northern California.) With out thinkin' on it at all I threw my knife downward at him from about 6 feet. Man! He just sat down and lay over like he was goin' to sleep. Seems the point entered the left shoulder, sheared through the joint capsule, then through the top rib, lung heart, etc. then stopped at the handle with about an inch 1/2 of point stickin' through the fourth rib back on the other side behind the right foreleg. There was no argument about dying. Many folks, who have never hunted with a knife, like to talk about limited penetration, lack of shock trauma etc. But I think 1 pound of steel goin about 45 - 65 mph will flat get your attention!" Lee Fugatt tonkasila@aol.com http://hometown.aol.com/tonkasila/life1/index.htm ============================================= If you have any questions about throwing that you would like answered in one of our upcoming issues, simply send an e-mail to: sgracia@wi.rr.com with QUESTION FOR NEWSLETTER in the Subject Line, and your name and question in the body. ============================================= (Copyright 1999, Scott Gracia, The Great Throwzini.) Reprint permission granted in part or whole when the following credit appears in full: Reprinted with permission from Scott Gracia's The Great Throwzini Newsletter. Get your FREE 101 KNIFE THROWING TIPS and Newsletter, filled with throwing tips and ideas to help you with your throwing game, at The Great Throwzini website http://www.throwzini.com ============================================= Scott Gracia, The Great Throwzini, 5321 4 Mile Rd. Racine, WI 53402-9791 Phone 262-681-7942, Email: sgracia@wi.rr.com http://www.throwzini.com It's free, and there's no obligation. |
Want to improve your accuracy?CLICK HERE "...the ability of David to throw different turns at different distances was outstanding and the impalement acts were 1st rate..." Chuck Fogarty Countryside, IL FREE STUFF CLICK HERE for FREE 101 Knife Throwing Tips Info-Pak Want hundreds of great knife throwing tips, ideas, articles and interviews with some of the biggest names in the sport of knife throwing? Get our FREE, twice-a-month Great Throwzini Online Newsletter. Just click below and send. CLICK HERE for FREE Online Newsletter or send e-mail to: sgracia@wi.rr.com with SUBSCRIBE in the Subject Line. I respect your privacy and will never share or sell your e-mail address to anyone. |