Throwing knife

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.

Collection of throwing 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 Onzil,[2][3] Kulbeda, Mambele, Pinga and Trombash.[1] These weapons had multiple iron blades and were used for warfare and hunting.[1] [4] A maximum effective range of about 50 yards has been suggested.[1] The weapon appears to have originated in central Sudan somewhere around 1000 AD from where it spread south.[4] It has however been suggested that the same weapon is depicted in Libyan wall sculptures dating around 1350 BC.[1]

The throwing knives were extensively collected by Europeans with the result that many European and American museums have extensive collections.[5] However the collectors generally failed to record the origin of the blades or their use.[5] As a result, the history and use of the throwing knives is poorly understood.[5] 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.[6]

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.

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.[7]

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.

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See also

References
  1. Blackmore, Howard L (2000). Hunting Weapons from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century: With 288 Illustrations. Courier Dover Publications. pp. 80–82. ISBN 9780486409610.
  2. Mary H Kingsley, West African Studies (1899), London, MacMillan, 1901
  3. Jan Elsen, De fer et de fierté, 2003, p.98
  4. Ehret, Christopher (2002). The civilizations of Africa: a history to 1800. Courier Dover Publications. pp. 338–341. ISBN 9780486409610.
  5. .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.
  6. Throwing knives (Museum label). Room 25, British Museum. 2011.CS1 maint: location (link)
  7. Thiel, Christian. "Balance and the center of gravity". KnifeThrowing.info. Retrieved 30 January 2015.

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