Yup.
Of course, if the tree is far enough away, the damned knife falls to the ground.
Brainglutton
If you hold it by the blade and the knife is balanced correctly, it will make a half-turn in about 13 feet. You have to experiment with the hold on the knife. Holding closer to the tip will make it spin faster, choking-up on it will make it spin slower. Throw it like a girl, straight overhand. Don’t snap your wrist, just let it slip out. There are probably a lot of ways to do this but this is the method that works for me. You can get a good deal of power like this although I think any hypothetical sentries are still pretty safe.
And when you’re first trying this, use a dull knife!
Testy
Some idiots go hunting for boar with knives and spears. Of course, they don’t usually throw the knives. Usually.
From my experience with throwing knives, you can throw just about anything with a halfway decent balance and make it stick consistently with proper technique. You don’t want to make it spin, you want to throw it. It’ll tumble on its own, you don’t need to add any variables to make things more unpredictable. Accuracy is mostly training, just like throwing anything else. If you can throw a ball and make it hit close to the same spot every time, you can probably throw a knife with roughly the same accuracy.
However, as a combat technique, throwing knives are pretty useless unless you’re really good with them, and practice hitting targets both still and moving, and while moving yourself. The reason I started throwing things was because of martial arts. Shuriken (手裏剣 “hand hidden blade”) are treated as nuisance or distraction weapons, not as something you rely on to kill your opponent. Throwing is taught in some kenjutsu ryu as a way to distract in order to close distance with an alert opponent so you can use your sword, and in ninjutsu as a disconcerting tactic in close combat, or as a terror weapon. You didn’t need exotic poisons when tetanus or wound gangrene from deliberately fouled blades would do an admirable job with any decent puncture wound or deep cut.
The star-shaped shuriken (sometimes called shaken 車剣 “wheel blade” or hira-shuriken 平 “flat”) are much, much easier to throw effectively than rod-shaped bô (棒) shuriken or knives. It takes much less skill since you don’t really have to worry about rotation.
To throw knives, screwdrivers, or other rod-shaped stuff like chopsticks or skewers (good for cheap and relatively non-destructive practice) find the balance point. Put that spot at your fingertips with either the blunt end or the point — depending on distance — in the palm of your hand. With some practice, you can quickly do this through motor memory as you manipulate the object into a good grip. Your fingers should be extended like a stereotypical karate chop. Wrap your thumb around the end in your palm. Your hand should look like you’re counting “four” on your fingers, with the throwing object gripped by your thumb and the other end extending in a line with your fingers.
Rotate the palm of your hand slightly toward your target as you throw overhand to keep whatever you’re throwing from slipping out prematurely. The easiest throwing motion is to use your whole body, taking a step forward, while following through with a mostly rigid arm. So, assuming a right hand throw, start with left foot forward, step forward with your back foot, bring your arm and right leg through, and end with your right foot forward, hand pointing at the target. The more focused your aim, the more accurate your throw. Think about pointing your middle and index finger at the spot you want to hit.
The pass-through changes the distance, by about 1 meter, but it’s the easiest way to get a feel for how the throwing object tumbles and get used to the release. Later, you can do more wind-up, play with static rotational throws more like a baseball baseman’s throw, or do underhand, backhand, and rolling throws. For a beginning throw, you’re trying to minimize variables. Once you get good and consistent at that, you can experiment with variations.
When I was practicing a lot, I could hit a paper-plate sized target consistently at distances up to about 10 meters with an overhand throw, about 2 meters less with an underhand or backhand. I consider that to be about the maximum effective distance of a thrown object without mechanical assistance or genetic freakishness. Yeah, you can pitch a baseball 3x that far, but a pitcher just needs to be somewhere within a 1 meter zone for a strike, and speed matters more than accuracy. And he doesn’t need to hit that target while moving, or while it’s moving.
I wouldn’t want to bet on decent penetration at that range. If he was wearing a coat or jacket, I doubt he’d even notice the point, just that he’d been hit by something. If you’re really sneaky, you could pick an unguarded spot while he’s not moving, but again, not something I’d want to bet on. And if you’re that sneaky, just try to get within 2–3 meters and rush him with a conventional knife attack. Faster, and probably much more effective.
No surprise, I came to the same conclusions as other guys who looked at knife-throwing as a combat tool; pretty useless unless your main aim is distraction, wounding, confusion, deterrence, or escape. You’re not likely to kill the guy with a throw unless you’re very good, very lucky, or preferably both. And you should absolutely not count on it to do much of anything even if you hit him in a good spot. People can take a surprising amount of damage before they go down.
I just paced it off to check, and actually my best was probably about 8 m, not 10 for a target that small. I could do 10 for a torso-sized target, but not chest or head sized.
QfT.
Complete text of the (probably apocryphal) “Manual on How to Throw Your Knife in Combat”.
Regards,
Shodan
Hello friend I have been throwing knives for 6 years now
Look up ralph thorn . “No spin” combat throwing.
I taught myself watching his videos . I can generate enough power to stick in a pig carcass and hit organs . I am also accurate enough to hit a lemon from 12+ feet . All it takes is practice and don’t listen to or read anything that says knife throwing is not effective, for they have not tried or didn’t dedicate themselves to controlling the knife . It is a great self defense and ancient art that has been lost through the ages.
But can you kill zombies with it?
Killing him with a knife is not always the crucial point. But a sentry trained to shout is better dealt with using a silenced firearm or a knife through the base if his skull.
But what about other instances? I’m standing, holding a knife, facing a guy similarly armed. What do I do? The instant he moves forward i’ll throw the knife at him. Then i’ll pull out a second knife. Nb: I might be carrying at least three knives.
I once bought a throwing knife. Just one.
When I practiced, I would throw the knife, then have to walk over and pick it up, walk back and throw again.
I lost interest pretty fast.
I had better luck with an old-style (think David v. Goliath) sling. Not much better, just better.
I recall reading somewhere that Spetsnaz forces were armed with ballistic knives.
During World War ll I got captured by Nazis and tortured. A fellow prisoner slipped me a knife. I took a desperate chance and threw it into the back of one of my captors, and managed to fight my way out room by room. I ended up throwing a knife many times that day, because it was the only to effectively kill someone silently at a distance.
It was a horrible experience, and I generally don’t talk about it much, but I’m back in that dungeon every night in my dreams for the last 70 years…
I guess no matter how much you try, you never ever truly escape from Castle Wolfenstein.
I have always wondered if that way you. W
ell done/played Sir.