Throwing a knife, uses in the field?

[Cryov]

Ive been throwing knives for years and can accurately hit a 6 inch target upto 20ft away. However i've never used this skill to hunt small game or saw any use for this skill in survival situations. Of course there is the possibility losing the knife which is why I see the skill as more of a past time than something usefull. My question is, do any of you know of any reason to throw a knife in a survival situation?

[Rick]

I would never throw a tool away especially if it's the only one you have. You stand a chance on breaking it, too, which is almost as bad. If I need something to throw I think I'd use the knife to make a spear or other sharp pointed thingie first and keep my knife at hand.

[Cryov]

Good point, for small game I figured a rabbit stick would be good enough if I had to throw something. The more I think about it the more impractical the skill sounds in any situatiion outside recreational throwing.

[Rick]

If you can catch a rabbit in a hole you can use your knife to cut a slit in the end of a long stick. Then slide the stick down the hole and against the rabbit's fir. Then turn the stick so it catches the fur and rolls it up in the slit. You can pull the rabbit out of the hole using that method. It's so effective it's illegal here. Of course if it's a survival situation then that's something else. A throwing stick, as you suggest, is also effective but I'm not very good with one.

[hunter63]

No, I don't throw my knives at anything other than a target at Rendezvous.
Use a rock....they are free.

[Winter]

While I would prefer not to throw my knife at game, I'm not gonna say I'd never try it.

[Sparky93]

If you can catch a rabbit in a hole you can use your knife to cut a slit in the end of a long stick. Then slide the stick down the hole and against the rabbit's fir. Then turn the stick so it catches the fur and rolls it up in the slit. You can pull the rabbit out of the hole using that method. It's so effective it's illegal here. Of course if it's a survival situation then that's something else. A throwing stick, as you suggest, is also effective but I'm not very good with one.

You got any links to a pic of this? I think I remember my dad talking about doing this when he was young.

[crashdive123]

Targets is pretty much it. Can't say I'd never do it if the circumstances were ideal, but unlikely.

[Beans]

No, I don't throw my knives at anything other than a target at Rendezvous.
Use a rock....they are free.

And if you break a rock you can always pick up another one

[natertot]

You got any links to a pic of this? I think I remember my dad talking about doing this when he was young.

"It's so effective it's illegal here." -Rick

Not unless he plans on incriminating himself!

[Rick]

Nope. No pictures. But here's the write up from the Ind. DNR.

"It is illegal to remove a rabbit from a hole, den or tree hollow with the aid of a ferret or other small animal or other means."

[Wise Old Owl]

Knife throwing has its roots in tossing at barrels in bars for entertainment going back centuries. Darts is the throw off of this past time.... as for survival - it never caught on... rock throwing ... is much older and I have see a grown man bean a German Shepard from 60 feet away for nipping a race horse. luck shot? maybe - but he practiced as a kid.

[Rick]

Yeah and I once knew a little guy that chugged a rock at a great big guy and beaned him in the forehead with it. That was a long, long time ago, though. I saw that written up someone.

[Sparky93]

I just thought it would be a good bit of knowledge if ever needed, I plan on sticking with box traps to fill my eating needs. I am just having a hard time visualizing how you hook the rabbit and get it out of the hole.

[Wise Old Owl]

Let me know what works best bait for rabbit... lettuce fails so quickly -

[Sparky93]

Apples work good, I cut them into fourths. Bait the trap with one fourth of the apple and use one to rub all over the trap as a scent lure. Sometimes I sprinkle little bits of apples around the door of the trap.

[southard]

The same motion used to throw a knife can be applied to a proper rabbit stick. On the jabbing a stick into a burrow is there a twig in the split end keeping it spread? I saw fishing spear made that way once, when you spear the fish the twig is knocked free letting the two halves of the split snap together.

[southard]

WOW Rick, "he chugged a rock", didn't that tear up his throat on the way down?

[Cryov]

"It is illegal to remove a rabbit from a hole, den or tree hollow with the aid of a ferret or other small animal or other means."

I admit I've used many experimental and even "redneck" ways to get rabbits and prairie dogs out of their holes ie: prairie dog fishing. I've been paid to get rid of them by ranchers because the holes they dig tend to break cattle legs which hurts their business.
Granted I live in Texas but I wonder if that law applies to land you own.

As for the throwing knife question, thanks for the assist! Didn't know it started as a bar thing.

[crashdive123]

Yeah and I once knew a little guy that chugged a rock at a great big guy and beaned in the forehead with it. That was a long, long time ago, though. I saw that written up someone.

You probably read about it in the Philistine Times.