Using a Bowie Knive as a Throwing Knife

You might think that due to their heft and size, that bowie knives would make an ideal throwing knife. You might even have chanced to watch some of the many YouTube videos that show people using bowie knives as throwing knives (sometimes with some very mixed results). However, the fact remains that bowie knives are not designed to be thrown. They are handheld tools, designed for cutting, cleaning and any number of other uses.

If you’ve paid any attention to YouTube, you have probably seen a few videos of those using bowie knives as thrown weapons. You might also have noticed that they hit the target (sometimes). However, there are a few things that you might not have noticed. While getting a bowie knife to hit the target and stick is a neat trick, there are some issues here. First, notice how close the thrower must stand to the target. With a real throwing knife, you can be further back, and therefore in a safer area.

What will happen should you decide to throw your knife anyway? Ideally, nothing will happen. You’ll miss the target and give up immediately. However, that’s not usually what happens. If you do hit the target, the knife might bounce back at you, because it hit butt first. You might sink the point into the target, only to find that the force of the throw was such that the haft of the knife continued on around and bent the blade or the tip of the knife.

These are only a few of the things that can happen when attempting to use bowie knives as throwing knives. A much better option is to use them as they were intended to be used – as handheld tools. Throwing knives can be purchased in almost any size and you can even find bowie style throwing knives that are balanced correctly for the purpose.

Do yourself a favor and buy a throwing knife for throwing and keep your bowie knife for the purposes it was intended. You’ll enjoy your knife for a longer time and you won’t have to worry about damaging the blade through misuse.

Dylan Sabot is the owner of an online bowie knives store featuring the western bowie knife. Additionally, Dylan is also the President of an online humidors store.