Can Knife Throwing Kill Separating the Facts from Myths

When I discussed using a knife for self-defense, you’ll observe that the only two motions I recommended were stabbing and slashing. Never throwing the knives.

This begs the question of whether or not you should throw knives – and just how efficient that is.

So, to look at this from the extreme, can knife throwing kill?

A knife packs a considerable amount of force behind it when thrown by an expert. Thus, the thrown knife can bury itself deep into the body of the opponent if it doesn’t hit bone, creating a lethal situation. Done right, this knife can even kill the opponent.

Is knife throwing good for self-defense?

Knife-throwing is considered impractical among core advocates of self-defense using knives.

When fighting against an equally skilled opponent, knife throwing means that the attacker loses their advantage with a weapon and is now at the mercy of their opponent.

This is the same drawback with ballistic knives for self-defense in that once the blade is lost, the attacker might be left defenseless at that point till they can reclaim the blade.

At the same time, there exists a high level of skill, dexterity, and accuracy that must be attained before knowing how to throw knives right. The level of training that goes into the mastery of this art is lost on most people anyway, so it is better to use knives for self-defense in other ways.

Also, remember that once you throw your knife, you might have helped arm your attacker with a new weapon. Surely not something you would want to face right now.

Can throwing knives be deadly?

Anything that involves a sharp object, to me, is deadly enough.

Throwing knives is deadly because the thrown blade might hit someone and cause injury to varying degrees. It is not always true that a thrown knife will result in death, but it may result in death.

With some skill, throwing knives can attain speeds of 42mph as the tip of the blade rotates towards the target. This is a serious enough speed that could cause damage to the target of the thrown knife.

Thus, it is not recommended that you throw knives at anyone or in an unsafe environment, or you run the risk of causing mortal danger to those around.

Why isn’t knife throwing effective for self-defense?

For starters, let’s discuss the two common knife throwing methods that you have seen before:

  • The circus throw – this method is learned by skilled performers looking to thrill an audience. In the circus throw, you get a performer who knows their knife well and has a target that isn’t moving. They also don’t have the extra pressure of getting themselves out of a bad situation in their head, so they can take their time to perfect the throw.
  • The tactical throw – this is the one that you saw in John Wick or any other knife-fighting action flick. The target is not stagnant, and the knife thrower has to get the throwing right or face the wrath of their opponent. Here, the distance is not fixed and the target is unpredictable, giving you a lot more variables to deal with.

That said, you should already start seeing why knife throwing is best left to those that have dedicated time and resources to learn it.

Even for those people, it is unlikely that a single knife throw will bring down their opponent.

A stab wound, as effective as that is, is not enough to instantly demobilize an opponent. Depending on their fitness level and threshold for pain, they will still be able to come at you after a single stab wound.

Thus, what makes you think throwing the knife once (even when you hit the target) will do enough damage to get the attacker off your back?

You might have just succeeded in getting a slight upper hand while throwing away your advantage – the knife.

Leave throwing to the experts

The bottom line is, don’t attempt to throw a knife if you don’t know what you are doing.

Don’t even do it as a joke as you might end up hitting someone badly.

I haven’t run the numbers, but if you had a 10% chance of hitting someone with the sharp end of your knife, you have a 10% chance of hurting them too. Should the knife hit places like their eyes or neck, you could be looking at some serious damages on your hand.

If you would have to use a knife for self-defense at all, make sure to have it at all times. The only time that I believe throwing the knife will be effective would be to distract your attacker so that you can run away from the scene.

Oh, I did tell you that running away is a good form of self-defense also, right? That’s one of the strategies I love best – and I use it every time I can.

Better to live to fight another day than get into a senseless fight and get massively hurt anyway.

Similar Posts