Pointy Sticks

[Ninurta]

In the shoutbox, on the topic of bears, my spears came up. @"EndTheMadenssNow" asked for pictures, so here they are:

The set - 



Closer view of the head of the boar spear - 



The original handle on the boar spear was longer and heavier, but it was also warped. Cold Steel, where I got the spear, wouldn't replace it unless I sent it back to them, so rather than have a boar spear with no shaft, I just mounted it to a shovel handle... that re-mount to a shovel handle also made it lighter, and quicker to wield. Faster, sleeker, more responsive, but at the expense of having a 7 foot long, 2 inch thick ash shaft.


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[EndtheMadnessNow]

WoW!! I can see that packs some serious lethal thrust power!

[Ninurta]

WoW!! I can see that packs some serious lethal thrust power!

I keep the edges razor sharp - you can see the gleam on the edge in the lower photo. It's good for thrusting, but also great for lateral sweeps (cuts), like a knife or sword with a long, two-handed handle. The "ears" at the base of the socket are there to prevent anything you stick with it from running right up the shaft (as boars will do when stuck) and getting you - they are there to provide a "stand-off" distance.

The black band on the shaft I put there to mark the balance point, because whether poked or swung, you want to know immediately where it balances out at.

The "pins" sticking out of the right side of the socket are screws I put there to anchor the head to the shaft, and then cut the heads off of. I meant to peen them on down tight to the shaft, but never got around to it.

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[Ninurta]

Bonus image - the receptacle where I keep swords, battle axes, tomahawks, and various clubs in my Man Cave - 



Some times, I just prefer stuff that doesn't have to be re-loaded to remain effective...


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[EndtheMadnessNow]

If I ever come to visit I'll be sure to call ahead 5 or 6 times in advance.  

Last time I seen such a display in a house was the first time I visited my mother-in-law's house. She is a full blood Indian Cree with a huge Indian weapons/tool display on her living room wall. Many Tomahawks, battle axes, arrows & other sharp instruments. She had a story for each one... and did not tolerate any white man shenanigans.

[BIAD]

@"Ninurta"#2 I believe you could make a handsome penny in the English capitol with that lot!

[Chiefsmom]

Very Nice!
Silent but deadly weapons!

I am partial to knives myself.  Good with throwing knives, not so much with kitchen knives.  LOL

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Very Nice!
Silent but deadly weapons!

I am partial to knives myself.  Good with throwing knives, not so much with kitchen knives.  LOL

Holy terror, a female with knife throwing skills!

Now tip-toe'ing out the door.

[Ninurta]

@"Ninurta"#2 I believe you could make a handsome penny in the English capitol with that lot!

Perhaps, but the question is: would I even make it out alive if I sold all my pointy stuff there?

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[Ninurta]

Very Nice!
Silent but deadly weapons!

I am partial to knives myself.  Good with throwing knives, not so much with kitchen knives.  LOL

It's generally a matter of balance - if you find the balance, and gauge the distance, you can subconsciously calculate how many half-turns the knife makes before it gets to the target. 

I learned knife throwing with an old WWII Robeson "Shur-Edge" (Navy mark 1 in WWII, I think) that I found. Before I got it right, I had hit the butt-end too many times and sheared the pin that held the butt cap on, but I folded a sheet of thin rubber to take up the slack gap, put the butt cap back and pinned it on with an old finishing nail, and peened the nail over into a rivet... then hit the knife throwing again until I got it right.

Kitchen knives - movie scenes notwithstanding - are generally too light to make good throwers. You need something with a little bit of heft and mass to stick good and have a decent balance.

I have an Ek commando knife (made by Ka-Bar after K-Bar bought Ek out) and a USMC Utility knife (USN Mark III "Marine Corps Fighting Knife") that I used for throwing these days, because both of them are made out of really tough steel that will take a beating without breaking off a tip.

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[Chiefsmom]

LOL
No, should have clarified.
I don't throw the kitchen knives.

I can throw throwing knives all day, and not get a scratch.
let me try to cut a veggie, and I will have blood everywhere.

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Very Nice!
Silent but deadly weapons!

I am partial to knives myself.  Good with throwing knives, not so much with kitchen knives.  LOL

Holy terror, a female with knife throwing skills!

Now tip-toe'ing out the door.

I am damn good with a shoe as well.  Can kick a sandal right off my foot, and hit head or crotch more times than not.  Weird skill I learned after being dared by one of the hubby's smartass friends.  Nailed him right in the forehead.  LOL   Thankfully he was both shocked, and impressed.

[VioletDove]

Growing up I wanted a set of throwing knives so bad. We were poor though and my parents didn’t have the extra money to buy them for me. So I did the only logical thing I could think of. One day when my parents were at work I gathered up every kitchen knife that felt like it would serve my purpose. I found a couple that seemed to work ok and put the rest back.

 I probably would have gotten in trouble but my dad was impressed at how well I was doing with them. I did get pretty good but stopped after something else caught my attention.

A few years ago I finally bought some throwing knives, all different sizes, but for some reason I never could get the hang of them and finally gave up.

People are usually surprised, when they catch a glimpse of the knife collection here, that I am the one collecting them and not my husband. 

I love all the sharp pointy things.

[kdog]

Impressive collection you have there ! 

Might need to borrow something when we head to the mountains in a few months.

[Ninurta]

I am damn good with a shoe as well.  Can kick a sandal right off my foot, and hit head or crotch more times than not.  Weird skill I learned after being dared by one of the hubby's smartass friends.  Nailed him right in the forehead.  LOL   Thankfully he was both shocked, and impressed.

I've killed rabbits by throwing rocks, but the only thing I've ever killed with a shoe is an alarm clock, and that thrown by hand rather than foot...


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[Ninurta]

Growing up I wanted a set of throwing knives so bad. We were poor though and my parents didn’t have the extra money to buy them for me. So I did the only logical thing I could think of. One day when my parents were at work I gathered up every kitchen knife that felt like it would serve my purpose. I found a couple that seemed to work ok and put the rest back.

 I probably would have gotten in trouble but my dad was impressed at how well I was doing with them. I did get pretty good but stopped after something else caught my attention.

A few years ago I finally bought some throwing knives, all different sizes, but for some reason I never could get the hang of them and finally gave up.

People are usually surprised, when they catch a glimpse of the knife collection here, that I am the one collecting them and not my husband. 

I love all the sharp pointy things.

I used to make knives on the blacksmith forge we had. The first one I ever made turned out curved. I mean REAL curved. Like a sickle, with the edge on the outside of the curve rather than the inside. It wasn't any damned good for anything other than throwing with all that curve. It flew like a boomerang, but didn't return, thank God!

The reason that it turned out curved like that is that it was my first knife, and I had nary a clue what I was doing, so I just beat the edge out on one side without any corrections for shape.

This is how we learn, I reckon!

I eventually got a set of those "professional" throwing knives, but they weren't worth a damn, either. Metal was too soft, so they bent with every throw. I had to work points on so that they'd stick, and the balance was all messed up. I'll just stick with "normal" knives for throwing.

I tried to use those "professional" knives for spear points, but they were way too soft for that, too. I eventually tried throwing them for distance, and never went looking for them.

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[Ninurta]

Impressive collection you have there ! 

Might need to borrow something when we head to the mountains in a few months.

I've got a lot of "somethings" - the above ain't even the half of it. I've not trotted any of the knives out at all, for instance. So put in an order for what you need, and I'll rummage around in the weapons stacks to see if I have it.

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[Gordi]

Gotta love the sharp pointy things.
Your spears are impressive @ninurta. 
I've got a few things here, not spears! but useful implements nonetheless. My fave is probably my hand-forged Tanzanian Bill-Hook. It was made by a herdsman/farmer type, out of an old lorry (truck) leaf spring! I've got a nice vintage hand axe in a Kent style but made in Sheffield, England around 1900, a machete, and a few Mora,  Scandinavian knives for wood carving, a lovely wee Opinel pen knife,  the obligatory Victorinox swiss army knife and an assortment of other knives, planes and chisels etc. I need to go rummage in my shed for some of my dads old stuff too.....hmmm......
What is it with us Rogues and pointy things??? LOL

[Ninurta]

Gotta love the sharp pointy things.
Your spears are impressive @ninurta. 
I've got a few things here, not spears! but useful implements nonetheless. My fave is probably my hand-forged Tanzanian Bill-Hook. It was made by a herdsman/farmer type, out of an old lorry (truck) leaf spring! I've got a nice vintage hand axe in a Kent style but made in Sheffield, England around 1900, a machete, and a few Mora,  Scandinavian knives for wood carving, a lovely wee Opinel pen knife,  the obligatory Victorinox swiss army knife and an assortment of other knives, planes and chisels etc. I need to go rummage in my shed for some of my dads old stuff too.....hmmm......
What is it with us Rogues and pointy things??? LOL

Sweet Jesus! I love me an Opinel, but the only one I have left is a monster, with about a 6" blade.

Bill hooks are, to my mind, the modern equivalent of the Bronze Age "halberds", which are not halberds at all. Here we call them "ditch blades" or "bank blades". I don't have one of any of those, But they do a fine job of cleaving skulls, in any iteration. I'm crap at working bronze, so I'll never have a bronze age halberd.

Hand axe, as in flint hand axe? I don't have one of those, either!

i I used to forge tomahawks out of leaf springs. leaf springs are hard to beat for cutting implements. They have the right steel to take the right temper.

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[Gordi]

... Hand axe, as in flint hand axe? I don't have one of those, either!

i I used to forge tomahawks out of leaf springs. leaf springs are hard to beat for cutting implements. They have the right steel to take the right temper.

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Hi @"Ninurta"#2
The Kent Hand Axe that I have is a specific pattern/type of Steel headed axe, used in one hand (like a tomahawk) for wood-splitting, making kindling, general woodcrafting etc (I may have mis-described it as a "hand-axe"? but that's how we've always referred to them, to differentiate between them and the bigger (2-handed) "proper" axes, like for tree felling and big log-splitting.)
Mine is around 15" long (on a 14" shaft I think...?)
Hang on.... I'll upload a quick photo...
       
The "arrowhead" shape that I've highlighted in red is what seems to typify a "Kent" style axe head here, and they do come in many different sizes.
Mine was made in Sheffield, England by J HARRISON, of UNSTONE MILL around 1900. the previous owner had painted the head black (which I don't like) but it's a lovely wee axe in the hand, and I might be tempted to restore it back to bare metal soon.

Cheers,
G

[Ninurta]

Hi @"Ninurta"#2
The Kent Hand Axe that I have is a specific pattern/type of Steel headed axe, used in one hand (like a tomahawk) for wood-splitting, making kindling, general woodcrafting etc (I may have mis-described it as a "hand-axe"? but that's how we've always referred to them, to differentiate between them and the bigger (2-handed) "proper" axes, like for tree felling and big log-splitting.)
Mine is around 15" long (on a 14" shaft I think...?)
Hang on.... I'll upload a quick photo...

The "arrowhead" shape that I've highlighted in red is what seems to typify a "Kent" style axe head here, and they do come in many different sizes.
Mine was made in Sheffield, England by J HARRISON, of UNSTONE MILL around 1900. the previous owner had painted the head black (which I don't like) but it's a lovely wee axe in the hand, and I might be tempted to restore it back to bare metal soon.

Cheers,
G

I see! It's that language barrier thing. They generally call those "hatchets" here, with a "tomahawk" being a specific kind of hatchet with a tapered eye such that the centripedal force involved in swinging it actually tightens it on the handle as the tapered eye is forced up the tapered handle, no wedges driven into splits to keep the head tight on the handle like a regular axe or hammer.

Most tomahawks also have a long handle, around 18 or 20 inches.  I have one that I mounted to a 30 inch handle to make something in between a hatchet and an axe. It has a head made like a battle axe or a Dane axe, but smaller, of a hatchet size. It's handier than a full sized axe, and generates more power per stroke than a regular hatchet due to the longer handle.

I have a pipe tomahawk that some idjit chromed, sort of like someone painted your hand axe black. It's annoying. I've tried sand-blasting the chrome off of it, but with less than stellar or complete success.

Speaking of language barriers, I have a nephew who won't talk to anyone unless he's speaking Gaelic. Not being fluent in Gaelic myself, I generally have no damned idea what he's trying to say. His Facebook posts can be an adventure in linguistics.

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