TARGETS

Their many shapes and sizes.

On some of the other documents on this page we’ve gone over the basics of throwing and how best to select your first throwing knives and what to look for…

Well guess what? Now you’ve got your knives I bet you want to throw them at something don’t you? Well that means a target!

First off let me say two very important things one of which will be obvious and would lead to immediate expulsion and probable criminal charges of anyone from KATTA UK…..

NEVER EVER THROW YOUR KNIVES TO HIT ANYTHING LIVING FROM PEOPLE TO ANIMALS.

We are a target throwing association first and foremost and will not tolerate that kind of behaviour.

Secondly you will see from this article it’s not difficult to build a target suitable for throwing knives so

DO NOT THROW AT LIVING TREES.

It causes wounds to the tree, which encourage fungal infection which in time will kill the tree. It’s unnecessarily destructive so don’t be surprised if you get some serious flack from us if you post pictures or videos doing so!

Right that’s the safety and common sense bit over and done with, onto the building of your target.All this information and much more is available on the respective websites of the organizations. I would urge everyone with an interest in knife throwing to visit them.

KATTA UK- www.knifethrowing.co.uk

IKTHOF- www.ikthof.com

AKTA- http://www.akta-usa.com/index.htm

So lets start at the ‘sharp end’ of this

The Competition Target

A competition target is a standard target. Depending on the type of competition you enter the target heights and designs are slightly different but the principle is the same.

All the targets will be identical and are of a standard size, height with the same scoring system so every thrower has an equal chance. You normally have three targets so you can throw one knife at one target without fear of hitting your other knives and to give you the chance of the ‘perfect’ round we all look for….three dead centre bullseyes!

There are three main target faces that are used

The IKTHOF (International Knife Throwers Hall of Fame) Target

Quote from IKTHOF website:

‘Targets will be 20 inches in diameter and made up of 5 Octagons, Bull’s-eyes are 10cm or 4 inches and count as 5 points. 20 cm Octagon count as 4 points. 30 cm Octagon is worth 3 points, 40 cm Octagon is worth 2 points and 50 cm Octagon is worth 1 point.’

Don’t worry about the construction of the target, we’re coming to that in a bit.

The European & KATTA UK Target Faces

These are 3 of our targets at the Pontefract range. Same layout but with a round target face instead of the Octagon target of the IKTHOF. They look quite different but the actual target area’s are practically the same (I believe the IKTHOF target is 1% larger than the Euro/KATTA target!).

The principle is the same with the scoring and sizes of the rings.

Qutoed from the Eurothrowers website:

The target is a circle measuring 50cm in diameter; it is partitioned into 5 concentric rings with the following diameters (and colours): 10cm (black), 20cm (white), 30cm (red), 40cm (white), 50cm (red).Points: the centre (bullseye) earns 5 points, 4/3/2/1 points are awarded for the respective outer rings.

Target layout

As you can see from both pictures the layout of the target remains pretty much the same for either ‘standard’ There are small differences in the heights of the targets. The Euro targets can be like the two types you can see in the above picture or in a diagonal line leading left to right or right to left. Only the distances matter, the target layout is up to you.

IKTHOF

Outer targets are 152cm from the floor and the centre target is 127cm from the floor.

Eurothrowers/KATTA UK

Outer targets are 160cm from the floor and the centre target is 130cm from the floor.

I believe the small differences are due to inches to cm conversion.

AKTA- American Knife Throwers Alliance

Another type of face used is by one of the oldest knife throwing associations in the world. The AKTA was started in 1971 and is still going strong today. They use a 5 target 3 ring system which scores 5 points for a 4inch bullseye, 4 points for the second ring which is 8inches diameter and three points for the outside 16inch ring.

Some of KATTA’s oldest target used this format when I first started with the club. This was the first incarnation of my own target at home

Positioning of your target

This is worth a mention if you are thinking of building a home range or setting up a more permanent club affair.

Basically always think “SAFETY FIRST”

The siting of your targets will be down to your individual circumstances and space available and is common sense. Think of the worst possible scenario and plan for it, this includes:

· The space behind the target. No one goes behind a target without making sure everyone knows they are there and have stopped throwing.

· How far can the knife overthrow the target? Rope off the area behind it and make sure that nobody goes near that area while people are throwing.

· The amount of space to the side of the targets.

· The room behind the thrower. If you are teaching beginners there is a risk (however small) that the knife/axe could be released at the wrong part of the throw and it goes flying backwards.

Always think ‘worst case scenario’ and plan for it. That way you are as safe as possible. However this is by no means a comprehensive check list. If you require help please contact the club and we will do are best to advise you in a more specific manner.

Target Construction

A target can consist of almost anything that will take a knife. Some targets will last longer than others and some you will see here are designed to be repaired when worn.

Target frames can be portable or fixed depending on your circumstances. A simple tripod will hold one target. Or you can have a more permanent frame with a backboard to catch misses.

Lets have a look at the basic target types…

The log round

By far the simplest option assuming you can find them. The best way to find them is to befriend a tree surgeon or contact your local council to see if there are any tree’s being felled in the local area.

The best types of wood are open grained such as Willow and Poplar to name just 2. This also has the advantage that this is useless wood to a tree surgeon and normally if they are willing a contribution to their Friday night beer fund and 10 minutes with their chainsaw will produce some nice targets for you.

Ideally you want them without knots in and at least 50cm diameter if you want to fit a competition sized target on them. To throw knives at a thickness of 6inches (15cm) is advisable. If you intend to throw tomahawks or axes then at least 8inches (20cm) would our recommendation although really the thicker the better!

This is not essential and you will see in the final set of pictures of members ranges that something to throw into is more important than size.

You can paint the lines onto them or make a stencil if you want a competition face. However, if you want to make them last longer then we advise not to put the target face on. Instead put many bulls eyes over the target to give you an aiming point. This will wear the target face more evenly rather than drilling holes through the centre of the target face leaving the outer face untouched.

Log round with KATTA UK

competition target face. For the Europeans the standard is a white face,

red rings and a black bullseye

Log round with multiple

aiming points on. A simple

black marker pen to draw

some circles on is all that is

required.

Plain wood

A simple scaffolding board or piece of 4x2 or 6x2 will take a knife. Have the grain running vertically. 1 plank or many screwed together to form a larger target works well. These are not as durable as log rounds and will wear faster but are an option if you cant find log rounds or build a blockboard target

Some simple planks screwed together

with marker pen target area’s is all

you need

This is about as rough and ready as

you can get. 1 plank against a rock.

However as you can see the knives still

stick!

Blockboard Target

Now I will admit this looks a lot of work but an ingenious solution to the problem. This was devised by the IKTHOF as the availability of log rounds was patchy. The great state of Texas (where some of the competitions are held) is known for many things but rolling forests of trees are not among them! This means that now wherever a competition is held in the USA or Canada the targets do not require a local supply of log rounds plus the wood used should be of a more consistent quality.

This involves many pieces of 2x4’s cut into short lengths and screwed to a backboard. The outer frame is then fitted tightly around the blocks to hold it in place. This has the benefit of individual blocks of wood can be replaced so the target will last for many years.

As the centre has worn out it’s a relatively easy job to replace the worn area’s. A very clever solution to the problem.

So that should give you a basic idea of targets. Now I’m just going to post pictures of various ranges that people have posted on our pages. This shoes the diversity of targets from a simple plank to the full ranges some of us are lucky enough to have room for.

If you require any help or advice on how to build your own target then please just ask.

Happy Throwing!!

Mark Bond (UK)

Keith Oldfield

(UK)

David Cox outdoor range (USA)

and his Indoor range (that’s just greedy!)

George Leeming (UK)

Paul Billy O’Brian (UK) Inside a garage works with the proper precautions

Edward Teach (UK)

Jeff Marshall (UK) Simple small target and tripod is all you need if you have the room

Barry Spence (UK)

And last of all…..mine

Martin Hainsworth (Yorkshire)!