How To: Make a Throwing Knife into a Mini-Harpoon

Greetings, all ye happy miscreants! In my last article, I showed a certain technique for throwing a knife without spin. If you haven't read that article yet, do so now. This article will be useless to you if you have not read my article on proper throwing technique. Anyway, in this article, I will show you a cool trick you can do with my throwing technique.

If you have ever played Mortal Kombat (any version), you are familiar with the weapon that Scorpion uses to spear an enemy and drag them closer. If you have ever wanted to use that weapon in real life, then GET OVER HERE because this article is for you.

To start with, you just need a throwing knife with a hole in the end of the handle. All you have to do is attach a length of strong cord to the knife, and put a slipknot at the other end.

Real simple, right? Just a throwing knife on the end of a rope, but read on!

Step 1: Make the Harpoon

First, tie some thin, strong cord ( I recommend paracord) to the end of your knife. The length of the cord is determined by the length of your arms. To determine your proper length, first get in position to throw your knife, as shown in my other article.

Have a friend measure the distance between your hands. Triple that distance, and that's how long your cord should be. Later on, you may choose to make it a little longer or shorter to suit your body type, but this will give you a good place to start from.

At the other end of the rope, tie a simple slipknot loop and put it on the wrist of your non-throwing-hand.

Pull it tight around your wrist. If you don't know how to make a slipknot, look it up. It's really easy.

Step 2: The Setup

So, now you have a knife in your throwing hand and a loop tied around your other wrist. But you also have a big awkward loop hanging in front of you. This can get tangled and hinder the flight of the knife, unless you do this.

Just below the knife, put the cord in the crease between your thumb and hand as shown. Keep your thumb sticking straight up.

Now draw it back, still keeping the cord in the crease, as shown above.

So, you should now be holding it like in the picture above. Holding the knife and cord in this way will prevent the cord from tangling or hanging and thus hindering the flight of the knife. Now you are ready to try and throw it.

Step 3: The Throw Itself

The throwing technique is exactly like the one I showed you in my last article, except that both hands must work in perfect unison and release at the same time. If you have already learned my type of throw (which you should have), then I don't need to go over it again, but here are some pictures showing you how the hands must work together.

Above: Starting Position.

Above: Second position.

Above: whipping around for the release.

Above: The release, as both hands open and the knife flies on its cord.

Here is a video showing a dry-run of the setup and the hand motions:

Step 4: Getting It Right

You are now ready to try throwing it. Remember, you are using the same technique I taught you before, but now your two arms must be better coordinated. The basic movements are the same, and the footwork is the same. The only difference is that you are moving two hands together instead of just one.

Here is what a good throw might look like:

Of course, I really should have yelled "GET OVER HERE" when I pulled it, but oh well. I have plans on trying to fish with this technique. When I have figured it out, I will write another article on it.

Anyway, that about does it for this one. In fact, this might be the shortest article I've ever written. I hope it has been helpful. As always, feel free to comment or ask questions. I will be more than happy to help.