It must be said from the beginning, that these knives were acquired in the hunt for a set of knives to be used in rotational throwing with a focus on the competition discipline "Walk back". Therefore, I was looking for knives that were partly focused on just rotational throwing and partly weighed a little more than the knives I had for the purpose before. A larger mass gives certain properties that I was curious about.
This model called Woodpecker from French Pierre Cazoulat ticks off all those boxes. They are specially developed for competition and pronounced for this particular format, which means that you throw from 3,4,5,6, and 7 meters. This means that the knife must be good for throwing at more than one distance. That it must be able to handle both short and long distances, which places some demands on the design. Sure, all knives can be thrown at all distances but they can be differently well suited for the purpose.
Appearance and Dimensions
In terms of size, Woodpecker belongs to the larger category of throwers. Not the biggest, because that area is dominated by pieces with more or less clear Bowie influences, often from the USA. They go under the slightly sweeping designation "mountain men knives".
But even in this case, we are talking about a substantial knife. Woodpecker is a model that is just over 33 cm long, 6 mm thick, and 40 mm wide at most. The latter is important as competition knives must be narrower than 60 mm according to the regulations. So that limit is cleared by a margin. In some American regulations, knives must also be over 12 inches long, so Woodpecker also lives up to that.
Those measurements give a fairly massive knife that weighs in at 460 grams. it is important in this context as it provides some desirable characteristics that I will talk more about later.
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| Pierre Cazoulat Woodpecker |
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| Woodpecker is a fairly large model, although it is not gigantic. Here in comparison to Condor Dismissal 14 ", Graf Knives T2 Bowie and WL Custom Blade Patriot Dagger |
In appearance, the woodpeckers are characterized by a couple of distinct details. One is the pronounced, double-edged harpoon tip. The fact that the tip is sharpened on both sides is not a coincidence and is very important for this knife. It helps with penetration, which of course makes the knives easier to stick to a target in general. Something that is especially important with heavy knives because otherwise they risk falling out of the target even at a reasonably good hit. At least if the target is hard. The tip of the harpoon itself also helps to index the grip so you know how far up you are holding the blade when you turn the knife. Then there is another function, a more specific one which I will return to later.
The edges are worth a chapter in themselves as they are very well made and also convexly ground. They are not sharp but not far from it and that also helps with penetration. The fact that they have the shape they have makes them stronger than a conventional v-grind. It simply provides more material behind the edge. Another way to do this is to let the "edges" be very thick, but this also makes knives harder to stick. When it comes to throwing knives, strength and toughness are everything, they should not cut anything, just be durable.
In addition to the long slim profile with its special tip, there is one more detail that is typical of this model and that is how the handle is angled in relation to the blade. That angle makes this knife special. When the knife is gripped in the traditional way, it feels a bit like a Kukri in hand. You who have held one know what I mean. The knife sort of strives forward, downward, and wants to cut into something.
Material
The steel in these French throwing knives is some kind of spring steel, although I'm not sure which one. However, it has proven to hold up fairly well, and breaking the knives is most likely impossible. On the other hand, of course, you round the tips after a while. Originally they were very pointy which both give good penetration and look good. But it is a fact that throwing knife tips extremely rarely remain in that condition. If you want to avoid damaging them, you must never throw more than a knife per target, never miss if you don't have a soft floor, etc. This is not the premise for most people. At least not for me.
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| The handle sides are made of leather that has been glued and riveted in place. One of the few materials that can withstand the beating of a throwing knife is exposed even if they also get their patina |
The handle has been fitted with sides of leather that have been riveted in place. It is also available in three different colors and in addition to red as here, they are also available in black or brown. The rivets are stated on the website to be made of copper but in this case, are made of aluminum. It breaks more easily but is in return easier to knock back in shape again. For that, a small ball hammer is recommended by the way. My handles have by now reached the stage where they need to be replaced.
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| To be a throwing knife, Woodpecker is relatively sharp |
The finish is brushed with polished edges. The design is nice and the surface is fairly easy to maintain. I usually go over the knives with sandpaper and a file if burrs are formed. Otherwise, Autosol is used to clean my throwing knives from stains.
To Throw
There is no doubt that these knives are made for traditional knife throwing or "circus throwing" as it is sometimes called. That is, throwing knives with one or more turns of rotation. A rotation that, unlike what is produced in various action films, is determined by the distance to the target and thus cannot be used with ease at unknown distances. It requires a great deal of skill to throw "instinctively" with rotational throwing. Very few master that technique.
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| The knife is almost neutrally balanced with the weight slightly offset from the handle |
This is where the special look of Woodpecker gets its explanation. The harpoon tip and the curved handle are not for the sake of appearance that one can be led to believe. IF you just grab them as usual and throw with one rotation from around three to three and a half meters away, you will be cruelly disappointed as the miss is a fact! It happened to me, the first ten minutes I can add, and at first, I could not understand what I was doing wrong. Then I literally grabbed the knife and the concept and TURNED the knife. Woodpecker is made to be gripped up and down for throws of 3, 5, and 7 m, ie the distances where you hold the handle.
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| If you grip Woodpecker as you are used to, the rotation becomes extremely slow. If you turn the knife upside down, the design with the angled handle gets its explanation |
Once you turn them over, they become almost educational. The knife guides the thrower to the harmoniously round movement needed when throwing with spinning techniques. The reason can be found in the angle of the blade when the knife is held in the hammer grip. When the knife is gripped in the traditional way, the blade points markedly forward, and when it's turned upside down just as clearly in the other direction. Anyone who throws with rotation knows that the more the knife is angled forward, the slower the rotation. It can also be achieved by moving up on the handle closer to the center of rotation or a combination of both. This is something you often do with shorter and lighter knives that have a tendency to spin faster in order to slow them down.
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| At a distance of three meters, Woodpecker is a pure precision instrument despite, or rather due to its weight |
But this is the opposite of a small knife and then you want to speed up the spin instead and it's, of course, achieved with the opposite. To keep the knife more straight-up, around a ninety-degree angle in relation to the arm and further out on the handle. This is where the design at Woodpecker helps. The angle of the shaft means that the blade points obliquely backward when the knife is held in a normal hammer grip, even with a relaxed wrist. It speeds up the rotation and makes sure that this heavy piece starts to move.
What the angle also does is make sure that the circular motion is correct. You immediately feeö when you deviate from it and the mass ends up moving in the wrong direction.
Rotational Throwing
That Woodpecker is made for traditional knife throwing and that they are designed with Walk Back in mind is something that is very clear when you start using them. As I described above, the knives are almost educational when it comes to throwing at three and four meters. That is, the distances for the basic throw for rotation techniques with grip in the handle and the blade, respectively.
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| From a distance of three and five meters, the knife hits upside down due to the inverted grip. This is also why the tip is double-edged |
This is also where the double-edged tip comes into play. Since the knives are thrown upside down, they also hit the same way after one rotation, and to make it easier for them to stick even at hits that are not one hundred percent straight, the knives have double edges. As previously stated, it also makes them narrower, which makes the knives easier to "stick" despite the fact that almost half a kilo of weight cooperates with Mr. G-force and pulls the knife down.
When the knives are then held in the blade when thrown from four meters, the harpoon shape also gets its explanation. It indexes how the knife is easiest to hold! It is with all fingers under the actual hump on the back. A firm grip but not too far up. Personally, I grab the knife with my index finger over the hump and then move the grip down when I start the throwing motion.
Just like when throwing from three meters, the knife guides you towards the right motion. Since the knife is curved, it wants to follow around and if you deviate from the circle and, for example, start striving too far forward, you will feel when the center of gravity ends up off the track also at this distance.
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| From the distances of four and six meters, the knives hit with the edge down |
Besides, the knife is heavy so the easiest way to throw it is calmly and harmoniously. It does not help to "rush" the knife by using more force. The throw must have time to develop or the knife doesn't have enough time to spin. Otherwise, you have to speed up the rotation yourself, which requires a conscious effort with either a faster arm movement or a flick of the wrist, which impairs the precision.
With its slender shape and double-edged tip paired with weight, it is not needed, but Woodpecker still hits the board with incredible authority. That makes them a bit of a "target destroyer". I've cracked targets with these knives.
Half Spin
Sure, you can go half-spin with this knife, but it's really not something I appreciate. They are not made for it and it shows. Anything that is good about bending the knife for rotational throwing makes it worse for Military Half spin as the center of gravity shifts sideways if the knife is gripped with a thumb on the side of the blade. It neither feels natural nor is it particularly good to throw in that way. It's like throwing a boomerang with the flat side first.
It is easier to use "natural half-spin" as the grip is called when you hold the knife in the blade but on the right "keel" with the edge towards the target and the backside towards the hand. But here too you have to turn the knife for the sake of balance, just like with full rotation. Then again, I have never thought that there is anything "natural" about that concept. But it's just me.
No Spin
Forget it! Is what I would say about using Woodpecker for this kind of throwing. Certainly, no spin or "anti-spin" techniques are characterized by the fact that you can actually throw anything, including kitchen utensils, pipes, or anything that has the slightest tip or tapered edge. I've even seen movie clips where someone puts a drinking glass (!) In a wooden target. But it is a sidetrack in the wonderful world of trick shots.
Throwing Woodpeckers with no spin just feels artificial. In order for this to work, you must abandon the handle and move your hand so far forward that the index finger is close to the center of gravity. And as said before, it is doable, everything can be thrown and stuck to a target but it is mostly to prove that it is possible.
Conclusion
Something I have not mentioned before is that I think these knives are really good-looking. The slim shape, the riveted leather handle, and the convex and polished edges are details that all contribute to it. Then the double-edged harpoon tip looks both competent and a bit nasty. I like that! In passing, it can be mentioned that the finish on these knives is very high. The surface treatment is very well done, the handles are in place, but above all the sharpening of the edges was really good when the knives were new. Just thin enough, not too sharp for the hand but still so that the knives literally slide into a target.
They were especially good-looking before I started throwing them really hard. Like all knives, especially those with almost sharp edges, they tend to get rounded tips after a while. Then I started using these knives before I mastered rotational throwing as well as now which resulted in many hits of the "Robin Hood" type. That is close contact between the knives. Then they have been on the ground a number of times and thus in contact with concrete slabs, asphalt, and stones in the forest. Despite that, they look ok without me re-grinding them. In other words, they are durable!
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| Woodpecker is the heaviest throwing knife I own |
Woodpeckers are also knives that are very special to throw. First, they are heavy and comfortable. They rotate quietly and majestically and hit with force. They are currently the heaviest knives I have. Compared with the next heaviest sets in my arsenal which includes Graf Knives B1 400g and T5 420 g as well as the WL Custom Blade Patriot Dagger with its 360g.
But that is not what is special, but that they are almost educational if a knife can be. It almost instructs the thrower on how they want to be handled. The shape of the knife means that it strives for a circular movement and the weight tells when it should be released. Then just aim and the knife is where it should be. Of course, that bit is not as easy as it sounds, but these knives have a tendency to bring out the best in me in that respect. So far, I am very happy with them and as it seems, it is the tools to be used for the Swedish Championships in sports throwing 2022 that will be launched in Nynäshamn if the plans hold.
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| "French Roast" Pierre Cazoulats Woodpeckers are handmade throwing knives from France |
Woodpecker is a good example of when many years of training and competition experience are transferred to physical fitness. Pierre Cazoulat, who has both designed and made these knives, is a gentleman with titles and experience from the French, European, and American knife-throwing scenes. It is thus custom knives or mid-tech depending on how the concepts are to be defined. But in this case, made by Mr. Cazoulat himself. They are conveniently purchased directly from his online store: pierre-cazoulat.com or from French Throwingzone.fr.
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| Pierre Cazoulat |
Specification:
Steel: Spring Steel
Length: 33 cm
Width: 40 mm at most, 35 mm at its thinnest
Stock Thickness: 6 mm
Weight: 460 g
Point of Balance: 15,5/17,5 cm from handle/tip
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