Review Zitoon Knives Spinner

  

Introduction

Every top-throwing knife maker has at least one "spinner" in their catalog these days. It has become quite trendy. The function has no direct practical benefits, but it must be admitted that it is quite fun. By the way, it might have a little practical use. I'll get back to that. Today we will take a closer look at a throwing knife of this type that has just been named Spinner from French Zitoon Knives.

Zitoon Knives Spinner

It is a small one-man company run by Olivier Feret who is responsible for most of both the design process when he is not collaborating with other knife throwers as well as manufacturing. It is thus about custom knives or "mid-tech" to borrow an expression from the world of folding knives. A little depending on how you choose to define the concepts.

Appearance and Dimensions

Slim and aggressive Spinner is described on the website and I am inclined to agree with that. The height is a modest 2.9 cm except at the blade where it amounts to 3.7 cm and the length is 29 cm. What makes it look slightly cheeky is, of course, the distinctive tanto tip. They are known for good penetration ability also in other contexts such as swords, daggers, and folding knives, and throwing knives are no exception.

Then it can be added that this knife is available in two sizes. Where this one belongs to the shorter one which is 29 cm. The larger one measures 30.5 cm or 12 inches long to comply with certain regulations mainly in Great Britain and the United States regarding minimum length for rotational throwing knives. 

The spinner is an all-steel knife with a distinctive tanto tip and is prepared to be fitted with a handle if desired

The thickness is 6mm and the tip is robust

There are two holes in the handle in case you want to provide the knife with some kind of handle. Preferably in leather as it is both the simplest and lasts the best. What many people who don't throw knives don't know is that even perfect hits cause handles to break after a while. It is a matter of great forces, which create serious vibrations when the knife hits the target. Especially as it is repeated thousands of times. This is why even the sturdiest "survival knife" breaks after a while. Don't believe anyone who says otherwise. They have thrown a few throws and found that the knife did not break directly. It says nothing.

This indentation is a small subtlety that helps index the knife in the hand

The finish is brushed and the knife is marked on one side with the Zitoon logo found between the finger ring and the handle.

Material

For those of you who have read any of my other reviews of knives from Zitoon Knives, the material will come as no surprise. Here too, Swedish Hardox 450 is used. It is a steel that I have come to appreciate with this and the other knives from Mr. Feret. It is durable and tough and does not easily get chips that can hurt the hand when throwing. Sure, even those knives get their scars from mishits and "Robin Hood hits" but they tend to be relatively gentle in the form of dents rather than sharp edges.

Like all non-stainless steels, it requires a bit of maintenance. Especially if you have been outside in damp weather and thrown. Otherwise, the rust will come like a letter in....um, the mail. Or the way the post office once worked. 

To Throw

This is primarily a knife intended for traditional rotational throwing so it's no surprise that's what it works best for and that's where I focused my review. But like most things, no spin can be thrown with this knife and the same can be said for military half spin. Especially as the knife is quite narrow, the latter is quite nice as well.

Since I don't have a complete set, I don't have the same experience with the knife that I usually have when doing throwing knife reviews. But there have still been just over 1,200 throws with this particular knife, which form the basis of this review.

Spinner is a very easy-to-throw knife that is also suitable for beginners

- Rotational Throwing

The first throws were, of course, from a distance of three meters. For those who don't know, that's where you start because all the knives rotate a revolution in about three meters or just over that. In the case of the Zitoon Spinner, three meters exact is perfect for my technique. 

The balance is very neutral but the rotation is quite quick from this distance. Therefore, I also angle the knife slightly forward with the little finger in the small recess that is on the handle for that purpose. The wrist is kept naturally straight, which also gives a relaxed throw.

A few throws from three meters with a grip on the handle

From four meters a firm grip on the blade applies. The throw must be calm but determined and the knife is tilted slightly more forward than at three meters. Spinner is very "accurate" if you can say so about a dead thing. That is, according to the thrower's ability, it is easy to place. Predictability is a virtue in knife throwing. Not only from the thrower's side but also from the knife's side.

Throw from four meters with a grip on the blade

When you have advanced to five meters, I add a few decimetres so that the knife has time to rotate properly. That is, I stand at a distance of approx. 5.1 m. Otherwise the same grip as before and the same calm throwing style. If too much force is used, the knife wants to over-rotate.

From six meters, the knife must again be angled slightly more forward than from the throw where the knife is held by the handle. When knives are gripped by the blade, it is important, in my opinion, that the designer thought about it. In the best of worlds, the edges/belly are depending on how the blade looks and are sharpened at an angle so that the angle of attack toward the target is correct. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Here, however, it works well. Then there must be a certain "strive" forward in the throw from six meters for the knife to hit correctly.

The same applies to seven meters, light-forward feeling. The front foot is placed at 7.10 in my case.

- Half Spin

I come back to one detail in every review and that is I'm terrible at throwing "Natural Half Spin" where you hold the knife in a pinch grip. I just never learned it and so at short distances I throw "Military Half Spin" to switch to "Instinctive Half Spin" at slightly longer distances which in this case will be around 4.5 to 7 meters. Military with a thumb on the flat side is used from 2 to around 4.5-5 meters depending on the knife. But it makes it a bit difficult for me to judge all knives at very short distances in terms of half rotation.

But otherwise, I like this knife for semi-rotary techniques. Sure, I prefer daggers and knives with even narrower blades or rather tips for this type of throw. Namely, the blade is apparently not very wide, but it widens towards the front end given the shape of the tip.

But the relatively restrained width of the knife simplifies the grip. At the same time, the tanto point helps to keep the knife in the target. 

- No Spin

This is simply not a No Spin knife. But if you absolutely want a slightly larger and heavier knife for the purpose, the Zitoon Spinner is alright. The straight back makes it easy to place your index finger where you want and the knife is not extremely large. Although it crossed the line for me. I set a limit of around 270 grams for an anti-spin knife.

Conclusion

As I see it, Zitoon Knives' version of a Spinnerknife is both very suitable for the beginner as well as for the slightly more advanced thrower. The only people who should not look at this model are those who like really big, heavy, or long knives. At 350 grams and around thirty centimeters, it belongs to the "medium-heavy" category and the slightly shorter group of rotational knives. For more length, for example, The Iron Mistress is recommended instead.

"No Gamble" I named this picture and it is correct. When you buy a knife from Zitoon Knives, you get really good quality

and so far that applies to all the knives I've tested

There are two main features that make me say it is an excellent first rotational knife.* For those who only want to test a few throws, it is possibly too advanced and perhaps expensive. But for those who have decided to start throwing classically, it is very educational in the sense of easy throwing. The rotation is easy to calculate from all competition distances, the knife has no particular peculiarities and the penetration is good. The latter is important as it means you don't have to throw unnecessarily hard, which can mess with the technique.

It also contributes to the fact that not quite perfect hits sticks in the target, which makes learning faster. You can visually see what mistakes you are making.

Zitoon Knives Spinner at my throwing range

But the Spinner is also a really good knife for those who want to progress to the competition arena. Even if you then have to check where you compete about the length of the knife. For the competition thrower, it is the accuracy that comes first. Even in that case, the knife is easily thrown. Personally, I currently only have one knife of this model, which means that it is not relevant in my case. But if you want a set, the knives currently cost €120.

Because of that, in addition to very nice throwing characteristics, you also get a very well-made knife. A more or less custom-made knife from France. Hardening and treatment of steel have so far proven very reliable when it comes to knives from Zitoon Knives. The grinding and finish are also excellent.

Olivier Feret knows what he's doing. Therefore, this is a knife I can highly recommend!

Zitoon Knives

Specification:

Steel: Hardox 450

Length: 29 cm

Width: 28 mm (handle), 37 mm (blade at its widest point)

Thickness: 6 mm

Weight: 350 g

Point of Balance: 16/13 cm from tip/back end

/ J - is spinning of joy

* Something that should perhaps be emphasized is that this is the knife I chose to order as a first set for my dear fiancee who wants to learn to throw more seriously!

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