If you live in Sweden, you live partly for June, July and August. It's been around for a long time. But with the climate development that is, the question is whether it will last any longer. Especially not as the whole of May offered almost summer heat here down in the south and sun most of the time.
But it's nice, all in all, for me. Partly, I like being out in the forest, and it's so much more comfortable if the weather is nice. Partly, there's a lot of knife throwing for the moment.
There is a lot that attracts in that way. Not least because I am a coach for VXO Sportkastning, the sports association VAIS's newest section. It gives a lot to see others learn and develop. It goes at a furious pace, it can be said. I also train as much as I can for upcoming competitions.
First up is an international competition on home soil. Home soil and home soil, of course, it's about 400 km to Arboga or so. But pretty close anyway. It's time for the Soulthrower Open at the end of the month. Next month it's time for the really big event. Then some other people and I will hold the Swedish flag high in the U.K.A.T. World Championships in Carpi, Italy. Then my competition season will be rounded off with the Swedish Championships in August. But I'll come back to the subject, you can be sure of that.
Al Mar SERE Operator
In other words, some of the content on this blog will be driven by knife throwing. Not least because it takes so much time that the rest of life has to be squeezed in where it fits.
But as usual, there will be some reviews of mainly folding knives, including from brands like QSPand Al Mar.
Above all, however, it will be the month when I present news from a brand that I previously only owned a single knife from, the Spanish Joker. The knife I have is a classic Navaja. But the knives that are included are significantly more modern. Or at least partially. You'll see! But it should be fun anyway. Especially as it relates to what I started by talking about, the weather. Or rather, what you can do outdoors if the weather is nice.
Those who live in warmer latitudes don't understand that the focus is on the weather. They look out and nine times out of ten the weather is, as usual, sunny. Sometimes it's windy, sometimes not and only rarely does it rain. Up in the cold north, it's a different story.
But now the sun is shining, so soon it's time to go out and throw again!
Time flies, they say. That's something I can agree with. This is especially true if you are engaged in an outdoor activity in the northern hemisphere, where it is cold and dark for most of the year. Then interests are concentrated in the available time. This accelerates the feeling that time is flying.
Despite that, there has been some throwing during the winter, but any proper "training" is difficult to engage in under the conditions that have prevailed. It can possibly be considered training in throwing in all weathers.
But that was the end of the season. Before that, a lot had happened, more than ever in fact. Here is a summary of the knife-throwing year 2025.
Knife throwing - another state of mind. Zitoon Le primitif rotation
To be reasonably consistent with how I usually present the season, I'll start with a few statistics.
This year's knife-throwing in numbers
My fifth year as a knife thrower generated the following:
408 hours, divided into
138 sessions, which resulted in
162 700 throws
The numbers are more accurate than in recent seasons when I haven't been doing as much "spontaneous throwing" in the form of forest trips with a throwing knife or two in my pocket. The training sessions have simply been more pure training. Much of that is because I am now closer to the throwing range.
Interestingly enough, the average time per session is still almost exactly three hours, but since the number of sessions has increased compared to last season by 27 occasions, the number of throws has also increased significantly from about 90,000. In fact, this is the year I have spent the most time throwing since I started practising! This, in turn, is of course dependent on a combination of motivation for the 2025 big event, something I will return to, and weather conditions, as I am an outdoor thrower.
No spin-kastning i början av året
Regarding personal records, not much has happened in the time that has passed since last year's summary. I have not had access to targets of sufficient quality for that. Therefore, it has mostly been basic training of various kinds. However, there have been some refinements of previous results.
As usual, I would like to point out that all PBs are set under calm training conditions and not competition, which is something completely different.*
Walk Back (3-7m / 300p):
Rotational: 265 p
No Spin: 235p
Axe:213p (from previous Swedish Championships with borrowed axes)
Precision, rotational (105p):
3 m: 104 p
5 m: 99 p
7 m: 83 p
Precision, No Spin:
3 m: 101 p
5 m: 91 p
7 m: 70 p
Precision,Axe:
3 m: 100 p
5 m: -
7 m: -
Long distance:
Rotational: 15,75 m.
No Spin: 11,1 m
Axe: 13,67 m (Swedish Championships)
As I said, very modest adjustments to the results, but they mean that I added five points in WB rotation and two points in WB No Spin.
As for precision throwing, it was the target problem that meant that I couldn't train specifically on that detail.** What has been added, however, is that I now have throwing axes. However, no special results with them yet for the same reason. The PB in Walk Back that exists was set during the Swedish Championships.
Furthermore, I have improved my results in long-distance throwing somewhat, but they are still very modest; I am simply not good enough for that detail. But there was a two-meter improvement in rotation and about half a meter in No Spin.
Knives
The number of knives also increased during the current season. Some of the new models are also candidates to enter the competition sets. But one set that for once will not be replaced is my knives for No Spin, it is and will remain, for the foreseeable future, Throwingzone Pathfinder!
This model is going nowhere, Throwingzone Pathfinder
I might consider using a different and heavier model for long-distance throwing. The same goes for rotational throwing, as I will probably use Zitoon Le primitif rotation for walk-back and precision throwing. But for the latter discipline, the Lanceur de L'âmeDague de Competition is also very good as they are excellent to throw from a grip in the handle. The same can also be said about Bullseye Blades Nobu, which is also the likely choice for long-distance throwing. So the choice is not completely decided yet.
A candidate for precision throwing - Dague de Competition from Lanceur de L'âme
The knives I trained with the most in 2025 were:
Throwingzone Pathfinder: 53 900 throws
Zitoon Knives Le primitif rotation: 28 800 throws
Zitoon Knives No Reload: 9 800 throws
Zitoon Knives Le primitif No Spin: 98000 throws
Bullseye Blades Nobu: 8 900 throws
Then it just so happened that several of them were new for the year. For example, the Nobu set was bought during the World Cup, so they have only been used since July.
Competitions
World championship
There were also a few competitions in 2025. First and foremost was a premiere. It wasn't just any premiere, but a World Championship under the auspices of U.K.A.T.s. It is the largest throwing organization and the competition took place in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic.
As a warm-up for the World Championship, I had planned to participate in the AIM games online, but it had to be cancelled due to the weather. Instead, I practised a lot as soon as the weather allowed. The result from the World Championship was more successful than expected, and I brought home two medals. A gold in 3 m precision, No Spin and a silver in "Hunter".
In addition to that, there were mixed placements, but overall, I became the best Swede with an 18th place if all results were added together. The modest placement is due, among other things, to the fact that until just before the competitions, I had never trained with an axe and that several disciplines were completely new to me. But it's difficult to get to the top of that list as it also requires you to be able to practice things like Duel, which I don't have the equipment for.v
En guldmedalj i Böhmisk kristall, vad annars?
Before the competitions started, however, I had not dared to hope for such success. The goal was to participate and to set results in all disciplines that can then be improved! They are now in place!
A good basis for that is that I now know a little more about what is required and how it can be done. The next step is to bring out a little of what I know at the next competition, and it could go really well. On the other hand, there are lots of external factors that you can't control, so how it goes remains to be seen. But I am extremely motivated to start practice.
Swedish Championships
The 2025 Swedish Championships in sport throwing were a bit of a strange story. Much due to the fact that several participants, including myself, had tough times in life, both mentally and physically. This meant that perhaps not everyone threw at their best, even in the disciplines where they usually do. But as I usually say about competitions; It's important to be healthy and whole to be able to train, it's important to be in place, and it's about what is done there and then. Not quite simply, in other words. Everyone who competes in something knows that.
But it was a successful Swedish Championships for me. Despite rather mixed results, I managed to retain my title as Swedish champion in No Spin. To underline that, I also took gold in long distance and silhouette in the same discipline and a bronze in "Plank" with the same technique.
In knife, I moved up a position and took silver in Walk Back, and to top it off, there was a real surprise in the WB with axe. There, I unexpectedly managed to grab a bronze medal even though many throwers who were actually better than I were there.
Almost all the medals from the 2025 Swedish Championships, I actually missed some
Overall, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places and other results meant that I racked up enough points to become the best thrower overall. A title that I hardly think I'll keep, but that I'm still very proud of.
Towards 2026
The new year will bring several big changes. Two of them are closely related; that is, I, together with my dear wife, have started a club, Växjö Sportkastning***. In addition to everything that will entail, it also means that instead of having 15 km to my training range, I now have 1.5 km. It makes training much easier.
Otherwise, some of the main points are the same as before. One of them that I wish to participate in to a greater extent is, of course, the ever-present online competition AIM Games, where my participation is unfortunately minimised due to a lack of target material and winter weather. For example, a knife competition has just ended, and an axe competition, H10, is about to start. I can't participate in either of them as it looks at the moment. One has already been sabotaged by winter, and the other looks like it won't take place either.
Another permanent feature in my calendar is, of course, the Swedish championships. Especially since my ambition is that I want to continue to subscribe to the title of Swedish champion in No Spin. Then the other results resulted in increased interest. As soon as I can, I will also practice some of the different elements in Axe.
That competition takes place in Arboga, and there is also another event that usually takes place there in the form of the Soulthrower Open. My ambition is to participate there as well. But time and money can be tight as it is very close to the biggest competition of the year.
The main goal for 2026
I am, of course, talking about the U.K.A.T. World Championships in Italy, which will take place at the end of July. There, I have every intention of trying to surpass the 2025 results, although of course it will be difficult. Especially as these competitions look to be even bigger in terms of the number of participants. Among other things, countries such as China and Indonesia have been added, and I know there are incredibly good throwers there.
Thus, there will be a lot to report on from a knife-throwing perspective also in 2026. There will be no shortage of blog material.
/ J - "The Swedish Chef"
* But as I usually say, if you can't achieve good results in training, they won't magically appear in competition either, so you have to start somewhere. ** It's difficult to achieve correct competition targets with pieces of wood with large holes in the middle. *** As a subdivision of VAIS
Hur man förhåller sig till nyårsafton, det nya året och januari beror nog på hur det föregående året förflöt. I mitt fall tycker jag att det är skönt att 2025 är över. Livet gav mig några smällar och nu känner jag att det är dags att gå vidare på något vi eller kanske raggla vidare, formen är något oklar. Men i ärlighetens namn så har jag nog inte hört någon säga att de ser fram emot 2026. Det är rätt många saker där ute i världen som inte ser alltför ljusa ut dessvärre.
Men om vi håller oss till de mindre perspektiven så ser det väl förvisso bättre ut även om det finns moln på horisonten även där. Skit också. Perspektivbyte hjälpte inte helt i det här fallet.
Faktum är att det gäller även mikroformatet, då är vi nere på den nivån som rör den här bloggen. Vi får se hur framtiden artar sig. Men det som hänt är att en del stora samarbetspartners har stuvat om i sina marknadsföringsplaner och därmed är ute ur leken för min del. Någon ny är på väg in men annars ser det dystert ut på den fronten.
Vinter I, en kall dag vid havet med SRM Dome
Men under tiden kommer det att bli en del skrivit här trots allt. Jag har redan tjuvstartat som någon kanske sett men en slags "krönika" över det gångna knivkastningsåret. Det är ju så här dags sådana sammanfattningar skall göras. Just nu ligger dock kastandet nere då kung Bore är här med full kraft. Snön yr utanför fönstret och ligger tämligen djup för att vara i den här delen av världen.
Det kommer emellertid att bli mer skrivit om knivkastning, var så säkra. Det händer eller snarare kommeratt hända mycket på den horisonten. Inte minst som det stundar ett VM framåt sommaren och att det startats en ny klubb här i Växjö.
Knivrecensioner blir det förstås en del också. Inte minst som jag har lite av en backlog på det området. Inom kort kommer det att recenseras knivar från Al Mar, Acejet, Cold Steel, Kershaw, SRM, QSP och Zitoon Knives.
Först ut av dem är en förträfflig liten kniv från SRM kallad Medal.
Vinter II, Civivi Clingman poserar i kylan innan snön kom
Innehållet i övrigt håller jag som bäst på att fundera över. Inslag som "Dagens bild" och Fredags-EDC lär troligen återkomma. Sedan finns fler idéer som att fortsätta serien om olika låstyper på fällknivar. Ett projekt som en gång påbörjades och sedan dog i sin linda. Vidare funderar jag på att skriva några inlägg om köksknivar och eventuellt om knivslipning.
Vinter III, anledningen till att det inte kastas kniv för stunden
Sedan är det alltid trevligt med input från er kära läsare. Är det något särskilt någon av er skulle vilja att jag tog upp? Det går bra att kontakta mig via kommentarer här på bloggen eller kanske ännu bättre via mail: john.wikstroem@gmail.com
I vilket fall som helst hoppas jag att ni hänger med ett år till!
There are only three good things about November, someone close to me said. However, I don't remember what they were, and no matter how hard I try, I can't think of anything good. It's dark, it's often rainy, misty and foggy, and then everything turns grey. This applies to both the outdoors and the soul.
To top it all off, I went and found an autumn depression. Not as fun as you can imagine. But one way to try to recover is to be outside and catch the little light that there is. That's why there has been a lot of knife throwing during the past month. It's an excellent excuse to be outside as much as possible. All according to the motto "fake it to you make it". Who knows if it works, though, even what used to be fun isn't right now. But I'm doing it anyway.
This also applies to blogging and knife testing. Not as fun as usual, but I'm sure it'll loosen up too. For that reason, there will be a lot written here in the near future after all.
The few leaves that remain are at least colourful. The knife is an Al Mar Eagle Classic
First up is a series of new knives. These are knives from brands such as Civivi, QSP, FKW and Cretace. In addition, there will be a couple of reviews, including the Bäver 10 from Swedish Karesuandokniven. A very nice hunting and outdoor life from the high north. In contrast to the more traditionally Scandinavian knife, another review item will be presented in the form of the Al MarSERE Operator 40. But maybe they have more in common than you might think? Another interesting knife model, assuming you like throwing knives, which will be examined in more detail, is a model from Zitoon Knivess called Le primitif rotation/The Primitive rotational.
A mixed compote, in other words. As the icing on the cake, there will, of course, be some "Friday EDC" and a part about knife throwing.
Well, now I figured out what was supposed to be good about November - that it's my birthday. But who knows if there's much to celebrate these days. Unless it's an excuse to get a new knife, of course.
Det finns bara tre bra saker med november var det någon till mig närstående som sade. Dock minns jag inte var det vad och hur jag än anstränger mig kommer jag inte på något bra. Det är mörkt, det är ofta regn, dis och dimma varpå allt blir grått. Det gäller både ute och inne.
Till råga på allt så gick jag och hittade en höstdepression. Inte så roligt som ni förstår. Men ett sätt att försöka tillfriskna är att vara ute och snappa upp det lilla ljus som finns. Därför har det blivit en hel del knivkastning under föregående månad. Det är nämligen en utmärkt ursäkt för att vara ute så mycket som möjligt. Allt enligt devisen "fake it to you make it". Fan vet om det funkar emellertid, inte ens det som brukade vara roligt är det just nu. Men jag gör det ändå.
Det gäller även bloggandet och knivtestandet. Inte lika roligt som vanligt men det lossnar väl det också. Av det skälet kommer det att bli en del skrivet här den närmsta tiden trots allt.
De få löv som är kvar är i alla fall färgglada. Kniven är Al Mar Eagle Classic
Först ut är en serie nya knivar. Det handlar om knivar från märken som Civivi, QSP, FKW och Cretace. Utöver det blir det ett par recensioner, bland annat av Bäver 10 från svenska Karesuandokniven. En mycket fin jakt- och friluftsliv från höga norr. I kontrast mot den mer traditionellt skandinaviska kniven skall ställas ett annat recensionsobjekt i form av Al MarsSERE Operator 40. Men kanske har de mer gemensamt än man kan tro? En annan intressant knivmodell, förutsatt att man gillar att kasta kniv då, som kommer att granskas närmare är en modell från Zitoon Knives kallad Le primitif rotation/The Primitive rotational.
En mixad kompott med andra ord. Som grädde på moset blir det förstås någon "Fredags-EDC" och en del om knivkastning, fattas bara annat.
Jo, nu kom jag på vad det var som skulle vara bra med november - att jag fyller år. Men det vete tusan om det är mycket att fira nuförtiden. Om det nu inte skall tjäna som ursäkt till att skaffa en ny kniv förstås.
What happens in October? Apart from the last dream of summer dying, the leaves rotting and falling down and having to pay speeding tickets to Germany? I don't know. However, the last-mentioned is a remnant from last summer.
If you look more at the blog and the knife world, there are probably nicer things happening.
Octoberfest? Well, but knives that should be reviewed anyway
Among other things, the items shown in the picture will be discussed in one form or another. Reviews are underway for all of them. However, they are at very different stages. In some cases, the text will soon be ready, while in others it has not even been started.
First up in any case is the folding knife you see with the blade out. It is Civivi's excellent Sentinel Strike II. Then follow folding knives from two other brands in the form of Shieldon Knives and the, to me, new HX Outdoors Co.
Then there will be a little throwing knife talk, including the knife in the picture that comes from France and Zitoon Knives. Furthermore, I planned to discuss both the Al Mar Operator 40 and the Karesuandokniven Bävern/The Beaver 10. Two seemingly very different knives that do have some common denominators after all.
There have been quite a few nice autumn days so far. Here you can see the Beaver in the wild. A knife from Swedish Karesuandokniven
That's pretty much how I'm thinking about this month. I'm sure I'll get some spontaneous ideas in too. It tends to be that way.
I'm especially hoping that there will be some knife-throwing in the near future. There's been a lot of development on that front. Something I just realised I forgot to write about. Look, another topic!
But until then, take care of yourselves!
/ J - thinking about pulling a blanket over himself
