African "throwing knives"

[Marcus]

Is the Chris Springs book "AFRICAN ARMS & ARMOR"?
I have not found any pdf versions.
I have a copy of the cutting edge on order.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Marcus

Is the Chris Springs book "AFRICAN ARMS & ARMOR"?
I have not found any pdf versions.
I have a copy of the cutting edge on order.

Sorry Marcus, yes that's it. I don't believe it is on PDF, but its not awfully expensive. It is a great overview (in my opinion) and establishes good benchmarks for further study. As I noted, regarding the throwing knives, there is a good deal of passim notes included in reviews of these involved in sales, auctions etc. which cumulatively give pretty good perspective.

Not to forget of course, the fantastic archives we have here using the search !!

[Marcus]

Ships from Oriental Arms tomorrow.

I can imagine that the ballistic properties of this one might be pretty good. Of course, using one of these for hunting, you would not have to worry about it being thrown back at you.

[Congoblades]

Second one is: Sengese, Cameroon, Matakam People, Mandara mountains.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Marcus

Ships from Oriental Arms tomorrow.

I can imagine that the ballistic properties of this one might be pretty good. Of course, using one of these for hunting, you would not have to worry about it being thrown back at you.

Absolutely!!
This one is really intriguing geometrically, and brings to mind the aspect of some of these being used ceremonially, or probably more toward 'looking' fearful as far as being brandished in the African warfare prospect as warring tribes faced off. In either case, the sometimes almost bizarre shapes of not just these throwing knives, but many weapon blades, such as the 'hwi' in Benin with elaborate designs and openwork (as seen in 'Marti' excerpts in Spring, op.cit), seem to be intended to elicit power, fear, respect etc.

Congo Blades, great photo, thank you for adding that to really add context to these .