How To Throw A Hatchet

First things first: Is this the most useful skill in the world? Eh, probably not. There are much more effective ranged weapons than throwing things, and quite frankly, if you have a hatchet, and you need to use it as a weapon, it’s better to keep it in your hands and swing it then throwing it and possibly giving your foe a weapon. The same goes for knives, for that matter.

But then again, I’ve always felt that to truly master a weapon, you should master all of its different attacks and uses, to make the weapon an extension of your own hand. If you want to learn how to use a sword, learn how to use the pommel as well as the blade. And similarly, if you’re going to learn how to use the axe, learn how to throw it in addition to swing it—and the latter is a lot simpler.

To begin with, get a target that can take the repeated impact of an axe slamming into it. I’d recommend a tree stump if you can get it. If not, some relatively soft boards nailed together width wise should suffice (I’d recommend pine or some other soft wood for your target)

Then get a hatchet, ice axe, or some other small axe that can fit in your hand. Seize by the handle as you normally would if you were using it to chop wood. Extend your thumb along the handle as seen in the picture.

Then, straighten your arm and swing it down past your hip, and then up towards your shoulder, as if your arm were a pendulum. When your elbow is parallel to the ear, then you can begin the throw.

I use the term “throw” somewhat oxymoronically, as it’s really more of a chop, rather than the way one would throw a baseball or whatever.

*Not me obviously, but the form is good*

Then bringing swinging it in a downward arc. When your shoulder is below your ear, that is the time to release.

Use your outstretched thumb as a guidepost for aiming.

And that’s all there is to it, really.

As a bonus, here’s instructions on how to sharpen an axe as well, since I felt that this article would be a bit short otherwise:

First off, an axe is not made razor sharp—doing so actually increases the risk of damaging the blade.

Before you sharpen, make sure the axe has a smooth edge. If it does not, you will need to file it. Bear in mind a file only works when you push it away from you. File with slow and deliberate strokes.

Then once you have filed it smooth and flat, you need to hone the edge with a DMT Duo-Fold.