I Swear Officer, It Was an AXE-ident: Throwing a Hatchet for Writers & Other Curious Folks

Along with my usual suspense writing, I am also part of a writing duo for the Badge Bunny Booze Mystery Collection along with my friend Tina Glasneck. 

The Badge Bunny Booze books are meant to be the snarky, inappropriate sorbet between heavier, meatier, more suspense-filled books on your TBR list. But that doesn't mean that they take less effort to write or less preparations and research.

For our last book, If You See Kay Jig, Tina and I, along with a reader-friend who came down from Chicago to join in our shenanigans, had our hands full at a local Celtic festival where we self-taught such new skill sets as breaking into occupied port-a-potties. Ah, the writer's life.

It was kind of a sh*tty experience.

Okay, it was actually kind of fun. Our friend from Chicago played a major starring role in that effort. Such a good sport.

But besides taking copious notes on the men throwing heavy things around whilst wearing a kilt, 

our main objective was to learn what it takes to throw a hatchet and hit the bullseye.

Turns out, it takes some finesse. And I'm not gonna lie, I thought it would be much easier than it was. Hitting the target wasn't the problem:

One handed:

In this one, I should have been closer. I'm on target, but the spin happened too soon.

Two handed:

Getting it to stick in said target was the problem. 

Sigh.

But when we did, Tina and I both agree, it was exhilarating.

Our coach was very helpful and was suggested that it was a fun hobby. "Oh," I said. "I'm not going to take it that far. I just needed to figure out how to do this successfully, because I need to kill someone."
   The poor woman blanched. Her eyes got all buggy.
   One of the others put a sharper point on that thought by explaining that we were writers, and we were figuring out a scene for our book. 
   She clutched her chest and almost fell over she was laughing so hard. It was an excellent moment in a very excellent experience.

• The hatchet was about 1.5 pounds, and the shaft was about as long as my forearm.
• Pace out 5 or 6 steps from intended target. This will vary from person to person based on stride length and arm length. So your character will have to know what they're doing to accomplish the task of sinking the blade into their target. They cannot just pick up a hatchet and throw it successfully. Make sure you've written into your plot the why of their success: Boy Scouting, military, summer camp, a buddy who has a fishing cabin -- whatever works for your plot. 
• If you're too far away the top of the hatchet will hit.
• If you're too close the base of the hatchet will hit.
• Wrist is locked (This will give your throw consistency)
• Hold the shaft at the base.
• If throwing right handed, step forward with the left foot and vice versa.
• Throw like it's a baseball
• Practice, practice, practice.

Remember, if your character decides to throw, they've not only thrown away their weapon, but they've also armed the enemy. This could be quite the plot twist. So I'd make sure to write the scene in such a way that your character has this one chance at survival.

I was at Authors' Combat Academy with Jack Dagger, who was teaching people to throw things, mostly knives. And he had a specific distance he would stand from his target. He is a professional knife thrower and he said it is all but impossible to do a movie stunt and kill with a knife. And having watched and tried, I agree. A hatchet might give your character a better chance of getting that blade to sink in. But they'll need to be fairly close. And, if they've never thrown a hatchet before, the chance of them getting it to stick are all but nil.

So here are some things that your knowledgeable hatchet thrower will know about themselves:

• If they're better right handed or left handed. Our coach said a lot of women are better throwing with their non-dominant arm. My theory behind this: People will often carry their heavy loads in their non-dominant hand to free up their more dexterous hand to do fine work like unlocking doors. This may lead to being able to do heavier things with this hand.
• If they actually do better (as I did) throwing with two hands overhead instead off one hand over shoulder. Since our coach brought up throwing baseballs as the movement in the beginning (which I have never done) this might put a ballplayer in better staid than others.
• If they are better with a static position, planting both feet (as was the case for me) or if they are better stepping into the throw like a baseball pitcher (as was the case for Tina).

So that should get you all started on your scene.
You can see how we applied all of our research in our newest novel If You See Kay Jig - available on Amazon and in KU.

When you buy my books, you help support this research site, and I thank you!

Happy reading!
Fiona