Skeggy’s Axe House

So, when I started this blog, I thought that this would focus on movies, video games, and any other gaming-related places that I’ve would go to and discover in my life. Ax throwing wasn’t a topic that I felt would be a blog post done by myself. But seeing as how it could be a topic or article for my blog, as well as a way to broaden my activities, and try new activities and give my thoughts, why not do a blog post about this sport.

***The rules at Skeggy’s which I thought some would be common sense, but I guess they had to be said.***

Ax throwing is a sport which you have to throw an ax at a target. Simple enough premise and to me, a pretty much a more extreme and potentially dangerous version of darts or archery. (although the latter two can be hazardous as well) While ax-throwing is an event seen at lumberjack competitions, this activity has been trending and growing in popularity across the United States. There are even some leagues that exist for this event, such as The World Axe Throwing League and The National Axe Throwing Federation. The standard target is thirty-six inches wide and consists of five rings. The outside ring is worth one point and goes up one point with each inner circle until you reach the bull’s eye, which is worth five points. The throwing distance can range from 15-30 feet. There is a throwing line a certain distance from the target. If you step over that line, you receive 0 points.

**My friends who are learning how to throw the axe for the first time. Fun Fact we genuinely never did this before and my friend on the right, hit the bull’s eye on her first throw.**

***Her shocked reaction should say it all.***

My friends and I went to an ax-throwing site called Skeggy’s Axe House in Easton, PA. Skeggy’s opened up in March of 2019. There are described as “Easton’s Premier Axe throwing venue where you meet new people and sharpen your ax skills.” per their facebook page. That tagline isn’t the end of the many ax puns that you see; about either them, or when you are in the building. The main area feels very open with all of the targets and lanes facing towards the wall. To me, this setup makes perfect sense, since probably to have throwing lanes in the middle of the room, would probably be a bad idea. It was fairly dark in the main room, but the lanes and the target were well lit. The annoyance for me with the lighting was taking photos and videos. The low lighting was hard to get some good pictures and video since the camera on my phone would always struggle to find focus. That aside, the overall atmosphere was great. There was a lot of great music playing in the building. The acoustics were loud with the music but tolerable and didn’t affect the ax throwing. There was a Jukebox for people to choose what music you would like to hear. It is a jukebox though, so you have to pay for the songs.

They do host events there to as well. There was a bachelorette party in front of our group. I’m not sure if it’s a wise idea to have a blindfold on in a place where you can’t see a weapon being thrown.

It costs $30 for one hour and $50 for two hours. We had done one hour, which felt like a reasonable price point and time for this activity. It was a good idea and choice if this is your first attempt at this, as most of our group was getting tired and was exhaustion from always throwing the axes after awhile. Each lane had two targets and four axes: one large ax and one small ax on each side. The lanes hold eight people each, four people per team.

***The lobby is open and spacious and has a few parlor games to play while you are waiting to throw.***

We did have an instructor to help us out since this was the first time most of our group had done this. He was very helpful in instructing us and guiding our group with the proper technique for throwing axes. He did come over and help us out with throwing as well as help and gave us game ideas for the teams. He also provided tips and techniques on how to throw the ax. Whether it was one-handed or two-handed throwing; how to hit the targets; and handle any questions and frustrations that we had while doing this. Our instructor (also known as the chucker instructor) is an excellent service to have and provide from Skeggy’s.

***The set up of the ax-throwing lane. The red line on the ground is the line I mentioned where if you step over if, you are out of bounds and get 0 points.***

The first time that I did this, I was very intimidated when I threw the ax. An ax, after all, a dangerous tool/weapon to handle and can lead to harm. I did have bad throws and had to step away for a bit just after my second throw. I felt myself shaking a bit after attempting this. After a while and some more throws, I did get comfortable. I was able to even get a Bull’s eye or two after a couple of throws. I did mostly throw with a two-handed ax, but later on, I did try out the one-handed ax. I preferred the two-handed ax as I felt that I had more control when throwing it. But as the time when on, I got a better handle on throwing the one-handed ax. Both axes don’t weight that much as I believe the two-handed ax weighed three maybe four pounds. But throwing the ax and removing it from the target can prove to be exhausting.

***Me getting ready to throw a two-handed ax. Although I was still nervous. I was starting to get comfortable throwing this after several attempts. This is my favorite one to throw.***

There were two different games that we played for the hour suggested by our instructor. The first game was twenty-one, where the first team to twenty-one wins. However, you have to score precisely twenty-one points to win. If you score higher than twenty-one, you lose points off of your total current score. So, if you have eighteen points, and you get four more points, then you lose four points, and your score goes down to fourteen points. The second game that we played was a dice game. There are two or more teams and five dice and a cup. One member of each team rolled the dice. The amount listed on the dice is what the team has to hit on the dice. The numbers thrown are the numbers that the opposing team had to hit on the target. So let’s say a team rolls the dice. If the roll was six, four, four, five, and three, the opposing team has to hit those areas on the target. You can’t hit a three and one on the target and call that four. Now there isn’t, and six as the target only goes up to five on the bullseye. On our targets, there were two randomly placed dots on the board. If you hit those dots, there were worth 6 points. The main idea is you want your team to have a high number rolls, so the opposite side has to hit the inner rings, bullseye, and blue dots, and hope that they give you low rolled numbers. Our group didn’t win the game 21, and we ended in a draw for the dice game, as we ran out of time.

***Above the lanes are all street names and roads that you can find around downtown Easton, PA. I thought that was a nice touch to show community support by the business.***

Overall, we all agreed that we had a great time. Everyone had fun doing this for the first time. If this is your first time, you will get exhausted doing this as the throwing does wear on you. We would go back to throwing some more axes in the future. I would also recommend this to anyone else looking for activities to do or a night out with friends and family. Also, check out Skeggys Website and place if you are in or near the Easton area of Pennsylvania.

Also, enjoy some pics that I was able to take below of our group having a great time ax-throwing.