Axe Throwing in Bristol – The Best Bristol Axe Throwing Venues
Axe throwing is a modern sport that originated as a lumberjack pastime in Canada and across Scandinavia; eventually becoming popular enough and considered enough of a show of strength and skill that it began to become competitive.
Today, while still a woodsman’s timbersport in its own right, axe throwing has now become an commercial experience for all to try and can be found throughout non-competitive experiential venues across the world. With ‘Brizzle’ being such a popular locale for occasions such as stag dos, big birthdays and special occasions, axe throwing bars in Bristol are prevalent and are popular amongst those visiting the city.
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The Best Bristol Axe Throwing Venues
If you’re looking to try a new experience such as axe throwing, Bristol is a great place to do it. There’s plenty of both indoor and outdoor urban axe throwing venues in the city, including sports centres, activity centres and specific axe throwing bars that make for a popular party destination.
So how does it all work...?
Most urban axe throwing experiences rely on participants learning the basics behind the sport before giving it a go themselves and playing a casual game to score points against one another. There are a variety of different axe throwing board types and scoring methods, dependent either on geographical location or league.
Generally, you’ll find that the venues for Bristol axe throwing have boards made of cottonwood, poplar wood or pine wood; and that these are replaced daily (if not more often through busy periods) to ensure as few breakages as possible. In most cases, axe throwing boards have 4-6 different scoring zones, each with a differing point allocation for the axe landing upon it.
The standard throwing line distance is around 12 feet, but you may find that some axe throwing venues insist on further for safety and insurance purposes. Ideally, an axe will rotate only once in the air before hitting its intended target – but it’s not uncommon to find the person demonstrating the sport to be able to show off something a little more impressive.
In a league or match situation, if a participant steps over the line they will be immediately granted zero points, no matter where the axe lies according to traditional scoring. If a participant steps over the line on purpose, they may be asked to leave a commercial axe throwing venue as this would be considered a breach of safety guidelines.
What constitutes an axe scoring depends on the league or game rules. In some games, the majority of the blade (ie over 50% of its length) must be embedded into the board, but in others it must only stay in without falling for a few seconds. There are two main sizes of axe used in competitive settings but for urban axe throwing venues, you’ll find three or four based on weights and whatever the participant is most easily able to lift.
Top Outdoor Bristol Axe Throwing Venues
Traditionally, axe throwing in Bristol and around the world has been an outdoor sport; but of course the Great British weather doesn’t always make this the ideal setting all year round! There are, however, four main venues for urban axe throwing in Bristol and each differs in its offering.
The Bristol Activity Centre
The Bristol Activity Centre) offers a wide variety of outdoor activities, experiences and sports: with urban axe throwing just one of them. You can also partake in paintballing, airsoft, air rifle shooting, quad biking, archery, bubble football, and crossbow shooting – and can build a package of all the experiences you’d like to try. Bristol Activity Centre combines axe throwing with knife throwing and offers a variety of different axe weights.
With their expert tutelage, the centre’s experts say most people can throw an axe bang on target within the first five to ten throws; and once you’ve done so, you can move on to the art of throwing knives.
A Bristol axe throwing session at the Activity Centre includes a one-hour time slot with full axe instruction and a safety briefing. All training is provided by an expert in axe throwing, and they will offer up different sizes and weights of weapon for you to practice with as well as setting games to help participants improve their aim and scores.
Quite unusually, the axe throwing Bristol Activity Centre do allow participants aged 12+; but anyone aged under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and a full safety disclaimer signed.
Battle Archery Bristol
They offer a variety of archery tuition and taster experiences alongside axe throwing. Primarily an archery centre, the venue caters for shooting and throwing lessons for all the family as well as paddleboarding sessions on the rivers that flow through the grounds. A beginner’s session of 1.5hrs axe throwing can be booked at Battle Archery Bristol which provides qualified marshals to tutor and the chance to throw mini hawks (also known as throwing angels) and once the art has been mastered, a Tomahawk!
Battle Archery Bristol offer beginner’s urban axe throwing sessions for anyone aged 16+, although those aged 16-17 will need to be accompanied by an appropriate adult. There ae also a variety of hen and stag party packages available for those looking to make a day of it.
Max Events Bristol
An all-inclusive outdoor activity centre that specialises in offering active occasion and party packages. Their expert tutors will train participants in how to throw axes to bed into a board as well as how to achieve a double or even triple rotation of the axe while in the air!
Your axe throwing Bristol experience can be combined with other shooting and throwing sports at Max Events, or with a driving experience around the site. Only those aged 18+ are able to take part in activities here.
Adventure Bristol
This venue is set in woodland and offers a wide range of outdoors activities for corporate days out, school trips, hen and stag parties and residential visits. The site includes facilities for everything from climbing to canoeing, raft building to high ropes, and of course your urban axe throwing Bristol experience! Taking part in axe throwing in the woods lends this experience a really genuine feel that can’t be found anywhere else locally.
Participants will receive a full safety briefing and training session before they compete for the highest individual and team score on the board. Each person has 8 throws but don’t be surprised if things continue on longer; this is the centre’s most popular activity and they claim that many a round of drinks are won and lost here. Axe throwing can be only be completed by those aged 18+.
Top Indoor Bristol Axe Throwing Venues
If the weather isn’t looking too great, or you feel that you’d like a warmer, more party-type experience, there are also plenty of places to try axe throwing in Bristol while staying indoors, with the following two venues the most popular…
Whistle Punks Urban Axe Throwing Bristol
Whistle Punks is a purpose-built venue centrally in the city. A chain, you can also find branches of Whistle Punk in Manchester, Leeds and London. This axe throwing bar allows you to grab a drink and some snacks and take part in the sport in sealed metal cages to ensure the safety of all involved. You can watch others partake and give it a go yourself while enjoying an afternoon or night out.
Sessions at Whistle Punks Urban Axe Throwing Bar in Bristol are 70mins long and designed for beginner’s. Each lane consists of 2 targets and can facilitate up to 10 players with a fully qualified instructor in your café at all times. All sessions include a safety briefing, tutelage, a tournament and some tuition of trick shots including how to throw (and score) with two axes at once! Only those aged 18+ are admitted to Whistle Punks venues.
JDR Karting and Activity Centre
This venue offers axe throwing in Bristol alongside other activity experiences such as go-karting and segway-ing. Sessions are held in caged lanes and include beginner’s tuition and points scoring before groups embark on a mini tournament to name a winner. The Centre is primarily used by groups but can also be booked by individuals.
JDR have 4 lanes for axe throwing, each of which can accommodate up to 6 players. All players must be aged 12+, but those under 18 will need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Food and drinks packages can be added to urban axe throwing sessions as desired.
