Good, not great, but everything you need to throw axes

Review of Lancer De Hache, Poitiers, France

If we graded axe throwing venues Poor/Good/Outstanding, then Lancer De Hache would be a solid ‘Good’. It’s part of the Lancer De Hache franchise, which has another 8 venues in France. I imagine they roll out the same identical setup in every location. That’s not meant as a criticism per se. The venue had everything we wanted for a good competitive axe throwing session (just without any of the bells and whistles outstanding venues might have).

The venue was in a large retail/business unit (with a high ceiling, just made for throwing) on an out of town retail strip.

We entered into a wide, open reception area and our host enthusiastically showed us to our lane. The six single-target lanes were just beyond the reception area, running left to right, separated by wooden post and wire mesh fences. There was just about enough space behind to walk past the other lanes, and for spectators to wait their turn.

Our host did a quick safety brief (mostly “stay behind the safety line”) and a comparably rapid demo of a one-handed throw. He then left us to it. Personally I prefer that, but I did wonder if beginners would cope without more coaching. He did check in on us from time to time, but he was the only person on duty for all the lanes (on a relatively busy Saturday afternoon).

The house axe was a Cold Steel Norse Hawk, albeit with a bolt placed through the head to stop it slipping. I like the Norse Hawk and it was novel to find it at an indoors venue. I do find it is a bit light and need to give it more ‘whip’ to stick. Beginners might find a heavier hatchet better, particularly as the boards were made of quite unforgiving planks.

There was a single bespoke painted target on the board and some paper scorecards to keep score. The minimum you need.

All in all, we had a good hour of competitive axe throwing for a reasonable price. I liked that the pricing was per lane for up to 3 people, so no sharing, and good value even for just two people. Nothing special, but nothing to complain about either.

Disclaimer: “The Axe Inspector” receives no payment or benefit of any kind from either TheAxeThrower.com or from the venue, for this review. The review is the subjective opinion of one person (albeit as objective as possible) and we encourage throwers to try out the venue to make their own mind up.