Bury the hatchet at Pine & Iron

Ax-throwing venue helps release tension

Ever just want to throw something? How about something sharp, which lands (you hope) with a satisfying thwack?

Or, still harboring ill feelings toward 2020? New Haven’s Pine & Iron might just be the place to channel that primal need, release that tension and bury the (ahem) hatchet on a year best left behind.

The ax-throwing business, which recently marked its oneyear anniversary, is open and ready to help visitors enjoy a new sport, safely — or at least as safe as one can be when wielding a potentially dangerous object overhead and hurling it at a wooden target.

“I think people are looking for something that is safe, something where businesses are being responsible with their safety in terms of health and hygiene,” said Josh Kroscen, Pine & Iron cofounder.

“It’s a good way for a small group to release some tension and have fun outside the house.”

The Canadian sport and pastime first came on the scene in Connecticut around three years ago and has since expanded into 10 cities and towns around the state.

The New Haven Pine & Iron is Kroscen’s second location; the other, in Hartford, opened in 2018 and was Connecticut’s first entertainment venue of its type.

The setup is simple: Players are divided by group into lanes and joined by a “coach,” who guides the experience with an introductory lesson, offers throwing tips, and takes drink orders.

All equipment and surfaces are disinfected between each group, and the venue is operating at half capacity, with only every other lane in use, to ensure safe social distancing, Kroscen said.

Although the bar is closed, patrons can order drinks for consumption at the throwing lane (although there is a two-drink maximum for throwers).

The venue is bring-your-ownfood, and players are encouraged

to bring a meal or snack.

Each throwing session lasts an hour ($18 per person for groups of four; $25 per hour for two in a private lane) and includes a lesson, coaching, as many games as can be played in an hour, and a group photo.

The playing space itself is “rustic,” with its rough wooden boards, hand-painted targets and simple furnishings, but Kroscen said it’s the atmosphere that sets

Pine & Iron apart from similar businesses.

The company has partnered with Connecticut artists, including Mount Hook Art Collective and Joey Batts of Hip Hop for the Homeless, in adding decorative accents to the venue.

“Pine & Iron wants people to get back in touch with their primal side. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do it with some taste. Atmosphere is very important to

us,” he said.

Whatever you do, don’t call it a fad. The International Ax Throwing Federation, founded in 2016 to standardize rules of the game and encourage league play, estimates there are more than 10,000 competitive players across six countries.

And that’s just the more dedicated throwers. Kroscen compares it to the popularity of hockey: There are occasional players and followers of the sport, and then there are the regulars.

“It’s a common question to see if it’s a fad, but looking at past experience from Canada, where this originates from, where I’m from, they’ve been going strong for almost a decade now and the folks that do it are into it just like people are into hockey,” he said.

“This is something that people will be doing for a long time. For some folks, it’s an interesting new experience to try a new challenge, like bowling every once in a while, (and then) people are going to be more hooked on it, more dedicated. That’s the trend.”

Pine & Iron / Contributed photo Ax-throwing has become an increasingly popular pastime since the creation of the International Ax Throwing Federation in 2016.