Throwing Objects

[neondog]

Mine was a gift from Mamerto Tindongan. You can see lots of examples at Worldatlatl.org

[your_comforting_company]

some of the information I've read suggests adding a stone or other weight to the "cup" end of the atlatl handle to give it more "uumph". might try adding weight to yours neon and see what kind of penetration you get on the next go?

[neondog]

The darts I have at the moment are six feet of aluminum tubing with one end flattened and the other end finned. I think when I get some river cane darts made with a stone point that will add a little more flex in the shaft. After I get the feel of that I'll start playing with weights on the atlatl.

[Rick]

Here are some pics I took in Tucson at a museum showing the local version.

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[your_comforting_company]

I have gotten good enough with the rabbit stick that I clobbered a stray dog with it last night while outside knapping. Mutt got after my kitty cat so I snuck up around the side of the house where he had her in a tree. at about 10 paces away, the whoosh scared him and while he was turning, THUMP! ARK ARK ARK!!

sticks and stones.. gotta love 'em

(I hope this isn't incriminating HAHAHA! just kidding, there are leash laws here)

[SurvivalFaith]

how about boomerang

[Rick]

How about sailing over to the introductions? You can return here if you want to.

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...ead.php?t=7813

[your_comforting_company]

lol.. you know what they call a boomerang that doesn't come back?

[Rick]

.....Lost?.....Oooh, wait. A stick?

[SurvivalFaith]

maybe slingshot much better to get a rabbit and bird, than a throwing weapon except for a sharp light spear

[your_comforting_company]

I went off on a madman rant there, and erased it all.. you'd all hate me lol

[Ted]

I went off on a madman rant there, and erased it all.. you'd all hate me lol

We could never hate you Bro! Well I couldn't anyway! You can PM me your rant if you'd like. I promise I won't hate you, even if you call me every name in the book and make up some new ones!

[your_comforting_company]

It's just that this has turned into a 3 page list of alternatives rather than 10 pages of techniques, like the initial post inquired of.

All my scenarios in my head involve extended tenures in the wild places. I'm not talking about going out for a week an a survival camping endeavor. I'm talking about something bad enough has happened that I have to leave my home and seek safety in the deep forest indefinately. to be more elaborate, No Wal-Mart to buy rubber bands for your wrist rocket, no gun dealers to buy more bullets.. all you got is you and whoever you are protecting and whatever you carried with you. Did you carry a weeks worth of supplies? How many extra bullets are you packing? enough to last you a week? a month? a year? Even if your BOV was a freakin army tank, you won't be able to drive it to the location where I'm bugging out.
How about straps for your slingshot? I have yet to find a tree or bush with rubber slingshot bands growing on it.
How long do you think it would take to get over economic collapse? If money is worthless how are you going to procure straps for your wrist rocket??

In my mind, all you will be left with should the world revert to the 1930's, after all your supplies run out is sticks and stones and the gear you brought that isn't expendable.

Go ahead. depend on your guns; they will run out of bullets eventually. Take your slingshot and extra bands. I broke bands on every slingshot I ever owned. garbage.
a sling would go a lot farther in the long run, as would any retrievable item like an axe/ hawk, machete, stick, rock, etc.

I don't know how I can be any more clear about the intent of this post than that.
If you aint got some useful techniques to impart to us lowly stick throwers then just don't post. I don't want to hear about your slingshots and guns.. all modern marvels that perpetuate the money machine THAT WILL NO LONGER EXIST IF SH!* REALLY HITS THE FAN. I prefer to find my comforting tools out there and I intend to throw whatever I have in hand at whatever food presents itself. Pass or fail, at least I freakin tried instead of waiting with an empty gun and broke-*** slingshot for starvatioin to take me under.

Ok.. I feel better now.

So. Who is gonna teach us to throw knives and axes and spears and atlatls and slings?? anybody?
Then you aren't truly prepared to survive. Tell me how long the Great Depression lasted and tell me how many people starved to death because they didn't know how to fend for themselves, or the only way that they knew was dependence on some newfangled invention that uses powder to propel a projectile.
And how many of you know how to make black powder from materials you can find in the woods?
These are all questions you should be asking yourselves when you ask "am I prepared?" because I think that if you depend on all these modern machinations, then you really are just dependent and I don't think you thing things will ever get that bad again. I call it naivety.

ok.. I'm done ranting and I'll get off my soapbox now. Love me or hate me, but that's where I stand on the whole "surviving" thing. A week in the woods and a society to get back to are NOT examples of surviving any damn thing. I did that when I was 15 with my best friend and absolutely no other experience other than knowing how to walk and fish at the same time. That's "adventuring" not surviving.

I'll figure out how to throw random items on my own. Thanks for all the tips on the techniques!!

[crashdive123]

Our last jamboree we practiced some of the very skills that you mention. Reading about them is nice, but getting out and doing them is what really counts.

[Rick]

No one in the group was an expert but we counseled one another and just did it. We had some laughs, some oohs and aahs and a couple of "Look out!s" thrown in for good measure. You just have to do it.

[preachtheWORD]

YCC, you make a very good point. Guns, slingshots, and other manufactured tools will fail us at some point, but we will always have sticks and rocks with us.

Perhaps this will get the thread just a little back on track.

I once made a pretty decent "rabbit stick." It was about 18" long and about 1-1/4" in diameter. It had a slight bend in the middle, like a boomerang, but not so pronounced. I intended to fire harden it, but never did. There are two basic methods of throwing it - overhand, like throwing a tomahaw; and sidearm, kind of like throwing a skipping rock across a pond. Both have advantages. Overhand gives you more power, but sidearm is more forgiving if your aim is off. Let me explain. If you throw overhand, your aim has to be pretty dead on because the stick is only an inch or two wide. But, if you throw side arm, the stick goes through the air like a helicopter blade, giving you the benefit of the full 18" of length to hit something. A throw that is somwhere between overhand and sidearm might give you the best of both worlds. Takes a lot of pratice.

Unless you are really good or really luck, you probably won't kill anything with the initial hit, but you will sure slow it down.

[Ted]

YCC, your stick sounds great! IMO the only practical thing to throw at a animal is a stick. Throwing knives and hawks at anything is nothing more than a entertaining past time, if you do get something your one lucky s.o.b.
The only practical thing to hunt with a stick is birds (throw side arm). Maybe a rabbit if the undergrowth is less than 6 inches, anything taller would stop the momentum of the stick.

PTW and I are on the same page with you Bro!

Great rant, I couldn't agree more!

[your_comforting_company]

PTW, thanks for the tips. I tried initially to throw it overhand, but on a moving target it was practically impossible to hit anything so me and a buddy figured out that sidearm would be better. We tried diagonally (like you throw a curveball?) and it wasn't much better. Made a fun practice game though, if one threw the ball like a rabbit running, and the other tried to hit it.
My biggest problem with my stick is the "whoosh" it makes as it's swinging around before I let go of it. What mods can I make to it to reduce the noise? If you look back at my "doggie" post, the dog heard the whoosh and was alerted before I actually let go of the stick. If he'd have been much more than 10 paces away, I wouldn't have had a chance.
We have a brushpile that some rabbits live in. they can be spotted in the field and if they see you, they just stop like a stone and hope you don't see them. (kinda wierd, but they'll sit there forever waiting for you to leave). I'd imagine the whoosh would scare them off.
was your stick loud? maybe I should get a smaller diameter and try that? I'm using a pretty heavy wood: photinia fraseri. smaller may still be reasonably heavy enough to throw..

[justin_baker]

Well, this was REALLY lucky, but one time i was walking up a steep, thick wooded, mountain stream and got about 20 feet away from a squirrel in a tree. He couldnt hear me because the stream was pretty dang loud, i couldnt even hear my own footsteps, and i killed him by throwing a rock.
Im sure you could kill a bird with a rock if you were determined enough.

[crashdive123]

Well, this was REALLY lucky, but one time i was walking up a steep, thick wooded, mountain stream and got about 20 feet away from a squirrel in a tree. He couldnt hear me because the stream was pretty dang loud, i couldnt even hear my own footsteps, and i killed him by throwing a rock.
Im sure you could kill a bird with a rock if you were determined enough.

Did you roast it or fry it?