Mine was a gift from Mamerto Tindongan. You can see lots of examples at Worldatlatl.org
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Mine was a gift from Mamerto Tindongan. You can see lots of examples at Worldatlatl.org
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?
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.
Here are some pics I took in Tucson at a museum showing the local version.
http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q...ne/atlatl1.jpg
http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q...ne/atlatl2.jpg
http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q...ne/atlatl3.jpg
http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q...ne/atlatl4.jpg
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)
how about boomerang
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
lol.. you know what they call a boomerang that doesn't come back?
.....Lost?.....Oooh, wait. A stick?
maybe slingshot much better to get a rabbit and bird, than a throwing weapon except for a sharp light spear :D
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!Quote:
Originally Posted by 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!!
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.
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.
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.
PTW and I are on the same page with you Bro!Quote:
Originally Posted by Ted
Great rant, I couldn't agree more!
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..
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?Quote:
Originally Posted by justin_baker
I have been known to throw machetes. The secret to throwing a Latin pattern machete it to turn it around in your hand so the edge is facing towards you like you were going to chop with the spine. This puts the swept point rotating forwards and the blade will stick better.
Nothing really to add on technique, I use the same for throwing hatchets or machetes.
SAFETY WARNING - If you are going to attempt to throw a machete keep in mind that they are basically a sharpened leaf spring. A machete that misses can rebound very far and in unpredictable directions. People standing off to the side are NOT safe. You need to treat the range as if you are shooting handguns, everyone must be behind the line of fire.
Mac
Thanks Mac. How come you wouldn't use the edge forward so that the cutting edge might hit. Do you throw it sidearm, like a rabbit stick, or overhand like an axe?
Three Questions.Quote:
Originally Posted by justin_baker
1. did you eat said squirrel
2. is throwing rocks a legal method of taking game in your state
3. Has Ken read this post yet :innocent:
If you throw edge forward it could cut if you get it right, it just won't penetrate or stick in wood. I don't see this as anything more than "Redneck Lawn Darts", it's a game of skill but not really a skill for survival. It is very fun to throw a 14 - 16 inch machete and have it THUNK into the target. You can actually get very good at it with a little practice.Quote:
Originally Posted by your_comforting_company
If I was going to take small game by throwing something I would use the machete to cut a throwing stick. If by some off chance (a last chance act of desperation) I had to throw at man or beast I would reverse the blade and go for maximum penetration, cuts or slashes tend to be superficial and actually do very little damage. In reality under such circumstances I would be more likely to launch myself at the target and lead with the machete. I would much rather use a 16 inch spear point mounted on a 200 lb shaft.
Mac
ETA - I throw overhand like an axe. It is very critical when throwing a machete to keep it "cutting the air" with no axis spin. Keep your thumb off of it and make sure the blade is in line with the forearm. Arm motion is perpendicular to the ground, body bladed to the target right side forward, weight on right (front) foot. Release happens naturally when the arm comes to full extension out in front of the face.
awesome explanation. Thanks again!!
Pict, Great explanation as always, Thanks for posting
You did WHAT??? :sneaky2:Quote:
Originally Posted by justin_baker
1. He damned well better have. Fur and all. :sneaky2:Quote:
Originally Posted by welderguy
2. Probably not. What's the law in your state say about shooting criminals, justin_baker? :sneaky2:
3. I just did. Thanks for the heads-up, Welderguy! This justin_baker is gonna' stay on my radar screen for a long time. Keep an eye on him, everybody. This newbie sounds like trouble to me. :sneaky2:
Mmmmm....tenderized squirrel!:drool:
Memo to justin_baker:
Squirrels ain't worth the effort. Not enough meat. Instead, I suggest that you throw rocks at brown bears. :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken
Second Memo to justin_baker: Practice your aim by throwing rocks at 2dumb first. :sneaky2:Quote:
Originally Posted by 2dumb2kwit
Now wait a minute Ken, wouldn't it be better practice to throw at something that is fast, cause I remember several references to how SLOW 2D2K is.:innocent:Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken
He Said he killed a squirell with a rockQuote:
Originally Posted by Ken
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken
Slow?.......Yes.Quote:
Originally Posted by welderguy
Ticked off and armed?......Probably.:sneaky2: LOL
you got a pocket full of rocks too ?Quote:
Originally Posted by 2dumb2kwit
Yeah...'cuz, you know.....all my guns being lost in that canoeing accident.:innocent:Quote:
Originally Posted by welderguy
I dont know the legality of it :S (The op mentioned hunting with throwing weapons, your not getting on him with the legality of that?) This was 6-7 years ago while playing in the woods with my friends. :blushing: Trust me, im not that stupid anymore. We were slingshot hunting and messing around in the woods. As a kid i threw rocks at everything, after hundreds of tries i was bound to hit something.
I just left it there. I still feel bad about it. I would kill tons of birds with out bb and pellet guns, pathetic i know. Me and my friends would go around kill lizards and snakes too. I wouldnt do anything like today. If i killed something i would eat everything including the heart and liver and make something out of the fur.Quote:
Originally Posted by crashdive123
Anyways, i was reluctant to post this, but i figured the OP might be interested in a success story. In the right position and at the right time, it wouldnt hurt to try. If people killed kangaroos in the outback with boomarangs then there must be something to it,
Well thank you for responding and clarifying your actions, However I could go into another tangent but wont, I will say I am glad you learned from that mistake and havent repeated it since.Quote:
Originally Posted by justin_baker
And I have seen videos of how deadly accurate some Australians are with a boomerang , It is very impressive how well they hone there skill.
for the record.. if I'm desperate enough to try to kill a squirrel with a rock, I couldn't care less about the law. In fact if things are bad enough that I have to resort to throwing rocks, I'd bet the law couldn't care less and would probably join me for a meal of tenderized squirrel.
Yall are makin me hungry!
disclaimer: Since things aren't that bad YET, it is a good idea to make sure you are hunting legally. I like to practice throwing things with a friend at an old soccer ball or the like. Friend rolls the ball, I have a throw, then we switch.
I have to agree with your statement, in a SHTF situation I would be a rock chucking fool , but just to kill something with a rock to see if I can is another thing all together.Quote:
Originally Posted by your_comforting_company