Main Discussion Area > Primitive Skills

is the broadhead for blowguns a new innovation?

(1/3) > >>

ekalavya:
there is not so much written about blowgun darts ....
it seems to me , when possible they were poisoned and only some first nations
used them unpoisoned for the hunt of small game like rabbits , squirrels , birds ...

Nowadays however ... means the 20th/21th century some kind of broadheads have been used.

i estimated the weight for a blowgun dart to be 50 grain, however it might be that historically
only 30 grain darts have been used.
The "fletching" with thistle fiber, cotton, fur and so on ... causes FOC problems ....
However FOC seems to be largely ignored .... maybe because a really tiny and sharp point
was considered more important.

I also wondered why there are no spliced blowgun darts to get FOC or blowgun darts
made of bone.
Also i do not know if fire hardened tips/points are historical. Attempts to harden the points/tips
probably where not thought to be necessary, because probably the wood used seemed to be
sufficient hard.

Also except for some modern innovations and the fukiya ... blowgun darts pretty much
look like large thick needles with a strange "fletching".

It also seems to me that blowgun darts were highly optimized for air resistance ...
those darts which do not spin so much in flight fly further.

Today I tested elder(berry) pith "fletched" darts , paper cone darts and wool fletched darts
and i was surprised that the pith fletched were comparable in distance with the paper cones.
I recognized that i could further optimize the wool fletching. Binding it tighter to the shaft and
reducing the fiber length.

My explanation why "broadheads" for blowgun darts were rarely used is that it makes
the penetration area larger, that "broadheads" may cause more spin and so more air resistance.

Dakota Kid:
I made up a bunch of 9" bamboo skewer darts. I used modified exact-o blades for the head.  The cone was paper coated in CA glue. The largest animal I harvested with it was an adult rabbit. A plain needle dart is only good for target shooting. Unless it's poisoned. I'm not sure how I feel about poison. I'd be nervous I'd jab myself by accident. Curare is no joke.

Zuma:
 :) Good post ekelvaya.
Not much of a blowgun mechanic but have always had a interest.
What's FOG. What I see as a very diffult problem to optimize
is (fletching / diaphragm). (air force behind the dart vs stability and
resistance in flight) ?? In otherwords it would be cool to leave the diaphragm
in the gun and get it off the dart? Just minimum fletching.
The point or tip would be more of an accuracy problem, I would guess.
Most accounts of use are with poison that I know about.
It would be interesting to see how it would go with a stone tipped dart.
Zuma

stickbender:
   
     The Cherokee, darts, were made of hickory, and other woods, and were anywhere from 12-14 inches or so.  There is historical reports of the Cherokees taking game as large as Racoons.  With a heavier dart, you could use a broad head, small, but sharp.  I have flattened out the little steel darts, for the commercial blow guns, and they penetrate quite well.  They are not super wide, and are very sharp, and are mainly leaf shaped.  I don't know if the Cherokees, used any form of broad head, but again, there is historical records, of them shooting squirrels, in the eye, and killing rabbits out from quite a distance, I believe it was like 50 yds. or so, or maybe even more.  But the first Europeans were quite impressed by the skill of the Indians, and their blow guns, and darts.
                                    Wayne

ekalavya:
Well, Dakota Kid proved again it is possible ....
however the Cherokee did not use paper cones

@stickbender

50 yards really ? the problem is until now I have not seen a Cherokee dart with a broadhead ....

i read the lethal range was below 20 yards ....

@all

it seems to me that the North American 1st nation darts did not kill by blood loss , but by penetrating
critical or lethal spots like the brain through the eye or the heart or others ...
could be the wooden dart got damaged anyway and the damaged dart made the injury deadlier

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page