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is the broadhead for blowguns a new innovation?

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ekalavya:
i did some youtube research ... and it seems the rabbits killed there were not shot with broadheads ...

what i question myself now ... is how deep need the darts penetrate to be lethal ?

i shot bamboo skewers through an apple .... but usual from a distance the penetration depth
is around 2" and probably less with a broadhead ....

the Jakaltek (sorry if misspelled) used to kill birds with clay pellets and thus no penetration
at all , although lethal ....

it seems also hard to believe that the efficiency of blowguns is only around 10% and 90%
are wasted for friction, air resistance and so on ....
thus a simple handy rubber slingshot is like a revolution with an estimated efficiency of 40%
or so
Germany has a low a 7 joule limitation for slingshots (just read somewhere)

7 joule sling shot ... 2.8 joule for the projectile/stone
7 joule blowgun ( ~ 0.62" diameter , 6' long)  ... 0.7 joule for the dart

actually killing a rabbit with a blowgun means to kill him with a projectile that
has less than one joule of energy at leaving the pipe

don't know how the Cherokee succeeded with just 0.5" diameter and just 6' or probably
7' length ...

Zuma:
How about a terrestrial Hawaiian sling? ???
Zuma

ekalavya:
@Zuma

I had to look it up in the wiki , although i think the answer would be ...
energy stored in a rubber band , .... no atmospheric pressure to overcome ...
so in any case it is far more efficient than a blowgun .....
(concerning energy efficiency)

<back to the blowgun>

a broadhead isn't a problem if you have enough energy .... but if there's  so little
you probably want the projectile as thin as a fine needle or syringe to get maximum penetration depth

there is probably a limit to broadhead use and i think it's something around 1 joule and
surely more than 0.8 joule for the projectile energy ...
( the data calculated from 0.62" dm 7' long blowguns)

lungs can hold six or five litres of pressurized air at 1.2 bar means around
700 joule of energy ... however to blow it through the tube only 54 joule are
needed .... so a loss of around 92% ... and of that only 0.9 joule get into the projectile
... which is less than 1.7 % ... or around 0.13% of the energy stored in the lungs

however this small amount of energy is still enough for a small and thin metal broadhead
, which only needs to be razor sharp or cutter blade sharp .... to be used effectivly

i have no data for glass , bone or wooden broadheads for blowguns ... nor any reports
someone was hunting with them
i can imagine that a real tiny heartwood broadhead would be difficult to sharpen and
i think it would also require some minium thickness ...
i heard of bamboo blades or knives .... but no reports or desriptions of heartwood blades
or knives ... which does not mean they are not feasible ...

sorry , for that to come , but i think a broadhead is comparable to a two bladed triangular
knife or dagger

Dakota Kid:
I recently met a professor who was writing a paper on the use of arrow and dart poisons by Native Americans. I was unaware that this even occurred, but apparently there is evidence to support his claim. I'm hoping to get a copy when he finishes it. The poisons were created the same way South American Natives made curare. Large quantities of toxic plants were steeped in large pots. The liquid was then boiled down and concentrated into a tar or resin. The tar was then applied to the front of the flute in the stone point or to notches cut in the front of the arrow shaft right behind the point.

I don't know which Native tribes practiced these techniques but, it could explain lethality at distances in excess of 20 yards.

ekalavya:
Just to make this thread a little less theoretical I show some darts all shot with a 120 cm long
and 14 mm (in diameter)  plastic tube bought for 20 cent or so.
The darts are all bamboo skewers and those without broadhead are tapered for more penetration.
All 2 without broadhead penetrate the 3cm styrofoam from a distance of around 6 m.
One broadhead is made from a crown cork or metal bottle stopper and although not specially
sharpened is somehow useful ... however like all broadhead darts here, it also failed to shot
through the styrofoam.

I apologise for the horrible "fletching" some of those darts have.

@Dakota ...

of course, poison makes a tiny blowgun dart an effective weapon ....
and of course there are plants and animals who produce suitable poison in North America

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