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Atlatl dart spine and length

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High-Desert:
I'm new to this atlatl dart making thing. I've made atlatl's, but never used them because I never made darts for them. I cut some red osier dogwood a few months back and found some that looked like they could make some darts. Right now they are about 6" long, but may be too limber. I'm curious how important the darts length is versus it's spine. Will it hurt to cut it down until it's the correct spine but only be 4' long? Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks guys.

Eric

willie:
Eric,

I would not cut the length down, six foot is about right.

what is the small end diameter?, and where is the balance point and the overall length?

spine is mostly about how hard you throw.

High-Desert:
The small end is about 3/8", and the balance is about 2/3 forward. I gave them a toss, they fly straight with no fletchig, but it is a very gentle toss, I would like to throw much harder.

willie:

--- Quote ---they fly straight with no fletchig  :)
--- End quote ---

what happens when you throw it harder?   what kind of range are you hoping to throw? 2/3 is prettty good balance if you are getting good flight without feathers.
 
nothing wrong with "a very gentle toss"  if you can throw it thirty yards at a target on the ground without lobing it too high.

bjrogg:
High desert all very good questions and I've been wondering the same. I saw someone on you tube say 5-6 lbs of spine but I have no idea how to measure it. I would guess the faster you would throw dart the stiffer it would need to be. If you find out let me know. I'm pretty sure if you watched the right people on YouTube you could learn a lot, but I just didn't have the time. I'll try to figure out who it was I was watching
Bjrogg

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