are blowguns viable survival weapons

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whetrock

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Nov 13, 2010
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After I recieved my .625 cold steel a couple of months ago i've begun to reconsider the blowgun as a serious weapon I think that with some practice it would be relatively easy to take small game such as squirrels at close ranges I think that blowguns have alot going for them they are lightweight economical , and can be easily improvised from pvc pipe.
 
a great many natives in the amazon basin seem to think so as well, simpler in some ways than a bow, and potentially more robust. as with any wilderness tool, the operator would factor heavily into its effectiveness.
 
gadgetgeek said:
a great many natives in the amazon basin seem to think so as well, simpler in some ways than a bow, and potentially more robust. as with any wilderness tool, the operator would factor heavily into its effectiveness.
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They also are 6ft long and the arrows are tipped with poison. I rather use a sling shot. Though there is something to be said about its simplicity. Arrow and a tube.
 
I've wondered the same thing. It can double as a walking stick, so it has a practical use in the trail while not been used for shooting and it's no easily recognizable as a weapon. Down side is, you can't use it effectively as a staff, it can bend. If I'm taking a walking stick with me anyway, taking the blowgun would be a good option, but it wouldn't be my first choice for a survival weapon.
 
a blowgun certainly can be a viable weapon in a survival situation. That is a weapon to kill small creatures, in order to eat; not a weapon to defend ones life from another with.

however, as nate1714 said, I'd rather use a slingshot. Much more killing power. Perceptively more range, and smaller and more compact; therefore more concealable. And can use almost anything as a projectile, whereas a blowgun, you are restrained to only using specifically sized darts.
 
are blowguns viable survival weapons?

No not at all IMO, I have actually shot game with a blowgun, several times, with very poor results. A field expedient bow and arrow is much better, or better yet, Doc's snares. Hell, even a rabbit stick is better.

Also, unless your talking about a TEOTWAWKI situation, getting lost in the woods for so long that you need animal food is a bit of a stretch, if you can walk in a straight line you can walk out of practically anywhere in the lower 48 long before you are at risk for starving to death. If you can't walk you more than likely are not going to be rambling around hunting with a blowgun.

If it is a TEOTWAWKI situation I suggest that you arm yourself with something much, much more efficient than a blowgun. Chris
 
The people who use them successfully on a daily basis tip their darts with poison. They also typically shoot things like monkeys and sloths hanging in trees, not something they'd have to chase too far if it bolted.

Fun for sticking darts into targets when you're bored, but no, there are far more effective choices for even small game. Slingshots and bows with game-getter arrows. Blowguns are toys, right up there with ninja stars and crossbow pistols.
 
Thanks for the info, I had just read Micheal Janich's book Breath of Death and was wandering if anyone here had any opinions about the subject but i've reached the conclusion that they are pretty limited in power without poisen and its impractical and deadly to even experiment with poisen so i'll leave the blowgun thing to the natives.
 
whetrock said:
I think that with some practice it would be relatively easy to take small game such as squirrels at close ranges
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Surely for that purpose a slingshot would be more effective? I would assume that with a steel or lead ball a slingshot should be very effective and in a pinch any heavyish projectile could be used.

I can see that in countries where the blow gun is used with a good toxin it could be much more effective and able to take down quite large game.
 
Yeah, I remember seeing a thread not to long ago about slingshots and actually bought a couple to mess around with I used to shoot them all the time when I was younger I have no clue why I ever stopped I'm a terrible shot with mine though. I also imagine in a survival situation ammo would also be easier to improvise. Blowguns are great entertainment though.
 
In my experience the blowgun is not a humane or quick killing weapon. I've hunted with one on a couple occasions. A cottontail rabbit, and 3 or four fox squirrels were taken, but each had to be caught and dispatched. Naturally I do not use one any longer after puffing four darts into a squirrel before it fell out of the tree, which perhaps took 15 or 20 minutes to complete.

However; in a survival situation in which I needed the food a blowgun would disable the creature enough to be caught; with a slingshot I will assume I would miss, just as I always have.

In places I've been, archery tackle is probably the easiest to fabricate with some hope of success. But if you happened to have a tube, or found something, or could actually make one from available natural materials the blowgun is IME anyway, the easiest to acquire accuracy with.
 
Are you guys using the "hunting" darts that you can get or just the regular needle like darts? Thinking about getting a Vec hawk and it would be cool if there was a way to make a blow gun work.
 
Yeah briarbow you have a point there even though blowguns have a lack of killing power they can be very accurate in the right hands but so can a slingshot but for me I have trouble shooting slingshots this discussion has become very interesting though.
 
I've been a fan of the CS .625 blowguns for years. I've taken prairie dogs, ground squirrel, skunks, and a few rabbits with mine. The long bamboo darts are my choice and they will completely penetrate a small animal with an inch or more sticking out the far side. As for range, I routinely practice with mine out to 20 yards. It takes full lungs and a hearty 'puff' but they will impact accurately and with energy at that range if you practice.

There's something 'natural' about a blowgun and just a little practice will enable one to repeatably hit dime sized marks at ranges out to 10 yards or more. I've gotten to the point where I have to intentionally space my darts so I won't ruin the cone of a fired dart with the next one, the arrow splitting the shaft of the previous arrow thing. It's easy to do with a good blowgun and a bit of practice. BTW, I recommend blowguns to my handgun students as an aid to more accurate shooting. I don't precisely know why but I've found that blowgunning improves one's handgun shooting. I would most certainly want a blowgun as a part of my survival gear, they're silent and deadly.
 
When you can shoot a blowgun with precision accuracy your hand eye coordination is extremely high. It hones the senses. I can see it helping with shooting firearms.
 
oldcw4 have you checked out bore hog blowguns they're the same diameter as the cold steels and use the same darts but are made of anodized aluminum I still think there is a world of diference between the .625 and the run of the mill flea market .40 caliber but i've come to the conclusion for some skilled people the slingshot is a better choice but for me I just have trouble shooting a slingshot.
 
Shotgun said:
Are you guys using the "hunting" darts that you can get or just the regular needle like darts? Thinking about getting a Vec hawk and it would be cool if there was a way to make a blow gun work.
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Was that a blowgun hawk handle I saw when I googled vec hawk?

One of the things that make the gun accurate and powerful is length; mine was about 5 feet long- short compared to indigenous, like Cherokee, who used cane guns without poison.

I've used long pointy splinters(7-9 inches), and hard wire(4-6 inches.) Couldn't tell ya if there have been improvements but the plastic "broadheads" are junk. hard to center, ruin velocity, hampers accuracy and penetration.

It might be possible to forge flatten the end of the wire enough if you could get it really thin, or maybe glue a tiny stone flake to wood. Either is more wishful thinking than useful work.

Back to considering the Cherokee and similar groups, who were hunting in long term survival situations- they used long, I've read very long darts from hardwood, and matching long (7 or 8 feet) as I've seen demonstrated fairly large bore.

It's not too hard to find a piece of osage (if you can find any)that will split into long thin tapered splinters which is what I've used except in relatively small bore AL tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lPx9B_gR50
 
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whetrock, No, sir, the only blowguns I've ever owned/shot were homemade crude ones and then the Cold Steel. We made blowguns in Nam from about 1/2 inch ID conduit and the darts from eight penny nails with a taped on cone made from notebook divider plastic. Those were wicked and we frequently fired them using CO2 fire extinguishers. More than a few of the Vietnamese slicky boy thieves on their motorbikes get a nail buried in their butts. One type of CS dart I like a lot is the ones with the ball tips. They sting the hell out of stray cats and dogs without harming them, also the neighbor's chickens when they get loose.
 
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They are a very viable survival tool. This was taken in the Amazon jungle in April with the Wauroni. Gabriel (on the left) has one in his hand. They are about 8-10 ft long. He is wearing a bamboo section containg the darts. The small round container beside the bamboo is the poison container. The boy in the middle is holding the dart. Timothy (on the right) is holding a spear.

They are not something that (I think) would do much good for someone in the modern world. These guys use them on a daily basis, use extremely strong poison, and track their prey for long periods of time as the poison takes effect.

The guy in the picture that doesn't belong is me:D

Doc
 
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