ESEE RAT Arrowheads, ideas...

[Don Rearic]

I appreciate it! Hopefully we can get someone to make that thing and I think that would be great.

That trap is nasty, isn't it?

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Another example of how potentially vicious bamboo can be!

I believe a bamboo stake weapon was the inspiration behind this Condor creation.

 

[shotgunner11]

Another thread in here made me think back about this, Shotty.

My brother likes to game zombies! Not because he believes in them or believes there is going to be some type of vampire-zombie-virus like "28 Days Later" or "I am Legend/Last Man on Earth/Omega Man" but simply because given the parameters of fictional zombie infestation, if you can game that and come out on top, perhaps surviving in more mundane circumstances would be easier.

What I like to game is this:

You have a large ruck and it's in the trunk of your car. You drive to wherever you are going to escape and you get out of the car and you pop the trunk and you put the ruck on and you walk in the woods and you're gone.

What do you need if you want to do that? Not that you intend on doing that, but this is the mental game.

The whole zombie underground thing, to me, has merit. It brings some levity to the otherwise mundane subject of survival. It's fun, makes you think outside the box and has brought alot of people around to the survival mindset.

I read the zombie books, watch the zombie movies and go to other online forums that discuss the topic. Yes, I am a NERD!

Another example of how potentially vicious bamboo can be!

I believe a bamboo stake weapon was the inspiration behind this Condor creation.

In my opinion, bamboo is the most useful and underestimated plant going. Growing up, we had a big, healthy stand of it growing on our property. This goes back to a time when it was hard, if not impossible to source it here in the states due to it's invasive nature and it not being "in vouge" in the gardening circles.

We used it for everything from plant stakes to bird feeders. We hardly tapped the surface of it's utility.

Asian cultures are obviously the experts. If you can find books in english from the 70's there were a few really good ones I remember from when I was a kid that my dad had laying around. All kinds of great diagrams of different projects.

I plan on getting a stand of a good, hearty, sturdy breed going on my property soon.

 

[knerd]

I plan on getting a stand of a good, hearty, sturdy breed going on my property soon.

We're still talking about bamboo, right?


I must admit I'm a zombie nerd as well. It's really not that far fetched imo, at least the "infected" zombie idea and not the voodoo zombie/ghoul concept.

 

[Cpl Punishment]

I'd much rather talk about the zompocalypse than read a bunch of douchebags that think the government is watching them because a secret cabal of Martians and jews think they have too much ammo. Might as well have a sense of humor about it.

 

[Don Rearic]

I'd much rather talk about the zompocalypse than read a bunch of douchebags that think the government is watching them because a secret cabal of Martians and jews think they have too much ammo.

WTF? You mean they're not?

 

[hwpaintballer]

Of course not don't be silly Don.

(don't let them know were on to them)

 

[1066vik]

Another example of how potentially vicious bamboo can be!

I believe a bamboo stake weapon was the inspiration behind this Condor creation.

I don't remember which conflict they came out of, but looks an awful lot like a pipe bayonet to me.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Well it IS called the "Pipe Knife" after all.

Actually, checking the product text, it might not be based off of bamboo spikes at all, though the concept is still the same.

"The Condor Pipe Knife is a very unusual design that appeals to many knife enthusiasts. The design was inspired by the ceremonial daggers used by cannibalistic headhunters from Borneo. These daggers are made from the hollow leg bone of a large jungle bird, much like an ostrich. The designer, Arlan D. Lothe, noticed how the hollow bone daggers look like a piece of pipe that has been cut at an angle from the handle to the tip. He immediately proceeded to do drawings and commissioned prototypes made from common 1" black pipe, for testing evaluation."

 

[Don Rearic]

John Minnery had it in one of his dandy little "How to Kill" books years ago.

Unfortunately, he doesn't quite understand some of the things he discovers and writes about. The concept was blood would squirt out of the thing because it was a pipe. Unfortunately, a large chunk of flesh acting like a plug would have to be blasted out by PSI pressure that our body does not produce. NEAT thought though!

 

[byrd687]

.....

 

[R.A.T.]

Yeah, but it sure will make a cool necklace!

 

[Cpl Punishment]

unless you want to leave your spear/arrowhead in the body of a large animal, I'd suggest a more gradual backtaper than the RAT point has currently (perhaps even sharpened). fine for small game, but isn't likely to be pulled easily from a large animal. equally unlikely is ensuring a one thrust/shot kill considering the nature of the weapons you'd likley have to craft to use it, and the diminutive size of the head.

better be good, or you are going to be less one arrowhead pretty quick.

Yeah, but if you are using them as frog/fish gigs, or even for a small game spear or something, you WANT the head to hold the target. I really see these used in that kind of capacity far more than hunting big game.

 

[R.A.T.]

And they will make a cool necklace also!

 

[Cpl Punishment]

Is the rumor true that the necklace you're making for Mrs. Shotty has the points facing IN??

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Yeah, but if you are using them as frog/fish gigs, or even for a small game spear or something, you WANT the head to hold the target. I really see these used in that kind of capacity far more than hunting big game.

Precisely. If RAT ever makes a full-blown spearhead then I wouldn't want it to be barbed, but arrow/gig heads SHOULD have some good barbs on them.

 

[R.A.T.]

In all seriousness, small game is what's abundant in my neck of the woods as far as "survival eating." We have a ton of frogs, fish, turtles, rats, rabbits, groundhogs, etc. that I would be more likley to kill with a simple trap, wire snare or crude spear than ever trying to go for a Whitetail deer. And even at that, the survival we preach and teach does not include taking that much food, so the arrowhead is more of a cool thing to add to a survival kit than a mandatory item. People put WAY too much emphasis on food in a survival situation. If you really want to know what matters, I'd say take a look at the sticky thread on the shelter contest. I would much rather see someone add a poncho to their kit than this bullshit arrowhead. They'll be more likely to come out of the woods alive.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Given the short period of time (less than a week) that most folks are lost in the wilderness these days, food is indeed a relatively low concern. Most folks would be totally set just bringing along some backpacking or military rations.

Likewise small game tends to be the most efficient to catch, since you can set multiple snares and keep going about your business building a shelter, gathering firewood, etc. instead of sitting in the woods for hours hoping some big critter you may or may not be able to kill comes by. That being said we have a RIDICULOUS number of deer and turkey up this way, so...

 

[Dizwolf]

All you'd need to nab a deer around here is cut a 6-8 foot log, tie a flashlight to each side, and run around the woods going "ZZOOOOOOMM VRRRROOOOOOM ZOOOOOOM"

I think in a true situation, the mental distraction/short term goal of setting this into a hunting weapon would be a great value. Shelter, fire and water dramatically trump food, but most of us are getting pretty good at those...so why not move on to the 4th, and get beyond crappy tasting edible plants

 

[Cpl Punishment]

Plus, let's be honest, they make great reusable points for traps. If you're going to be in an area for a prolonged period, traps are the least-energy path to food.