Heard of the Parabow?

tknife · Sep 1, 1999

Paragon Cutlery used to make what looked like a slingshot but was actually a small bow. Does anyone know if they are still made and where I can get one?

Mike Turber · Sep 2, 1999

Paragon still has them (last I saw) so give them a call. Ask for Jacky and tell her I said to call!
1-828-697-8833

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tknife · Sep 3, 1999

Thanks Mike, I'll do that! I've been trying to locate one for a while.

Snickersnee · Sep 2, 1999

I don't think it was so much the slingshot/bow thing that made it a parabow as much as it was the arrowhead made to slip around the tubing.

Similar in concept to what we used to call a slingbow; You had a stick with a length of string attached with a knot of some sort at the end of if and an arrow with a head that had a notch that went on the string. Then you whipped the stick and the arrow went flying.

David Williams · Sep 2, 1999

Snickersnee,

That sounds like a variation of the Atl Atl. Is there a picture of the Parabow and Slingbow online? My minds eye cannot picture any of these.

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"A knifeless man is a lifeless man"
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Kalindras · Sep 2, 1999

Hey, Snick,

Is that a city-bred cousin to the whip-bows that my dad told us how to make? Essentially, you took a buggy-whip (dating myself there, I suppose) or a springy switch, and you could use it to launch an arrow with no little force. We used a whole arrow, though...

Hmmm.

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It's the SUSPENSE that kills me! --Bugs Bunny

Snickersnee · Sep 2, 1999

Actualy, I got that out of a 19th century book called "Handbook for American Boys" which I hear could've been an earlier Boyscout Handbook.

The city-slicker version of this was using a car's radio antenae or dipstick and sliding a large nut(as in nut and bolt) over it and whipping it at your target.

I don't think it could kill, but they like the beejeezus when they hit! `Raise a welt on you as big and purple as the king of France too!

Rugger · Sep 4, 1999

I had no idea the King of France was Purple!
I need to watch more CNN. We made a similar thing out of bamboo that threw rocks- pretty accurate & packed a wallop. Kids with time on their hands can dream up some pretty evil stuff...

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James Sass · Sep 3, 1999

An interesting pistol/crossbow that is essentially working off the slingshot principle is detailed in a book called THE OSS CROSSBOWS by Phillips. The book has all the schematics. It was designed for silent assassination. It is design begging to be updated with the industrial strength rubbers and elastics developed since WWII. It's called the "Joe Lewis" and there is a smaller "Little Joe." I forget how many fps it shoots the bolt, but if it doesn't kill the mark it will knock him down in a big way. I know SEALS currently use small crossbows for a similar function, but I have never actually seen one of these.
Happy Hunting.