I have a bone to pick with everyone here.

K

Kevin the grey

Joined
Aug 26, 2005
Messages
4,106
Thats right. I:m P:O:ed. :mad:

No-one has mentioned bone and antler points. :D
To me they might be easier than knapping in a survival situation.
Does anyone have experience with making bone or antler spear or arrow heads?
 
Kevin, a guy down the street from me is the antler king.
No lie. I don't know him very well, but he is a big deer hunter, bowhunter, and has antlers in various stages of work next to his garage.
I was told he makes "things" out of them.

I'm guessing the "things" could be knife handles, and things like spear tips.
I'll have to mozy down and see him some day and ask about such 'things".

I would say a nice sharp antler tip, lashed to the end of a sapling would make a formidable spear tip.

But make sure no one sees you cut down the tree.
 
But make sure no one sees you cut down the tree.
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What? Tree huggers don't have ears where you live? :D
 
I won't make any bones out of accepting your point. :D

The only thing antler has as an advantage is it is already somewhat pointed.
 
One thing, need the spear to get the parts to make the spear! A lot of what you find after a year or so is very chalky and tends to loose it's hardness, although I have found some really nice sheds the last couple years.

One thing I have done, I made 4-5 small points out of Ti that I keep in my PSK. I like the idea of having the first pass in a PSK, and Ti is nice, because it is light and doesn't rust.

--Carl
 
what is ti? Good point about the nonavailability of bone or antler. I was also thinking of using some I have around the house.Maybe for a frog jigger.
 
you fracture the bones longways to get the shards needed for points then use an abrasive rock to sharpen and shape them. think of it as you would splitting would. bone can be split the way you want it to so as to make acceptable points. Antlers are not near as cooperative. you can also use a hardwood and then fire harden it for improved performance.
 
ashtxsniper said:
you fracture the bones longways to get the shards needed for points then use an abrasive rock to sharpen and shape them. think of it as you would splitting would. bone can be split the way you want it to so as to make acceptable points. Antlers are not near as cooperative. you can also use a hardwood and then fire harden it for improved performance.
Click to expand...

I did not think that bone split in predictable patterns. I thought it was more or less a solid substance or at least so uniform as to not have any particular path to follow.
 
pricecw said:
One thing, need the spear to get the parts to make the spear! A lot of what you find after a year or so is very chalky and tends to loose it's hardness, although I have found some really nice sheds the last couple years.

One thing I have done, I made 4-5 small points out of Ti that I keep in my PSK. I like the idea of having the first pass in a PSK, and Ti is nice, because it is light and doesn't rust.

--Carl
Click to expand...


i do agree with the fact that it is easier to make pionts out of bone than antler..... you could make a cool spear head for sure..... i have antler all over me yard fences and garage.... i have to keep them kind of high up, my dog timber loves to gnaw on them... :mad:

i make all sorts of stuff out of them, buttons, beads, knife handles, flintknapping tools, i've even made a few peace pipe heads.... i also recently made a few corscrew wine openers with antler handles... they have been a hit so far... i don't even drink:o ...

carl-- i would love to see some pics of those ti arrowheads.. or if you have any extra's i would love to check one out....:D :thumbup: that is an excallant idea, keeping those in your PSK... i have been carrying my TOPS harpoon lately... that thing makes a great hunting projectile.....

mike
 
smash a bone with a rock or hammer and you will notice they tend to break with the length of the bone. as with any other material you can score or scratch a pattern into it and a lot of times it will follow this pattern when you break it.
 
Darn I was hoping it was some kind of naturally available material.

I think I will stick to butcher knife tips for now.
 
kevin-- those work great... at flea markets, garage sales and thrift stores, i search for old high carbon steel butcher knives.. you can make all sorts of stuff out of them.. they hold a great edge too... i recently bought an old saw to cut up.... old band saw blades work good too...

mike
 
Yep, bit slow getting in this morning. Picked up a number of sheets of Ti surplus from the aircraft industry (cheaper).

The reason I have liked it for a PSK was the make and forget idea. With carbon steel, or even stainless, I have to worry about rust in a PSK. Plus, the weight is minimal, so I have no problem carrying them in a PSK.

Of the ones carried, there are 2-3 different shapes. Some resemble the harpoon (tends more to the ones in the old military survival kits) that would be good to add to a spear for fishing, others look more like a makeshift arrowhead.

This combo helps me have good thoughts and confidence wrt to my PSK.

Here is a few pictures of some early ones. I have since added what I think to be a better PSK one to my arsenal, let me see if I can get a picture of that one up.

psk_wrapped.jpg


update, here is my newest style. The size varies depending on the PSK, but basic shape stay the same. Easy to construct/carry.

psk_point.jpg


--Carl
 
Son a couple may be a little rough around the edges. The rest are dynamite.

That is some nice work. I don't know if I can get ti inexpensively around here. I have a few other projects on the backburner that need my attention.

Great ideas for a knife or two to throw in a kit and forget about .
 
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