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Primitive Weapons

silenthunterstudios

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In a SHTF situation, survival situation, or maybe just for fun, I'd like to see your primitive weapon ideas. Simple to complicated, I'd like to see what you could do with the materials nature has available. You can use a modern knife or multitool to make them, they can be used for survival too, not just self defense. Stuff that a person not well versed in woodcraft would be able to do, to the experienced woodsman dropped in the outback with only a pen knife. :confused:

You get the idea.
 
long spear,
short stabber,
throwing stick,
sling.

about the easiest ones I can think of with your parameters.
 
One of the great aspects of learning to make traps and snares for small animals is the fact they work when they are scaled up. That is all I will say about that.
 
"The Atlatl and Dart is the first true and natural weapons system of the human race, invented thousands of years before the Bow and Arrow and used longer by humans than any other weapon system yet developed. It was the Atlatl and Dart that first placed humans at the top of the food chain, ranking us above all other predators."

from:

http://www.atlatl.com/
 
Clubs were used by many primative people as a main battle weapon. Something with a nice hard knot at the end and you're in business-- your basic baseball bat.

Fire hardened sticks are easy.

If you find an elk or dear carcass, the horns, jaws and other bones make for good found weapons.

From there it goes to more complex knapped and bound stone tools probably beyond the skills of untrained survivors. You need the right stone too. I've watched several recordings of knapping techniques and I guess I could make a basic chopper, but finer stuff like knife blades are expert stuff.

If you have a bunch of paracord you could make a sling or bind a rock for a mace. Natural fibers are possible, but it takes some know-how and time to make good flexible cordage. I could lash a shelter together, but that can be really crude stuff like braided bark.
 
I like the Apache throwing stars. I first saw them made by Ron Hood in Vol 6 of his Woodsmaster series. They are quick and easy to make, just need a couple feet of good hardwood. You do need cord though, but that can be made in the field too. http://www.survival.com/volume-6.htm
 
When I was traveling in Kenya a few years back I bought a club (for $2!) from some Masai children in their village. It has a rounded burl striking surface about three inches in diameter and an 18inch strait shaft that protrudes from one side of the burl. They demonstrated how to hit birds with it from about 15 feet away--It actually throws as well as my hawks. It could also really brain someone if need be.


It is similar to this Samburu club but the head is round.
http://www.rrtraders.com/weapons/mclub.htm

You could make a crude version of this club with a knife. You just need to find a burl.
 
A mace made from a(I believe) Honey Locust tree. These have long spikes, as well as clusters of these spikes on the tree. The spikes could also be made into other weapons/traps.
 
I'd go for a bow. An atlatl, though interesting technology and indisputably useful for hunting, takes a HECK of a lot of practice to get to where you can reliably hit with it. Also, there's a lot more motion involved in using an atlatl than in using a bow--which is significant from the perspective of not wanting to scare away game before you get a proper shot off.
 
a bow aint that hard to produce

Can we get some instructions? Not looking for free teaching, but the basics.

I personally have tried several times with rocks to create cherts that could be used to cut cloth. Most of the time I only had soft rocks, but one time I did get a pretty sharp rock. Don't ask me what type because I don't remember, and I don't have the rock anymore.

Thanks, keep em coming!
 
i would of liked to see how they made the flat bow in woodsmaster vol. 10.

this would be fun to learn how to make
 
Making quickie bows is a fun hobbie. Remember, you don't need a crazy draw weight for hunting. Bows of many indigenous people's bows from around the world are not difficult to draw. It wasn't until the bow was introduced into military use that it seemed to gain added draw weight.

Some tips:

Avoid removing wood from the outside of your bow stave, only from the inside. You want the fibers of the wood to be as long as possible.

If you don't have a thick enough stave, lash several together until the desired draw weight is achieved. I've done this at a weekend bushcraft course and was amazed how well it worked.

Make sure your cordage used in the bow string is strong. Bow making is dangerous if done incorrectly and you can lose your vision if your bow snaps.

I don't recall off the top of my head but I know there is an excellent book out there on Bowmaking. I think it is called the Bowyers Bible. Check it out.
 
You could make a tomahawkish tool by finding a round oblong rock that is flat and lashing it into a split piece of wood from a section of sapling.
 
I agree with the fire-hardened spear.

In college, one of my professors taught us to make stone knives using core and flake technology: there's a basic way to bang rocks together to get the razor-sharp angles, and it's quite easy to do.

You can wind up with some highly sharp, hand-sized blades with a couple of sharp smacks of the rocks.
 
I know it's been mentioned before, but Woodsmaster vol. 6 is great for learning primitive hunting weapons.

Making a bow out of either discarded materials or natural materials is covered and if I had the time, the viet-cong crossbow was a really cool idea.

I tried making one up last year and it worked much better than I had expected and it really didn't take me that long to make, but I used more than just a knife. I used a hand saw and a drill, but it can be done with just a multi-tool, it would just take much longer.
 
The bow may be easy to make, but what about the arrows? They aren't exactly child's play, believe me. A sling is easy to make, and easier to use than a bow (in my opinion). That being said, if you can get/make a satisfactory bow and arrows instead, do it.
 
Hell, I AM a primitive weapon! :D

OK, seriously now, start with a stick, any stick. Just grab the first stout stick you can find. Then look for a long stout stick. Then arrange to sharpen your long stick to a point, and, hopefully, fire harden it soon. That's a good start.

Next, look for a good throwing stick. Think "rabbit stick." Maybe your first stick will fill this role, or maybe you need to modify it or look for another. You're not trying to make a returning boomerang, but a stout stick shaped kind of like that works pretty well for bagging birds and other small game on the ground or maybe flying low. Usually you throw it sidehand so it spins or rotates horizontally and parallel to the ground. A man I worked with many years ago grew up really poor. I mean DIRT POOR! He used his daddy's claw hammer like that to throw at rabbits, and he bagged them often so the family could eat better.

Next, you may want to make a long stick with multiple points, sort of like a frog gig. Especially if you find yourself near water, you can feed yourself better with that maybe. It's not a spear usually. Use it to jab at a fish or frog and pin it against the bottom in shallow water so you can grab him with your free hand.

There are stone tools and weapons, bolos, and slings, but you can figure those out I think. The longer you're in the woods, the more tools you will make probably.

If necessity is the mother of invention, as we've been told, then poverty must be the mother of creativity.
 
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