What can you make from a broken compound?

[Plainsman]

Ok, here's a go at improvisation again.

You need to try to come up with something for everyone of Greg's Five Essentials:

"Five survival essentials"

1. Personal Protection (clothing, shelter, fire)
2. Siganling (manmade and improvised)
3. Sustenance (water and food)
4. Travel (with and without a map and compass)
5. Health (psychological stress, environmental injuries, traumatic injuries)

You find yourself on a bowhunt with a (dreaded) compound bow. You have become lost and to top it off, your bow BREAKS at the grip. Meaning the riser has broke into TWO parts. (This happens more often than you think! Believe me!)

What can you improvise from it?

As usual try to improvise first before reading the others responses!



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Plainsman
primitiveguy@hotmail.com

You use what you have on you, then you improvise!

 

[Stryver]

I saw a bar once called "The Broken Arrow". Or maybe it was a tavern at the renfair...


I have string. I have curved limbs. All I need is a drill, socket, and fireboard, and with a bit of effort, I can have a fire.

The fire can be used for signaling, or I could make a bull roarer, though I do not know how effective they'd be for more than short range signalling, and they might scare off city-slickers searching for me. The limbs of the bow would spin pretty well, they might make a higher pitch noise for me...

The limbs can be used for digging, be it for water, food, or a fire pit or cat hole. They could also be used for throwing weapons, though I may be better off sharpening them and cutting a wooden throwing weapon.

I can use the string (It's bundled waxed thread, yes/no?) for snares, and break it down into smaller strings for small game.

I can make little nifty toys out of the pulleys, or create a block and tackle system to raise and lower my cooking pot in the fire, or me out of bed when I get lazy.


Stryver

 

[MichLee]

Ok, broken compound. I am not all that familiar with compounds having shot recurves almost exclusively.

1. I think I remember that some compounds had magnesium risers, in which case it would make good fire starting material by scraping shavings off.
2. The bow string could be used as cordage. The strands could be pulled apart and used as fishing line.
3. Bowsight could be used as lures if they have the fluorescent tips. One end could be ground sharp for a hook.
4. Strands of cable could be used as snare material.
5. The cables could be used as cordage.
6. Limbs could be used as digging instruments.
7. Misceallaneous metal pieces could be sharpened for knives or scrapers.
8. Could sharpen the heaviest piece of metal and slip it into the groove at the end of the riser, use the limb bolt to hold it in place and make a hatchete.

I am assuming if you have a broken compound in a survival situation you wold have the arrows you had also.

9. Arrows could be utilized for fishing or with an throwing stick.
10. Broadheads could be used as scalpels or knives and fishhooks.

That is about what I can think of right at the moment, will think on it more and update later.


Come on Greg, you get to play too since you were not th one who thought it up.

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Lee

LIfe is too important to be taken seriously. Oscar Wilde