Effective for survival? I don't know. But the cool factor is way high!

 

Depends on the situation. The same situations where an airrifle would be effective apply here. I.e:small game, low noise, cheap, close range(urban enviroment most likely)

However, the blowgun does not appear as a weapon to most and allows it another level of covertness.

Do you buy darts or make them, Kev?

 

Blow guns are cool! I have quite a few; a 5' black one, a 4.5' black one, two 3.5' camo colored ones and a 1.5' black shooter ... all of the small bore type. Then I just recently got one of the .625 Magnum, 4 foot, black big bore. Haven't tried that one yet, but it came from Bud-K, and they sell the darts as well. They also have the darts for the smaller bore blow guns. Back when my husband was alive, we use to have family picnics, where everyone would get together around the fire pit. The guys use to like shooting bows, and us women folk all got ourselves blow guns ... kinda to distance ourselves from the testosterone ... The guys would usually end up with us before it was over. We all got pretty good! I know they will kill small game ... Nick was clowning around in the kitchen one morning, and he had the window open. I use to feed the little squirrels and bunnies in the yard, and this one squirrel was eating near the bottom of this tree. Nick thought he would be funny, and scare the little critter, so he decided to shoot one of the darts above the squirrel. Well, he forgot about the decline in trajectory, and the dart went right through the little guy. He quivered a couple of times and fell over dead. I was not pleased! ... however, they will kill small animals. They have stun darts as well, with a flat tip ... kinda shaped like a wad-cutter bullet. The object is to stun the critter until you can get your hands on it. That would probably be the best choice for birds, unless you got really good! At least your ammo wouldn't fly away! For target shooting, I like the 5 foot blow gun the best, but like I said, I haven't tried the new big bore. Will let you know how that goes.
Graywolf

 

A blowgun can be a serious (although short range) weapon. I have had one for many years - an old "Yaqua Indian" model .38 caliber 6-footer.

The amazing thing about the blowgun is how very accurate it can be with a small amount of practice.

I make my own darts. A 3-inch dart is optimum for chipmunks and red squirrels. Cut piano wire to a 3-inch length and pull a bead off your strand of beads. Heat the end of the wire in the flame of a candle and stick it into the plastic bead where the string passed through it when it was on the strand.

That is all you need to do, but I go ahead and chuck a stone in my Dremel tool and spin the point of the wire to a needle sharpness.

These darts hit like a ton of bricks. If you blow one into a piece of plywood, it will hit so hard you will need a pair of pliers to remove it. It is not uncommon to "nail" a squirrel into the upper reaches of a tree so that it never comes down (in one piece).

I have heard of blowgun darts up to 8-inches long being used to take javalina (with nicotine poison applied).

I have no doubt that a blowgun could find an application as a silent attack weapon or sentry eliminator. Picture an 8-inch dart buried up to the bead in a skull. Not only would there be a good chance that the person would have no clue as to what was happening - they might be "out" before they hit the ground; whether dead or not.

 

hey jmlay,

Any chance you could post some pics of your setup? particularly the darts...

Cheers,
-Per.

 

I have used them. I think they become much more effective with poison applied to the darts. From what I understand this is how some of the hunter / gatherers use them to procure food.

 

Yup; I can take a picture. might be a day or two - got some stuff to clear up first.

 

Okay, pictures.

Picture 1 is the "dart kit" and some finished darts and one dart before assembly. The "dart kit" is enough piano wire and costume beads to assemble 2000 darts. I've had it for at least 20 years and still no need to reorder!

Picture 2 is everything you need to make up darts. You measure wire to the length you want (I use 3-inches) and cut with the diagonal cutters. Buy a good set because piano wire is hardened and is really tough on cheapo cutters. The needle nose pliers are for pulling beads off the strand. The beads are cast on and are really tough to pull off. Light the candle and take a piece of wire in one hand and a bead in the other. Stick the end of the wire into the hottest part of the flame and give it a few seconds to heat up. Then plunge the hot tip into the bead along the channel where the cord used to run through it. The two parts weld themselves together instantly.

Picture 3 shows a close up of the Dremel tool in its bench stand, with a stone chucked up. Turn on the tool and rev it up moderately. Hold each completed dart between thumb and forefinger and "roll" it against the stone as shown. It takes only a split second to put on a point that is infinitely sharp.

Keep in mind that I may be showing "old technology" here. I haven't had a need to re-order supplies or to upgrade to a larger caliber for many years. There is probably better stuff out on the market, but how good does it have to be? 40 years ago, I made a hell of an effective blowgun using corks from whiskey bottles, nails, and an old 12 gauge shotgun barrel to blow them out of. The darts hit like a ton of bricks.

You could probably "get there" today using lengths of baling wire for darts (Heck - good enough for one shot, anyway), plus costume jewelry beads for fletching, and a piece of seamless aluminum tubing from a plumbing or electrical supply house for the tube itself. Gump up some electrical tape at one end to make a comfortable mouth seal.

You can make a weapon out of damned near anything; you just need time, necessity, and a little motivation. Shows the futility of the whole concept of "gun control".

 

I've got one that is about 4 feet long. It's alot of fun, but I don't know how much food it would bag me. The critters would have to be very small, hence making them a hard target.

 

There was a Charles Bronson movie where he made a blowgun from scratch, though not as slick-looking as the one jimlay shows in the pics. In case anyone wants to see how it was done the movie the title was, Assassination (1987). In the movie Charles Bronson was trying to protect the President's wife, played by Jill Ireland, while assassins were trying to kill her.

So, they wind up in a hotel room and Charles is unarmed. He makes a blowgun from scratch and winds up using it to take out the assassins. Now, I doubt the blowgun shines in the area of taking out assassins. But I can tell you from experience that it is possible to make a blowgun from scratch using readily available materials and it doesn't take long. Yes, after I saw that movie as a kid my brother and I just had to go try it. What we made would kill a squirrel with no problem. I'll do my best to explain how to make one. But if you could watch that part of the movie it would be better, I think.

Get a pipe, about 1/2" in diameter works fine, though any size is fine so long as it's not so large around that you can't propel your dart down it.
Next, get a wood screw, adhesive tape, and a piece of notebook paper. Roll the paper into a funnel. (small at one end and large at the other) Put the screw in the small end of the funnel with the point facing forward, out of the small end of the funnel. Tighten the funnel until it is snug around the wood screw with the screw-head inside the paper funnel. Tape the funnel in place at the seam so it doesn't come apart. Then tape the area where the screw threads come out the paper funnel, making sure to get tape on both the screw threads and the paper funnel itself.
Now put the screw end of the funnel into the pipe until the larger part of the funnel gets too big to insert further. Cut the paper funnel at the point where it gets too big to fit into the pipe. At this point you should have a "dart" that fits snugly, but not too snugly, into the pipe.
Lastly, set up a target. Put the dart into the pipe with the screw facing forward. Take a deep breath. Blow as hard as you can. The dart should nail the target.

Well, if you're looking to make one of these I wish you luck and please report your results.

Sorry if my description of making one of these is lacking. I'll do my best to clear up any questions if I see anyone asking in this thread.

 

Well, people may jump my case for this, as most of the posts seem pro blow-gun. I Used to sell them and I have had (no joke) thousands. They are fun. But a practical survival item...Not in my book. I have killed mice in my cabin with them though. So, keep on the wall, but leave it at home. A take down .22 would serve better I think. (I have seen alot of your posts and vids kev, and I'm sure you know your guns!)

 

We used to shoot mice with them all the time. We shot one onetime and it just got the skin but it pinned it to the wall and we got close and shot it between the eyes. We dont have it anymore though.

 

i make a 7 foot, .54 caliber blowgun designed to be lethal using a # 11 exacto knife as a blade. i have had a 100% first shot kill percentage on small game up to the size of opossum. message me for pictures or to order one. this blowgun fires an 8 inch dart at 375 fps and would be useful against humans if hit in vital areas when silence is of utmost importance. for pictures or to place an order pm me.

 

V, can you make us an offer in business area, please? Also, it will be great if you can make an review and to present advantages and disavantages of such gun.

Bogdan

 

I've seen plenty of TV programs about the Indians who live in Brazil.
The way they hunt with them is amazing! They take out all sorts of birds, monkeys and other stuff with them. Their aim is spot on and they shoot stuff out of the jungle canopy. Of course it must help a little having the darts tipped with highly toxic poisons! As you all know I'm sure, they get this poison from certain species of tree frogs.

Could you improvise a fast acting poison?

YB.

 

good idea bog, ill do that. i usually sell them for $35 for the basic model, with the darts going for 1.00 a piece, or $15 for 20. i do offer package deals depending on the situation. i do this as a hobby so i dont have anything written in stone.

i will try to get a review posted within the next week or two.

york, there are many poisons in the states that can be utilized. for liability and legal reasons i wont post them publicly, im sure you understand. i myself have intentionally not memorized them so as im not tempted to "test" their potency. fortunately, with a little research it isnt hard to find, but there are some really interesting poison applications, particularly in the southwest region.

 

where can I get one

 

Most archery shops or what we in the Netherlands call 'dump stores', army dump shops have them. You know the kind of shop that has bows and arrows and army clothing and that stuff usually also has blowguns.

I own a 4 feet .40 blowgun. Not homemade but just bought at the army dump store. It cost me 20 bucks and I think it's nice for targets at a range of no more then 20 meter. After that you have no more accuracy and too much projectile drop with the one I have.

I´ve seen some ´big bore blowguns´ made by coldsteel. They are in the calibre .625. Those are a bit more expensive but I´m curious how they do. If I have some cash left (which is almost never the case) I might consider buying one but for now I think I´ll prefer airguns over blowguns.

 

I don't have one (yet?) but they are definitely a real survival item.
There are tribes who rely on them to bring in small to medium size game.

I learned to use the one a friend of mine had relatively easily.
Aiming was a little weird to get down but once you have it it's easy.
I was ignorant of just how accurate they can be when used correctly.
I became really good with aiming.

They can be used if you are out of smaller caliber bullets.
They are cheap and easy and renewable and are the tribes 'firearm' weapon.
Just remember not to look up if you send a dart up into a tree.

Here a guy hits the flame out on a candle from 13 meters.
He says he can't tell for sure if he hit the flame but I think he did.

Aiming and a note on accuracy.
http://www.aaronsanson.co.uk/23.html

 

Have a .40 cal 6 foot take down. Not my first line, but I can hit a squirrel sized object at 35 or 40 feet. Very quiet, but you do tend to lose the ammo. The Cherokee had a blowgun that was very effective. Constructed of river cane it was about 5' long and 1/2" in bore. The dart was roughly the size of a pencil, pointed on the end, fire hardened of hickory. The fletching was a 3" band of cat tail fluff tightly packed and secured.

 

I have one , it's a 2 piece model i bought years ago, I got pretty decent with it, I'm planning on making one soon, I saw a pretty cool instructible on making an explosive release valve for one which uses a bike pump, you might wanna check it out.

 

i hade one that i got from Cabelas years ago...it shot little paintballs too!

 

you guys are too much I keep finding more and more things im interested in on this site. i have had a blowgun i guess about 30 cal for almost 30 years. the darts are 3/8" plastic bead with hardened wite of some sort i sharpened to a needle point I havent hunted with it but its deadly accurate to a decent distance.
I'm thinking with the appropriate poison applied to the dart it would be deadly. did you know blowguns are illegal in calif?

 

I am new to these forums, but have been shooting blowguns for years. I started out with a .40 caliber and found that it was good for target practice and nothing more. I then moved to copper conduits and pipes, but found that the time it took to make the ammo was not worth the risk of loosing it during practice. I also had problems making a cone that would hold up to repeated firing. After years of shooting I came across the .625 big bore blow guns. I purchased one of these and have never looked back.

I purchased mine from Boar Hog Blowguns and found that it was superior to my other guns in every way. The barrel is made of sturdy aluminum that supposedly will hold 70 lbs before bending. This has proven its worth when I navigate through the dense underbrush. The large caliber allows darts with some serous killing power to be fired. Cold Steel makes a wide variety of darts for different purposes. Their bamboo and mini broadhead darts are great, but their plastic shafted darts should be avoided. What I have been doing is taking the cones off my worn out factory darts and using them to make homemade darts. Using 1/4 aluminum tubing, epoxy, an old cone, and some piano wire I have been able to make some .25 caliber darts that will hit targets accurately at 100 feet.

The large caliber provides a lot of power to play around with and is easily able to sink even a pointed bamboo skewer into a tree at 100 feet. I have seen several hunting videos were this type of gun was used and saw how effective it really is. The small game season ended right as I got mine so I will have to wait till next winter to post my own results, but I have every confidence that my gun will perform.

Although though a firearm will almost always be more effective the blowgun does have its place among hunting weapons. I would highly recommend getting one because if nothing else it is a great source of cheap entertainment.

 

I use my blowgun to shoot rats and i coat them with poison from the plant named Ranunculus acer L. , the poison doesnt take heat so you just have to cook the game you killed. My cats eat rats so i had to found something that wil not kill them. Also you could try to get the juices from the nedels of jew wood but then you couldnt eat it.

 

here' the one i use, it takes down small game with ease.

http://www.coldsteel.com/bigboreblowgun.html