Blowgun

A blowgun (also called a blowpipe or blow tube) is a simple ranged weapon consisting of a long narrow tube for shooting light projectiles such as darts. It operates by having the projectile placed inside the pipe and using the force created by forced exhalation ("blow") to pneumatically propel the projectile. The propulsive power is limited by the strength of the user's respiratory muscles and the vital capacity of their lungs.

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I just made a laser guided blowgun for under $3, but don’t let its simplicity fool you. It’s powerful enough to break glass, and even blast darts into concrete. In this project we’re making a custom laser sighted blowgun, that not only looks cool, but adds another dimension to the fun you can have, in the backyard. Let’s start this project with a roll of scotch tape, a stack of sticky notes, and a paper party hat. I’m using the small 2x2 squares, and if we wrap one carefully around the tip of the hat, the cone shape acts as a forming guide for making a pointy paper dart. We’ll need a little bit of tape to reinforce the tip and hold it altogether, so when it slides off, it’ll still keep its conical shape. Now watch what happens if we push the tip into a 1/2” PVC tube and give it a little twist. You can see the pressure leaves a little mark right where it starts getting too big for the tube. Let’s carefully trim along the inside edge of the marking, and just like that, we’ve made a mini paper dart that’ll fit perfectly inside the blowgun barrel. But it’s not quite ready to use yet. We still need to add some weight to the tips so they’ll fly straight. I found one of the quickest and easiest ways to do that, is to squirt a little hot glue inside the cones until they’re about 1/3rd of the way full. If you don’t have hot glue, try pulling off a little piece of poster putty instead, and shove it down into the tip with something like a screwdriver. That’ll work just as good. Alright, we’ve got some paper darts. All we need now is a blowgun, so let’s work on making that next. I went to the hardware store and picked up a 2 foot length of 1/2” PVC pipe, and a reducing adaptor. This female adaptor is 3/4” on one side, and reduces to a 1/2” slip connector on the other. Now if we simply push the adaptor onto the tube and give it a little tap, we’ve just created a super simple blowgun that can be used right away. You can see the weighted darts fly amazingly straight, and will take out paper cups with an impressive amount of power. They’re just strong enough to do a little damage, but still safe enough to shoot around the house. Not that you should. But you could. Alright, let’s take this system to a whole new level with a roll of duct tape, and some wire nails. I got this roll of camouflage tape from the hardware store, and we’ll need to start by putting a long strip on the table with the sticky side facing up. Now watch this. If we carefully set the pipe lengthwise in the center of the tape, then gently rock it from side to side, the tape will start to wrap itself around the tube. Doing the same thing with a second piece of tape will cover any gaps, and just like that, our blowgun’s got a custom camo wrap. Now just add some electrical tape around the tip of the barrel and around the mouthpiece, to cover the rough edges and make it look a little nicer. At this point, you can see our blowgun is starting to look pretty serious. So let’s get busy making some rounds of ammunition that are a little more serious as well. I’m using #16 and #18 wire nails, because they’re relatively lightweight, and have a nice flat head on the top. You can see when a nail gets pushed through an empty paper cone, it instantly transforms into a high speed nail dart. It’ll work fine just like this, but to make it a little more durable, try adding a dab of hot glue on the inside of the cone, then pulling down on the nail until the head catches firmly at the bottom. They’ll need about 2 minutes for the glue to cool and harden, so while we’re waiting, why don’t we try making something a little different. A stack of colored sticky notes will make different colored darts, and just for fun I snipped the tips off these purple ones and drove small screws deep into the glue. I call these ones my glass breakers, and you’ll see how they got that name in just a minute. Now if you wanna experiment with different types of darts, you can really use any length of nail you want. Smaller darts will be easier to shoot, and fly faster, while heaver darts will penetrate deeper and do more damage. Now that we’ve got some good ammunition, we’re gonna need a way to store it. I found a 6” length of 1/2” foam pipe insulation for a little over a dollar, and tried cutting little donut shapes off the end, about 3/4” thick. I used some electrical tape to reinforce the outside of the disc, then just for looks, used a black marker to color the foam a little bit darker. The next step is to make another foam disc the exact same way, then slide both of them onto the barrel of the blowgun. At this point, we’re ready to modify the quiver so it’ll carry 8 rounds of ammunition. I found a phillips head screwdriver and carefully heated it over a flame for about 20 seconds. That get’s it just hot enough to burn little holes into the foam on contact. Just make sure you’re only burning holes in the top disc because we’re gonna want the bottom one left intact. You can see the 8 holes we made space the darts evenly, and guide the nails as they push down into the padding below. These makeshift quivers keep all the darts securely in place, while protecting the tips of the darts at the same time. Alright, our customized blowgun is looking pretty impressive, and we could stop here. But let’s go one step further, and give it a laser. I picked up a red laser pointer from the dollar store and hot glued it 8-1/2” back from the tip of the barrel, then reinforced it with a couple of zip ties, for durability. The thing I like best about these $1 lasers are how one button operates an LED flashlight, while the other activates the laser sight, making this system operable in the dark. Now I got a slightly better laser from the pet section of the grocery store and turned it into a custom laser scope that compliments the gun really well. With this setup, the position of the laser can be fine tuned with amazing precision, which you can see, results in surprisingly accurate shots. Alright, now that we’ve got a custom, laser guided blowgun, let’s have some fun. I took mine outside and found that the darts easily penetrate into wooden posts with out even trying. They’ll also stick into tree trunks, or completely abuse the side of a wooden deck, like the one on my kids playhouse. I was able to hit some targets from over 100 feet away, and if I missed, the darts just sailed right into the concrete wall behind it, which actually blows my mind completely. I still don’t really know how these stick into cinderblock, but they do. For one last experiment, I tried loading one of the glass breaker rounds, and fired at a glass full of water. Needless to say, they do live up to their name. Now you’ve probably realized that if you use different rolls of tape, you can customize your blowgun any way you want, and if you want a safer kind of ammo, try using colored mini marshmallows. They’re the perfect fit for 1/2” PVC, and can be shot safely, but still with incredible accuracy. Well now you know how to make an incredible, laser guided blowgun, that will rattle off nail darts with power and precision. The best part is, if you make these in bulk, they can cost as little as $2.50 each. And that’s including the $1 laser. Well that’s it for now. If you liked this project perhaps you’ll like some of my others. Check them out at www.thekingofrandom.com

History

Many cultures have used such a weapon, but various indigenous and aboriginal peoples of East Asia, Southeast Asia, Western Europe, North America, Central America (the Huehuetenango region of Guatemala), and South America (the Amazon Basin and the Guianas) are best known for its historical usage.

Projectiles include seeds, clay pellets, and darts. Some cultures dip the tip of the darts in curare or other arrow poisons in order to paralyze the target. Blowguns were very rarely used by these tribes as anti-personnel weapons, but primarily to hunt small animals such as monkeys and birds. The North American Cherokee were known for making blowguns from river cane to supplement their diet with rabbits and other small creatures.

Blowguns are depicted in paintings on pre-Columbian pottery and are mentioned in many Mesoamerican myths. Back then and today, the Maya use a blowgun to hunt birds and small animals with spherical dry seeds and clay pellets. The clay ammunition is made slightly larger than needed (to allow for shrinkage and refinement) and stored in a shoulderbag. The outside of the dry clay pellet is shaved off and burnished right before use.^[1]

Shorter blowguns and smaller bore darts were used for varmint hunting by pre-adolescent boys in traditional Cherokee villages.^[2] They used the blowguns to reduce the population of small rodents such as rats, mice, chipmunks and other mammals that cut or gnaw into food caches, seed and vegetable stores, or that are attracted to the planted vegetables. While this custom gave the boys something to do around the village and kept them out of mischief,^[3] it also worked as an early form of pest control.^[4] Some food was also obtained by the boys, who hunted squirrels with blowguns well into the 20th century.^[5]

Today blowguns are used with tranquilizer darts to capture wildlife or to stun caged dangerous animals. Herpetologists use blowguns to capture elusive lizards with stun darts. Blowguns are also used recreationally, with either darts or paintballs.

Sport blowgun

There are several competition styles practised around the world. A standardization of competition style, based upon fukiya, is being pursued by the International Fukiyado Association and hopes to become an Olympic event. It is a 10-metre (33 ft) target shooting, using a standardized length 120 cm or 48 inch, and barrel caliber, dart shape, length and weight are free. In each round the shooter shoots 5 darts and there are 6 rounds per game, for a total of 30 darts. The target faces are 7 (6 cm), 5 (12 cm), 3 (18 cm) points. The bullseye is 160 cm above the floor.

Two other styles are also being pursued to make up the Olympic blowgun event, both based upon the Cherokee Annual Gathering Blowgun Competition. The Field Style competition is similar to the winter Biathlon, where the shooter runs from a starting line to a target lane, shoots and retrieves the darts, and continues to the next station. The course length varies from 400 to 800 m (440 to 870 yd) or longer, with from 9 to 16 targets at various heights and shooting distances. The final style is the Long Distance target shoot. The target is a circle of 24 cm (9 in) diameter, and the firing line is 20 m (66 ft) away. Three darts are fired by each shooter, at least one of which must stick in the target. All successful shooters move to the next round, moving back 2 m (6.6 ft) each time.

The sport blowgun competition is managed by the International Fukiyado Association, with which national associations in the United States, France, Germany, and the Philippines are affiliated.

Gallery

A Dayak man using a blowgun, Dutch East Indies, circa 1920
Rivercane quiver with blowgun darts, fletched with bull thistle
Demonstration of Eastern Cherokee blowgun in Oconaluftee Indian Village, Cherokee, North Carolina
An Achuar man with a blowgun, Ecuador
A Jakaltek Maya holds a clay pellet between his lips as he prepares to insert it into his blowgun in Guatemala.
A Jakaltek Maya hunter aims at the eye of his target and then blows a clay pellet towards it.
Illustration c. 1480 of medieval Europeans using a blowgun to hunt birds.

Materials

Darts are typically made of hardwoods to prevent cracking, although bamboo skewers can be used informally. The dart's fletch can be made of many materials, such as down, feather tips, and animal fur. Modern materials, such as aluminium or carbon-reinforced plastic, are also used.

In Japan, the competition darts are made of cellophane rolled into a cone (Fukiya), topped with a non-pointed brass brad. The Japan Sports Fukiya Association JSFA has privatized the sport, and all materials must be purchased from them. International Fukiya Association IFA chairman H.Higuchi promotes worldwide blowgun rule cooperating with other countries.

In other nations, the modified piano wire is used to make the 0.40 in (10 mm) cal and 0.50 in (13 mm) cal darts, with certain manufacturers making specialty darts for odd sized or larger caliber barrels (0.35 in [9 mm] cal, 0.625 in [16 mm] cal, 0.68 in [17 mm] cal, and 0.75 in [19 mm] cal).

Use of home-made darts in the larger sizes, or for hunting is common, utilizing bamboo skewers (3 and 6 mm or 1⁄8 and 1⁄4 in diameter), wire coat hangers, and even nails, or knitting needles.

Specifications

As a primitive weapon, there are no set dimension for a blowgun's length and diameter. However, generally there are several sizes:

Fukidake — diameter is 13 mm (0.51 in) cal in Japan. Tournament length is 120 cm (47 in), but for practice one can use a 50 cm (20 in) tube. No mouthpiece is used; users wrap their lips around the tube. International versions can be slightly more flexible, allowing a tube of 122 cm (4 ft) and 13 mm (0.50 in) cal under IFA rules. Darts consist of a paper cone 20 cm (8 in) long, weighing 0.8 g (3⁄100 oz).
Cherokee – made of river cane,^[6] 2 to 3 m (6 to 9 ft). Dart is 15 to 56 cm (6 to 22 in) long and made of locustwood or other available hardwoods such as oak, ash, maple, walnut, etc., fletched with thistle down or rabbit fur, that provides an air seal.^[7]
Jakaltek — wooden blowgun averages 1 m (3 ft) long with a sight placed 30 cm (12 in) from the end. Clay pellets are the most common type of ammunition and clay is sometimes added under the sight when the diameter of the blowgun is too thin for more stability and a better aim.
Modern (US/EU) — typically has a diameter of 0.40 in (10 mm) cal, however, both the 0.50 in (13 mm) cal and 0.625 in (16 mm) cal are admitted for competitive shooting, with restrictions on barrel length and darts dimensions/weight; with varying lengths having distance restrictions imposed. Bell-shaped mouthpiece. Standard length limited to 121 cm (48 in) in IFA sanctioned competition.
Paintball marker — made to be identical to the size of a 0.68 in (17 mm) cal paintball.
Sumpit — usually about 1.2 to 1.8 m (4 to 6 ft) in length and 2 to 3 cm (0.79 to 1.18 in) in diameter. It is made from bamboo or wood, and can be a single piece or two to three pieces joined. Metal spearheads are uniquely commonly affixed at the tip, allowing them to also be used as stabbing weapons. They use thick short darts with soft cork plugs or resin-coated feathers or fibers at the blunt end. Bird-hunting versions can use clay pellets.^[8]^[9]

Legality

A law passed in Guatemala in the 1930s outlawed the use of the blowgun in an effort to protect small game. It was difficult to enforce in rural areas, but was one of the reasons for the decline of blowgun use in Guatemala.^[10]

In the United Kingdom under the Criminal Justice Act 1988, and in Australia, the blowgun is categorized as an offensive weapon, and as such it is illegal to manufacture, sell or hire or offer for sale or hire, expose or have in one's possession for the purpose of sale or hire, or lend or give to any other person. Antique blowguns are, however, exempt.^[11]

In Canada, the blowgun is classified as a prohibited weapon and is defined as any device that "being a tube or pipe designed for the purpose of shooting arrows or darts by the breath".^[12] Any imported blowgun must be deactivated by either drilling a hole or by blocking.^[13]

In the Republic of Ireland, blowpipes (blow guns) are classified as illegal offensive weapons.^[14]^[15]

In the U.S. state of California, blowguns are illegal.^[16] They are also illegal in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., but are legal elsewhere. There is currently no age requirement for using a blowgun.^[17]

Poisoned darts

Shooting darts with a blowgun is an extremely stealthy, and even lethal, hunting technique if the darts are poisoned with plant extracts or animal secretions. In Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, some isolated areas in South America, and in the Amazon and Orinoco basins, blowgun hunters fill the tips of their darts with curare. The explorer Joseph Gumilla first mentioned the use of this poison. In ancient literature, it's also referred to as uiraêry, uirary, uraré, woorara, and wourali.

The Ticuas, an ethnic group from Brazil, Colombia, and Peru, produce a type of curare called Ticuna. This poison acts quickly on the prey, killing birds like the toucan in a matter of three to four minutes and small monkeys in about eight to ten minutes.

In the Orinoco basin,^[18] the blowgun and curare are used by: the Hoti, who make blowguns that are unique in their components; the Panare, who obtain blowguns from the Hoti; the Huottuja, or Piaroa, who get their blowguns from the Yekuana or Maquiritares; the Maquiritare, who get their curare from the Piaroa; and the Pemones, who also get their blowguns from the Yekuana or Maquiritares, though they make their own curare.

In the upper Rio Negro basin,^[19] the combination of blowguns and poisoned darts is used by the Curripacos, or Banivas, who make their own blowguns using technology and materials different, in part, from those of the ethnic groups of the Orinoco. They also produce their own curare. Their ancestors, the Waodani, used a match known as kakapa along with the curare to impregnate the darts of their blowpipes.

The Piaroa are known for making curare to impregnate the darts of their blowguns. They produce it beginning with extracts of different species of plants from the Strychnos genus^[20]- mainly maracure (Strychnos crevauxii)- mixed with kraraguero sap to increase the adhesion of the poison. An animal hit by a dart poisoned using the Piaroa recipe usually dies within fifteen minutes, depending on its body mass.

In the Philippines, Borneo, and Sulawesi, the sumpit (or sumpitan) blowgun darts are typically coated in the sap of Antiaris toxicaria (upas) which causes convulsions and death by cardiac arrest. Uniquely among blowguns, sumpit are also commonly tipped with metal spearheads for use in close combat or when the ammunition is exhausted, functionally similar to bayonets.^[8]^[9]

The Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia use the concentrated sap of Antiaris toxicaria (Malay : ipoh) to coat the point of their darts.^[21]

References

^ Carol Ventura. "The Jakaltek Maya Blowgun in Mythological and Historical Context", in Ancient Mesoamerica 14.2: 257–268, 2003.
^ Cherokee, Blowgun, Bibliography. 2011. Contains a brief bibliography and article on the subject of blowguns.
^ Health, Physical Education, Recreation a, and Hilliard, K. An instructor's guide to traditional Native American games of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee: grades 5-8. Middle Tennessee State University, 2014. Abstract: The purpose for this study was to develop a guide for instructors to use in understanding and teaching traditional games of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee. This guide is intended not only to provide an educational resource for instructors to use in teaching how to play traditional Eastern Band of the Cherokee games, but also as a resource to utilize in passing on historical and traditional information about each game. In creating this study the researcher identified two major topics to be reviewed: (1) Historical information relating to Native American culture with an emphasis on the Eastern Band of the Cherokee and traditional games of the Eastern Band (to provide a historical background of each game, including traditional purposes, how each game was played, traditional equipment, and other beneficial information for instructors and students). (2) Curriculum development information (to guide the researcher in developing the components and format for the instructor's guide). After reviewing the historical information available through interviews and literature, three categories of Eastern Band of the Cherokee games were found. These categories include games of skill and dexterity; games of amusement; and games of chance. Within the games of skill and dexterity category ten traditional Eastern Band of the Cherokee games were noted: arrow/dart throwing, tipping, and tossing games; blowgun games; chunkey; cornstalk shooting; a hunting game; kickball; marbles; a running game; stickball; and tug-of-war. Within the games of amusement category only one traditional Eastern Band of the Cherokee game was noted, a string game called Crow's Feet. Within the games of chance category there was also only one traditional Eastern Band of the Cherokee game found, a basket dice tossing game called Jacksnap. After reviewing the curriculum development literature, the Tennessee Instructional Model (1984) was selected for the overall design of the instructor's guide, with the added features of photographs of traditional equipment, when available, and lead-up activities which teach the skills necessary to play each game. By combining the Native American historical information and curriculum development information the instructor's guide was created, which includes an introduction to the Eastern Band of the Cherokee people and detailed lesson plans for each traditional game. The guidebook was constructed for the developmental characteristics of students in the fifth through the eighth grade. It is hoped that this guidebook will serve as a tool for instructors to use in keeping alive the history and traditions of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee games.
^ Ruehl, Ron, and Lawson S. Warren. Hayes Lossiah: Cherokee Blowgun Maker. Raleigh, N.C.: N.C. Dept. of Cultural Resources, 1985. Summary: This program, set during the Cherokee fall festival in North Carolina, highlights the work of Hayes Lossiah, Cherokee craftsman and blowgun maker. Lossiah demonstrates the construction of a traditional Cherokee blowgun.
^ Smith, Jim "Crow". 2017. "The Modern Blowgun". The Backwoodsman "The magazine for the twentieth century frontiersman specializing in trapping, woodslore, survival, gardening, muzzleloading & homesteading". Volume 38. September/October 2017. Pages 58–60.
^ Oosahwee-Voss, Eric. River Cane: Its Ecological and Cultural Perspectives in Oklahoma Cherokee Culture. 2012.
^ "Cherokee Games." Archived January 15, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Cherokee Heritage Center. (retrieved 19 Dec 2009)
^ ^a ^b Marinas, Amante P. Sr. (17 April 2012). Blowgun Techniques: The Definitive Guide to Modern and Traditional Blowgun Techniques. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 9781462905546.
^ ^a ^b "Sumpit: The Filipino blowgun". The Manila Times. 24 January 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
^ Edwin Shook. Blowguns in Guatemala. In Notes of Middle American Archaeology and Ethnology, III, no. 67, pp. 37-43. AMS Press, New York, 1946.
^ Statutory Instrument 1988 No. 2019 The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Order 1988 (Coming into force 18 January 1989)
^ Department of Justice Canada (1998-12-01). "Part 3. Section 12.". Regulations Prescribing Certain Firearms and other Weapons, Components and Parts of Weapons, Accessories, Cartridge Magazines, Ammunition and Projectiles as Prohibited or Restricted (SOR/98-462). Archived from the original on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
^ Government of Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada. "Information archivée dans le Web" (PDF). publications.gc.ca. Walter Seaton v. Commissioner of the CCRA AP-2002-020. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
^ "Frequently Asked Questions". 25 January 2019.
^ "Electronic Irish Statute Book (EISB)".
^ CA Penal Code §20010 Archived 2016-03-07 at the Wayback Machine California Legislative Information (retrieved 01 Feb 2016)
^ "Legal and Safety Notices." United States Blowgun Association. (retrieved 19 Dec 2009)
^ Jett, Stephen (1991). "Further Information on the Geography of the Blowgun and Its Implications for Early Transoceanic Contacts". Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 81 (1): 89–102. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8306.1991.tb01681.x – via JSTOR Journals.
^ Yde, Jens (1948). "The Regional Distribution of South American Blowgun Types". Journal de la Société des Américanistes. 37: 275–317. doi:10.3406/jsa.1948.2372.
^ Duke, James (1994). Amazonian Ethnobotanical Dictionary. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
^ Endicott, Kirk M. (2008). The headman was a woman : the gender egalitarian Batek of Malaysia. Endicott, Karen Lampell. Long Grove, Ill.: Waveland Press. ISBN 9781577665267. OCLC 166372312.

External links

The Blowgun Forum
Lefora Blowgun Forum
Deutscher Blasrohr Verein
France Sarbacane Sport Amateur
Deutscher Blasrohr Sport Club
International Fukiyado Association
Japan Sports Fukiya Association
United States Blowgun Association
Cherokee blowgun
Hunting by more natural methods from The Smoky Mountain News

This page was last edited on 12 March 2024, at 05:54

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