My Atlatl darts

[TurtleMan]

these are what i've been chuckn', all points are napped from some old glass bottle bottoms (i think mason) the loose point is my atempt at a hells gap type point, and is my largest piece to date. the harpoon is deer antler and with a unknown quartzite type stone tip. all are hafted to fore-shafts witch fit snugly into a hole in the dart. the darts i believe are vibernum wood, so far they are working pretty well. l like to use localy grown found miterials, but the next time i go to Arkansas i know of a stand of river cane with my name on it! o yes the fletching is a couple of phesant tail feathers i had laying around, try to con some budies out of some turkey or goose feathers for future fletching.

[eddies]

I like the big glass one

[drdave514]

Very cool. Do you leave the feathers lose like that? I saw a good way to attach the feathers all along and could probably find where I saw it if you are interested.

[Dennis]

Wow nice work I like the harpoon

[TurtleMan]

the fletching isn't the way i'd like to have it but it was the onty feathers i had at the time, actualy got the idea from one of my favorite mags. Primitive Archer, they had a article about some of the different styles the native americans used, this is one they used for less than ideal feathers. for people interested in reproduceing old school archery i highly recomend geting a subscryption to Primitive Archer. I would love 4 to see any archery related info that you can dig up DrD!

[drdave514]

Of course I can't find the darn video now. I'm not sure but I was thinking it was on youtube. Basically they put glue along the edge of the feather and then wrapped it spirally around with a string to hold it down while it dried, then took that string off and smoothed out the feathers. I think secured both ends first, like yours, but offset to make a helical/spiral shape instead of straight.

[jbridered]

Nice job!

[longtimefree]

turtleman thats some nice work, im going to build an atlatl soon , i wondered if the darts used feathers , any tips or words of wisdom for a beginner like me that youve learned through trial and error ? what do you throw at? a bale of straw? whats the range on your darts ? any actual hunts to tell about? thanks for showing

[TurtleMan]

first let me say that its realy cool that people are showing an interest in this subject! Longtime, yes they used fletching, it served the same function as it does on arrows, the head of the dart slows the front down faster then the rear so the fletch helps to even this out by slowing the rear of the dart to keep it in line, they also impart spin to the dart just like rifleing in a gun. the best thing i can tell you is to start with good wood, steight and knot free, and all my other miterials besides the stones came from Hoby Loby,(the fake sinew and leather products). the longer the atlatl the farther you can throw but acuricy will suffer. about 18 to 24 in. is a good start. The back stop I use right now is a compost pile with a card board box with newspaper in it. I can now consistently hit the target out to about 25 yrds. but they will go arond 50 to 75 yrds on a distence throw. no hunts yet, tryed to go spear fishn' yesterday but the water was to chopy and i missed the only shot i got. thanx for reading!

[Ryno]

Thats really cool!