The Ultimate Primitive SURVIVAL BOW? Cable Backed Bow Build

Wherever they lived, primitive peoples adapted to their environments and learned to make use of whatever natural materials they had to thrive in the wilds. Every primitive culture, with the exception of Australia's Aboriginals, utilized some form of primitive bow and arrow. But that presented a special survival challenge for those living in the arctic regions where good bow wood was nonexistent. Enter the cable backed bow. Using this ancient primitive technology, the natives of arctic regions used scraps of driftwood and whale bone to build powerful primitive survival bows. If you'd like to get into bow making but don't have access to good bow wood, this might be the way forward. I'm using paracord for the backing cable and bow string but those could be replaced with natural materials such as rawhide, gut, sinew, or plant fibers if you want to build a more primitive bow. If you're into gaming, you may know this as the thehunter cable backed bow.

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[GnosticNazarene]

Love how this man humble himself to not edit out mistakes he's made, leaving the mistakes to show that he's not perfect and also how to overcome them

[caseysmith]

I saw an old 1960--1970's documentary where one of the tribes in very northern Alaska a person made a bow exclusively from Caribou antler and part of the skull for the handle/riser part. The tribe was so far north they did not have any wood to make a bow with. The summer homes in another video were made of stiff rawhide (untreated hide) that was pressed into a dome shape after it was stiff, sometimes using two caribou/moose hides. In winter they actually lived in Igloos.

[JN]

Yeah buddy, we want to see more of this uncommon “emergency-survival” bow concepts bring back to life by your expert craftmanship 👏🏻

[saimanie]

Seeing this made me remember things I used to do when I was a kid. With limited options and a lot of creativity. I remember making a collapsible bow with a piece of PVC pipe and bamboo. Fast forward to now my wife is wondering why I was watching a guy making a bow for half an hour instead of mowing the lawn.

[ogi]

This is a first time i saw a cable backed bow. It looks wonderful and it's much easier from any other backing techniques i know of.
But i loved a bit different part of this clip. Showing how to handle a hatchet.
When i was a kid, my grandpa tought me how to split firewood and how to use a hatchet. Later when i got into bushcraft, i learned a bit more on how to use this very versatile tool. And i have to say, you handle this tool very well Sir! Thank you for sharing and spreading good ways of handling one of the most basic tools humans have designed🥰
[edit]
Oh, just one tip (you might know about this one). I picked it up on TA Outdoors channel.
If you stick your knife into a small wood piece, you will get a nice handle for a makeshift drawknife. It makes a bit easier work with debarking :)

[Theg]

really appreciate the recognition to indigenous people

[joeontko]

Your a badass Clay. I always feel a little more manlier when I get to wow these average Joe's emulating your teachings . Thankyou brother.

[nohillforahighstepper]

That definitely opens up a lot more wood options.

[HazyOne]

Saw this guy win on alone. Best season of that show.

[chadblechinger]

Super cool. I have a maple bow I am working on ( learning on ) and you have shown me two things that blow through my two major issues. I love the draw stump! I can remember it from the books and survival manuals now that I saw you doing it. I will combine it with my sanding stump( bone glue/sand) and leave just enough room to drop my double bit on the edge of the sanding surface. Flipping game changer😊 . The second nugget was confirming that I can bake the wood dry under tension. Saved me two weeks at worst or another broken bow in the pile. I am going to pull the tips towards the back of the bow with 550 and then tiller the back while she is green. Once even(ish) I will dry with fire. After the set has taken place from baking I will back the bow with drywall tape and bone glue ( works well). When that has dried I will begin floor tillering . My setup is near identical to what you have here and it was awesome watching you do it. I have another dwarf maple that I will start a cable build on. Tyvm

[WolfStar]

This is honestly wonderful and such a coincidence as I began getting a stave ready for steam bending to get the classic cable backed inuit bow design and shape to make one for myself but I wasn't sure on how to do the cable backing. I was getting ready to make it just a self bow as the reading I did I couldn't come up with a good alternative or way to make a decent cable backing. And then this video drops and saves the whole thing! Thank you again for the awesome content and for covering such a cool and unique way to back a bow

[DuxLindy]

you could give him a toothpick and dental floss and he'd come back in an hour with a 50lb bow

[rocket_hops]

its kind of nice to see imperfect motion in your work, feels a lot more genuine

[hualiangyu]

It was the first time I had ever heard and seen a drawstring bow. This is a very new thing for me, and I may have to find more information to make myself more aware of this new thing.

[bobpeterson]

Great video! Aside from the bow making I really liked that you dug down in the earth to have good dirt all around your fire. If you don't go to dirt you risk the fire burning down a few layers and then burning horizontal underground. Well after the camper is gone a forest fire then can start. BOB

[bobkelly]

the interesting thing to me about this design is the ability to increase the draw weight !
although it probably wouldn't be like 100lbs on a bow that was initially 20lbs but it could substantially increase the bow strength if needed. easilly doubling the strength.
although the cable back design has it's draw backs, it certainly is a viable bow and in survival
conditions it may well save your life.... thank you....I never would have thought of this !
I am an avid archer and feel the bow and arrow are so often over looked for self defence.
a bullet proof vest is not a problem to a strong bow...most people do not know that !
I grew up with a Howard Hill bow 58lb pull at 28", my Dads was 68lb at 30" I practiced all the time and got to be quite good even getting birds for my cat( which he loved) but the down side was braking all the arrows just before bow season and my Das was not happy....because of that I got the nick name of brokenArrow on the CB radio LOL

[asmith]

Blew my mind on the Penobscot and now here’s ANOTHER type of bow I’ve never imagined…awesome!

[renadenison]

So cool bruv. This is why I love archery, it's such a complex but simple concept. Just one stick makeing another stick deadly and accurate.

[jameshall]

I was making apple wood bows with stick and string when I was a kid. Now learning how to really make a bow. Thanks for the video.

[jonathanhoang]

Loving these primitive bow builds! This is the first time I've seen a cordage backed bow built and shot. just curious, but have you ever looked into making horn bows like ones from the Sheepeater tribe or like the ones from Asia? A bit of a different beast from this build but I bet it would be cool nonetheless.