Atlatl Spear Thrower : Worst primitive survival weapon?

The Atlatl Spear thrower or Woomera is a primitive survival weapon that combines pinpoint precision with deep penetration and lethal knockdown power. However this prehistoric weapon has so many flaws that it may well be the worst primitive survival weapon that I have used so far.

The atlatl is a primitive weapon but it is NOT a simple weapon to build. 90% of the complexity is in the dart. To make good darts, You need to find wooden shafts with a very demanding set of attributes: thin, straight, flexible, and long, between 6-7 feet in length.

A shaft that is too short will be less stable in flight
A shaft that is not flexible enough will not fly straight.
A group of shafts that do not have similar levels of flexibility will not have consistent accuracy

So the proper greenwood shafts has to be found, harvested, and debarked. Then a small hole needs to be made on the thinner end of shaft. Each shaft then needs to be straightened through a process of hand bending and drying over a fire. This process needs to be repeated daily over the course of 3 to 4 days before the dart becomes permanently straightened. Finally, a point can be carved on the thicker end and fire hardened.

Under wilderness survival conditions, it takes me takes 2-3 man hours to craft a single dart. This dart can be used to take small game and fish.

Now if you want a dart that's capable of taking bigger game you need to craft a detachable fore shaft, feather fletching, and a stone point. Now you're looking at 6-7 man hours of effort for a single dart.

Ironically, the atlatl thrower itself takes very little time to craft, you just need to find a branch and carve a point. The catch here is that the weight of the thrower must be fine tuned to the weight of your darts. If the thrower is too light or too heavy, accurate shots becomes nearly impossible to achieve. Bottom line, the atlatl is not easy to craft.

Now with any kind of regular use, your newly crafted atlatl darts will start breaking almost immediately. Under the intense pressure of each throw, the spurs will often crack Variations in temperature and humidity causes shafts to warp out of shape. Over time, fore shaft insertion hole will often develop deep splits or checks.

Fore shafts would often snap when a dart accidentally hits a hard object like wood or stone. Finally, repeated throws over time will can cause the main shaft to snap, completely destroying the dart. So maintaining a set of primitive darts in good working condition takes lots of time and effort.

While the atlatl is capable of pinpoint accuracy, you will need to put in huge amounts of practice to achieve it . The weapon is highly instinctive and relies on muscle memory for pretty much every aspect of the shot. So it took me over 3 months of disciplined, daily practice to achieve hunting level accuracy. Now I can hit Coffee can sized targets 3 out of 4 times at 30 feet. So this weapon has a significantly harder learning curve than primitive weapons such as the throwing stick or the bow.

The atlatl has major ergonomic issue
In a forested environment, the long darts often gets caught in vegetation, greatly impacting one's mobility
Being so bulky, only carry 2-3 darts can be carried while out on the hunt, greatly limiting the number of shots you can take.
You need both hands to load this weapon so you can't carry the atlatl and something else at the same time.
Throwing the dart is a highly visibility movement that gives your prey the warning time to bolt or dodge the missile.

So while the atlatl has a few advantages, it has many many MANY flaws. This weapon is expensive to construct, time-consuming to maintain, hard to learn and difficult to use. As such, I would not recommend the atlatl as a practical wilderness survival weapon, there are better tools out there for the job.

[davewilson]

The one thing we often miss when we talk about ancient weapons and how much training/learning there is around them is that those people back then would have learned to use them from being very young kids. Muscle memory and technique were developed from an early age which makes the learning process that much less effort. For an adult to pick up these weapons and learn them will take much more effort and time. You are also trying to figure the weapon out from scratch (well almost) where as those ancient tribes would have it figured out and pass the information to one another all the time and again very likely from childhood so putting it all together was a great deal easier for them than it is for you in the modern world. Your only advantage to making these weapons is modern tools, all the little pieces of forgotten knowledge of the past is hard to regain and will take years of trial and error to figure out. Good effort so far though and thanks for sharing your findings.

[robertberg]

I disagree with several of your statements. 1. You don't need foreshafts. simply attach the point to the main shaft. It works better that way and is simple to make and repair. 2. The best way to get straight shafts that are alike is to split them from a log. A 6 inch diameter X 7 foot ash log works best. Split it in half then split into quarters. Split off the inside "v" then split the remaining stave in half. Continue splitting the staves in half until you get the shafts small enough to make them into darts. I have made 24 darts from one such log all having nearly the same characteristics. In places where bamboo is available I would use that. Primitive survival isn't something you can accomplish in a weekend. It requires a lot of practice skills and knowledge. If you choose to use the atlatl in your quest to survive with human foundational survival skills ( I don't like the word primitive) you must prepare yourself wholeheartedly and develop the skills you will need. If you develop the necessary skills the atlatl will have no flaws. Atlatls were the implement favored by people on this continent for 15, 000 years. The bow and arrow were brought into use in North America only about a thousand years ago. It is all about the degree of preparedness you would like to put yourself up to rather than there being some kind of inherent flaws in the atlatl. I have been hunting and fishing with atlatls for 30 years and yes my survival has depended on them for this entire time as I make and sell atlatl for a living. I have been teaching skills for two decades. Bob Berg

[MustObeyTheRules]

You should look up the “hunt primitive” YouTube channel. He makes some incredibly well built atlatl equipment. he has multiple kills on camera from alligators to elk and pigs.

[SchillyBindler]

The Atlatl and Dart is a fantastic weapon. From what I see in your video you need more practice building better functioning Atlatls and much better darts. It took me awhile to figure out what makes a good combination. Keep practicing both building and throwing. Your darts are splitting because the hook is going to far into the end of the dart. Keep at it!

[jbwoodcrafts]

What he's missing is a stone head. The weight in a stone point helps store energy in the dart.

This increases the distance and accuracy of the dart.

The spear thrower was used for as much time as the bow. Therefore it can't be such a bad tool.

[VanishingNomad]

Its a group hunting weapon, for big game. So its use would be a team effort, with each tribesman having one.

[MrJento]

Well. The atlatl and bow are of about the same age from the point of view of archeology. The big difference was in the intended usage. The bow is a ranging weapon accurate to 100 feet and well suited to smaller game. Deer on down.

The atlatl was a speciality tool to kill large heavy game. The Clovis people of Europe and north america used this tool almost exclusively. It was not a ranging weapon as we try to make it today. The slender dart tipped with the long polished clovis point and leveraged throw of the atlatl was about deep penetration into the vitals of a huge ice age animal from very close range.

While it can be found in many parts of the world among many cultures it is not the primary tool that it was in the ice age. As animals became smaller the bow became dominant thus displacing the atlatl.

Tip and fletch your dart. Stand 10 feet away from a solid target of pine boards. The atlatl can easily penetrate 4-6 inches of pine. Thats its strength. Impact force and penetration. At 30 feet you might get two inches if you can hit the target.

[revvanmev]

I find these videos you make to be very informative and practical and i enjoy them. Thank you very much.

[pipedope]

I like the flow and template of your videos, I’m excited to check out all the rest of them. I saw the atlatl on an episode of naked and afraid. I wanted to learn more about it, then stumbled onto your video about the staff sling also very cool. Thanks for the information, and good work.

[jasonmiller]

Try using Ocean Spray or Hazel for your shafts if your in the PNW and antler/bone was used quite a bit for heads

[atzwelzow]

Have you tried any kind of fletching? In my experience, even raw feathers or straw tied with bast and a little bit of something sticky does the job. The atlatl goes straight even if he is not perfectly straight. And firehardening/bending can make wood brittle and more prone to breake. Wax or oil give the wood after hardening a little bit of flexibilitiy back.

[mattpaul]

Wait until he finds out about making and maintaining a bow and its arrows with primitive tools. Making an atlatl dart is a sleepy afternoon by comparison.

I will give him this: Atlatl aren’t exactly stealthy. Once you begin taking your shot, the whole world will know where you are.

[raphlvlogs]

can the thrower be combined with other hand weapons?

[onebackzach]

Atlatls are so much fun to throw. They're definitely limited in their practical applications as an improvised weapon, but that doesn't really bother me. I usually make the darts out of straight grained dowels and make steel tips and duct tape fletchings. I will have to try making some out of river cane or bamboo some time once the weather cools down a bit.

[timothym]

If you get the chance, try the stone throwing version of an atlatl. Essentially the same design, but instead a bowl cut in to the end of a stick, that you can load a small dense stone in to. Kind of like an oversized spoon or small lacrosse equipment. Easier ammunition, more predictable flight, and hits with easily enough force to stun/kill small game like rabbits. Also much easier to learn to use than a sling.

[all]

Can u compare the projectile hunting tools and see which would be best for different situations

[Exeter_The_Passenger]

Very good point! people missing the difficulty of use an mantainance, and also the difficulty to use it on field...

[jasestrong]

Do you feel the fletching was not necessary?

[williamkohn]

I initially wanted to disagree with you. After watching the video in its entirety, I have to say, you ha e very good points. What I learned from your video is: If a person wants to use an atlatl for survival, they must be dedicated to its use.

[jacoblee]

I would argue the biggest issue with the Atlatl lies in its usage technique understanding (in other words how it's supposed to even work).

What will always keep me frustrated with it and yet being in love with the bow and the sling, lies in the fact that the other two can actually be repeated with muscle memory.

This is not the case with the atlatl, in fact even when i throw using the same muscle memory i get two different results. It either inbeds into the target or it bounces right off with no energy whatsoever.


Just a reminder to people like ryan gill, thunderbird atlatl and other "teachers" on youtube: saying "throw like a ball" does in no way or form translate or aid someone to understand how to use the Atlatl, period.

Theres nothing more silly than trying to teach archery to someone and telling them "well ya just pull it like a door" when theres a million different steps to do it correctly