Main

Primitive Technology: Spear Thrower

June 7, 2017 by 37 Comments

Primitive Technology: Spear Thrower


A spear thrower is a simple tool that allows the user to throw a spear further than by hand alone. It is a small length of wood with a hook in the end that fits into a notch in the back of the spear. The extra power and distance gained by the thrower is due to the extra leverage it gives.
I cut a small branch with a minor branch coming off the side. I shaped the minor branch into a spur to fit into the end of the spear. The thrower was about 65 cm long.
For the spear, I cut a thin sapling approximately 2 m long and about 1.5 cm thick. I carved a cup in the end of the spear for the spur to fit into. Then I bound the back of the spear with bark fiber to prevent the wood from splitting. The head of the spear was simply charred in the fire and scrapped against a rock to sharpen it (during practice the head regularly breaks so only a sharpened tip is used to save work).
To use the spear thrower, the spur of the thrower is inserted into the cup of the spear. The spear and thrower are held at about shoulder height. The thrower is quickly flicked forward and the spear propelled towards the target. As the spear leaves the thrower it bends slightly storing energy until it jumps of the spur. During flight, the flexible spear wobbles and oscillates paradoxically giving the spear some stability in flight.
The throws in the video show what can be done in one afternoon of practice (my arm got sore and I wanted to start on other projects). I hit the target a few times at a distance 15 m. It is more powerful than a spear thrown by hand alone but is difficult to learn. The spear I made could have been a fraction lighter and so would have greater speed. Another improvement would be to add flights to the spear so it would be more accurate and fly straighter (like an atlatl).
The extra energy gained from a Woomera’s (Australian spear thrower) use has been calculated as 4 times that of compound bow (Wikipedia). It’s easy to make (this took less than a day) but requires lots of training to become accurate.
Wordpress:
Patreon page:
I have no face book page, instagram, twitter etc. Beware of fake pages and call them out on it!

Author

37 thoughts on “Primitive Technology: Spear Thrower”

  4. You’re videos are quite inspirational and awesome. Perhaps you should try to make a mud house (another primitive, but useful and beautiful creation of man). The desert peoples (i don’t know if this works in the jungle though… lol) would combine clay? or mud? sand and water to create a brick-like object. It would harden in the sun and then they would begin construction of a house, a mosque, a school, etc…

    It would take some time, but I think this is a better long-term housing project for those of you who want to return to a natural way of life, or simply want to create your own basic survival house in the wild.

  6. this is a great example of: “Don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you can’t get it wrong.”

  17. نته ادري منوين يا غابة و شنو نته ترجمتك عربي و شكرن ارجو الرد في أسرع وقت ممكن

  29. If you want a bit more power and speed take a step with your left foot while your arm is cocked back. Just like a Dan Henderson H Bomb.

  30. This man is more patient then I’ll ever be in my lifetime combined

  32. I have never heard him speak on any of the videos he is truly a stoneage man

Comments are closed.

Widget Ready

This right column is widget ready! Add one in the admin panel.

Widget Ready

This right column is widget ready! Add one in the admin panel.

Widget Ready

This right column is widget ready! Add one in the admin panel.