Humans began using weapons deep in prehistory, many thousands of years ago.
From the first rock thrown in anger to the ballistic missiles lurking in hidden silos, the evolution of weapons has been dramatic.
The usefulness of some weapons has outlasted entire civilizations and spread across the globe.
Although the Stone Age ended long ago, and we are no longer bound by the materials and practices of the time, the weapons created then can still be useful in emergencies or survival situations.
Here are six primitive weapons you should know how to make.
Knife
Of all the weapons on the list, a knife is the most important to know how to make. With it, you can craft all the others.
Ideally, you will always have a steel-bladed knife with you for this very reason. A cutting edge is all that is needed for a knife, though a handle and a point are also very good to have.
If you find yourself in need of a knife in urban areas, look for metal scraps that can be sharpened on concrete or stones. It may be time-consuming to get a nice cutting edge, but you can make a durable and effective knife this way.
Tightly wrap string or fabric around the handle portion for better grip.
Shards of broken glass can be used instead, though this is a much more fragile solution.
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If you are outside of urban areas and relying solely on natural materials, look for a fine-grained stone. The smaller the individual minerals are and the denser the rock, the better. You can test density by tapping the rocks together.
The best rocks are glassy in sound and texture (think obsidian). Hold your rock firmly against a larger stone and then use another rock to strike the edge. It may take a while, but you can get flakes of various sizes with decent cutting edges.
Bow and Arrow
The bow stave can be made with flexible and sturdy materials like PVC pipe, a metal rod that can be bent but returns to its original shape when pressure it released, or natural materials like a branch.
You will need to shape the materials by ensuring the side facing away from the string is rounded and the side facing the string is flat. This will give it a D-shaped profile that is ideal for bows.
PVC pipe can be carved or gently heated and molded to achieve this shape, while branches may need to be carved.
The string can be any durable and strong material, like shoelaces, para cord, or any other strong cordage you can find. The string should be shorter than the stave to create the necessary tension.
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For the arrows, find straight, lightweight materials like narrow wooden dowels, metal or stiff plastic rods, or even narrow copper tubing. Arrowheads can be made by sharpening the tip into a point or fastening glass shards, rock points, or other sharpened materials.
Though not always required, fletching can be made with feathers or paper. Fix the fletching with string, glue, or pine sap. Carve a notch on the back end of the arrow and you have yourself a functional bow and arrow.
Spear
A spear can be simply a long pointy stick, or it can be more complex with specialized spearheads. Make one by first finding a suitable shaft. This can be a broom stick, metal pole, plastic piping, or a straight branch. You can sharpen the point against concrete or stone and fire harden the tip for additional strength.
To make a more durable and sharper spearhead, you can cut a lengthwise slit in the spear tip and slide a blade or sharpened piece of metal into the slit.
The blade should be sandwiched in the middle of the slit with string or another fastener sinching the spear material tightly to the spearhead.
You can also cut the slit and then cut off one side completely so half the diameter of the spear is missing at the tip. In this space, you can fasten a knife with a handle. This will provide a backboard for the knife, so it does not slide back when used and better centers the blade in line with the spear shaft.
A fish spear can easily be made with a straight branch. Just cut two perpendicular slits lengthwise into the tip of the branch, so it looks like a plus sign. Cut each slit about 6 inches down into the spear shaft, then wedge small sticks down each axis of the slits. This will spread the tips into 4 separate tips.
Secure the small sticks with string or glue, and then sharpen and harden each of the 4 tips. Cut small notches or barbs into each tip, and you will have a functional fish spear.
Bola
A bola is a simple weapon used to entangle the feet of an opponent or animal.
It is the more basic and longer ranged version of throwing a net over your target.
To make one, gather 3 pieces of cordage and tie all three together on one end. Each strand should be about 3-4 feet long.
On the other end of each cord, affix a weighted object like a rock, tennis ball filled with pebbles, or even a handful of washers.
You do not want it to be heavy, just to have enough heft so you can swing it around easily. With some practice, you can use a bola effectively when hunting.
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The weights can be removed until needed, making it easy to carry just the string and find weights whenever you need them.
Blow Dart
Blow darts are simple and effective weapons for hunting small game. Metal or plastic tubing are perfect because they are straight and smooth. Hollow plant stalks like cattail or bamboo are great natural alternatives.
Cut a section of the tubing and make sure the ends are smoothed to avoid injury to your lips. The longer the tube, the more accurate the darts will be, but also the more unwieldy. 18-24 inches should be enough.
Create darts using needles, stiff wire, or narrow and straight sticks.
Sharpen the tips or affix a tip like a miniature spearhead.
Add fletching to the back by affixing feathers, a small bit of fabric, or something similar.
It may take a bit of experimentation to get the fletching sized correctly, but the compact size of darts means you can carry a lot of them and don’t need to make any sudden moves to hunt small game.
Rock Sling
Slings are one of the oldest projectile weapons and very easy to make.
All you need is a square or rectangle of fabric or hide that is about 4-6 inches long on each side, and two sections of string or cord that are about 5-6 feet long.
Tie one end of each cord to the fabric, on opposite ends of each other. The other ends of the cord should be free. You will retain control of one cord while using, and the other will be the release cord that you let go of when you are ready to fire.
You can use small rocks, ball bearings, marbles, or anything similar for ammunition.
You want it to be small enough to fit within the pouch, but hefty enough to get good momentum. Like the blow dart, rock slings are easy to carry abundant ammunition for, and more rocks can be found just about anywhere.
While these weapons are primitive in design, their usage still requires practice and experimentation.
In an urban setting, finding materials for these weapons should be fairly easy.
In nature, you will have to work a little harder, but it can be done there too.
Just knowing how to make a few of these weapons can make all the difference in a survival situation, so get out there and practice!
What are some other primitive weapons everyone should know how to make? Let us know in the comments!
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We can do all these things in a non-nuclear environment, the weapons maybe all we have as the liberals have finally confiscated our private arms.
If there is more than an EMF electromagnetism nuke attack, like a thermonuclear ground zero strike I would not want to survive.
There are not enough gas mask filter and suits to stockpile to get through one nuke attack nearby.
Not saying we can’t but it won’t be a picnic either to be safe for several decades.
My dear if a thermonuclear warhead hit within 3 miles of you you will be instantly vaporized no matter what you are wearing. Within 10 miles you will die of radiation poisoning. I live in the 3 mile zone of a nuclear power plant. if a warhead hit the plant we will all get to meet our Lord in person.
Biden’s administration is getting us closer to another world war. No one did anything but talk the talk, lip service when he EO. no oil drilling and opened up the southern border. The terrorist and illegals such as China’s military age males and female who right now are plotting revenge on America.
When is our next 911 as we may get attacked, Biden is disarming the public. We will be fighting whoever with primitive sticks and stones in the streets as the United Nation goons take strategic points to constrict human traffic. Our strategic oil reserves are lower than anytime before. So we will be ridding Chinese made bicycles and walking on foot to escape.
We have only a few months left were the Biden administration as corrupt as it can be turns America over to China and the United Nation’s tin pot dictators.
Better think about who your next president will be, you vote wisely or poorly can be the last of America as we know it.
Our current administration is arming Iran with American taxpayers money. Telling Israel to back off on military ops to crush Iran’s proxy armies.
We got all these Dearborn Michigan Iran supporters ready to inflect pain and suffering on America, plus satellite pockets of radical Muslims scattered about America. Thank Biden, Obama for changing America into a third world nation than a first world nation, thanks for nothing.
OFF TOPIC:
Amid the craziness of Monday morning blues, for just moment from prepping. Just a couple seconds to relax from the crazy people.
The 1970’s had the best rock N roll music groups, they used creative talent not what these modern groups use is substitute technology for talent.
Was lucky to see some of the great rockers live in concert. Some don’t know the hidden treasures of the Aloha Crater Festival open air stage concerts of big named bands in Diamond Head crater back in the 60’s, 70’s to the 80’s. If we could not go to a concert, we had live concerts on TV called The Midnight Special back then, assume sauce, way cool.
“The Midnight Special” collection should be kept at the Smithsonian as an American National Treasure.
After those years residents got tired of the loud music from the overpowered speakers that ended the concerts.
Live rock concerts were not expensive ripoff prices as they are today that cost hundreds of dollars.
The young generations have missed out. Those old school days people that were there have no clue how lucky they were. Today’s youth has no clue what it was like to rock in the 70s and 80s.
Those days of master musicians seem to be long gone. Those rock stars fade away into old age and death, it feels like it’s all ending. That generation made all the magic was a flash in the pan of time, am grateful to have lived through that period.
The woke, cancel culture cults have no clue what we experienced.
The TV shows say The Voice, American Idol, try to engineer or discover talent. They will never find talent and bands like those, they are lightening in a bottle, no CGI or AI back then, pure talent.
The kids today have some good music available but anyone stuck in the Rap Culture I truly feel sorry for them. 60’s to the 80’s were magical, the saying if you remember the 60’s or the 70’s you weren’t there, that is a little humor of the rock n roll days.
What were your favorite rock bands and favorite songs?
Led Zep, Creedence, Steppenwolf, BoC, CSNY, Hendrix, Yardbirds, Cream, Fab 4, Yes, Hawkwind, Scorpions, Priest, Sabbath, ZZ Top, Heart, Stones, Aerosmith, way too many to name. I liked most that could play and had a beat or tune that took me away from the days problems. One band that I liked on and off for their entire time together was Motörhead, they still get played a lot today around here. Some of their lyrics were written for days like we are living. Brotherhood of Man tops the list.
Motorheads Orgasmatron is especially relevant, look at the lyrics.
I actually have The Midnight Special’s music on DVD. Those were cool times.
Life on this damn rock has had most of the goodness sucked out of it, stolen by those tasked with guiding things. If you want to hang on to this existence, be my guest, I hope you prosper and have a grand old time doing so, really. I’m too old and too sick to worry beyond the basic preps, earthquakes, power outages, a 2nd bioweapons attack, etc. Trying to go toe to toe with twenty year olds in great shape and riot gear, yeah, not so much in my future; my only option will be the all consuming last act of defiance. Note, lots of BBQ will be available shortly thereafter. Like Josey Wales so eloquently stated; “birds gotta eat same as worms.”
All kidding aside, I don’t plan on being here for that period of time. If you have a proper relationship with the creator and son, then leave the prepping for those who think Darwin was right. They’re gonna need it.
Amen to what you have said. We can only take so much of the stupidity we see going on in America and the world. Just let it be and praise God.
What you say might very well be true but, if you have skills, know how to do stuff please teach others. Younger and far dumber need help. You never know when first aid or a skill you taught someone may save your life before you actually do check out.
Very true, Chaplain Dan! My big sister lives in FL, and was a teacher at Sarasota High for years and years. A no. of years ago, when she taught the Pre-Medical Biology courses, she also included some CPR and the like in her class of 9th graders. Well, one day on the way to drive kids home, the bus driver had a heart attack while driving on Rte. 41, super busy highway through the Sarasota area. The her biology students managed to pull the bus over while getting the bus driver on the floor and called the bus garage to let them know their driver was having a heart attack and get emergency help there right away! They administered CPR successfully, too. The kids helped save the lives of a bus full of students. The bus driver also survived and the biology students were hailed as heroes. THEN they wanted to know who was the teacher that taught them how to do all the they did. When it came out that it was my sister, they gave her a “teacher of the year” award and lots of publicity in the newspapers, plus a nice-sized grant from Walmart for schoolroom supplies! Yup, you never know!
What ya think I been doing? Been at this for ages and help the young, and not so young, constantly, I just don’t spout off about it as it seems like everybody should do this as a matter of their day to day life. Love your neighbor as yourself requires such actions. I am glad you mentioned this though, as I take a lot for granted and do so way too often. My sister reminds me not to expect others to act as we or I do and boy o boy, is she right about that. I do wonder how some have reached the age they are acting as they do. Cheers.
Old circular saw blades, lawnmower blades, and many other items are easily reshaped into effective edges from daggers to ulus. Cut out the shapes while you have power to make it easy. The book “Earth Abides” has a part where the young folk found that the nickels in the bank and stores made the best hammered and sharpened arrowheads because the silver coins were too soft. A long handled, milled face framing hammer (straight claw) 24 ounces or better, can make a good weapon. Axes and spears were popular weapons ‘back when’ and are still viable today. Lewis and Clark carried their gun/black powder in lead flasks, empty the flask and melt the lead for bullets (round balls), you do have bullet molds for everything you shoot right? Right?.
Funny story. I was walking by a new home construction site. I asked the foreman if I could have any of the stuff out of the dumpster. He looked at me and said knock yourself out. I picked up some of the construction grade aluminum two long pieces of three-quarter PVC and as much wood flooring is I could carry. I took it home. I also grabbed some of those orange boundary markers made from fiberglass. I got home and it took me about 15 minutes and I made a bow. I took the lawnmower blade And re-shaped it using the flooring that I cut to fit I made a knife. The aluminum I cut into arrowhead shape and took them with me, but I also took an arrow and went back. I Showed the foreman and he just looked at me like whatever. So I strung the bow right in front of him, pulled the arrow out of my shirt. It was just in my back , pulled it back and sunk that target about 2 inches into a tree. He looked at it and looked at me with shock. I pulled a knife out of my back pocket and showed it to him. I pulled the arrowheads out of my pocket and showed him those, and he just looked at me completely different , I said do you mind if I come later with my wheelbarrow in haul some of the stuff off you’re gonna throw it away anyway right? he looked at me and looked at the dumpster and I told him he could have the bow and the knife and the arrow tips and he acted like I had given him keys to a new truck . He was tickled. He said I would never have imagined the pull on this bow.
A lot of things could be made into weapons out of what most people would throw away. I’m not saying be a hoarder. It’s not what I’m saying. I am saying look at something and go what could this be? And then throw it away and get something better to make what your thought was. Point being everything is a weapon.
May be off-topic, BUT
If you do any work with your hands (using equipment or tools or auto parts or whatever), when you use something think the following:
1. How can I accomplish this task without power, and without the ability to buy one if this one breaks?
2. Can this be used as or made into a weapon?
I keep two lists: one is a shopping list for items I need to stockpile several (more) of, like spark plugs/belts/air filters etc for the 1968 VW beetle, barbed wire (lots of uses in addition to stock fencing), tannerite ;), specialty hand tools & things I REALLY don’t want to have to make post-SHTF (wood carving chisels, water hoses, plastic sheeting, yarn(!), cordage/rope, etc).
The 2nd list is weaponizing ideas. If I have an idea for a weapon that would require more pieces than just the thing I’ve identified, such as Chaplain Dan’s bow above, I put those other items on the shopping list. (If the weapon requires construction/assembly, like the bow, I write it out or sketch it and save it.)
Note: just because it’s on the shopping list doesn’t mean I’m going to purchase it. It could be salvaged (from a dumpster, dump or the side of the road) or from friends/relatives (that’s how I got buckets for veg gardening & gallon milk jugs for winter seed starting), or even from freecycle.org (glassware, dishes, cooking pots, clothes etc.). I’m fortunate to have room to store my preps, too.
Making a knife is not as easy as getting a peice of steel and sharpening on concrete or a rock. If you do this you will either have a knife that is such low quality that it will dull cutting a piece of string or you will spend weeks trying to make one.
A forge is a simple thing to build. A hole in the ground, charcoal for fuel (we all know how to make charcoal dont we?) wood can also be used but gets smoky. An air source can be a simple bellows or even a helper or 2 blowing into a pipe. Something to beat the metal with, could use a rock if that is all that is available. And something to beat the metal on. Ancient metal smiths used a large flat rock, an anvil does not have to be the Acme coyote vs. roadrunner type, those have only been in use for about 300 years, just a block of steel will work. Something to hold your work with. A couple of green sticks will work if you have nothing else.
Point is that by the time you sharpen your steel on a rock i could have built a forge and made a dozen knives complete with heat treatment.
I would also suggest to learn a bit about metallurgy and what steels are used for what. Saw blades, not the ones with crabide teeth, are usually 15N20 which makes a dandy knife. Lawn mower are a toss up now a days. Many are just case hardened mild steel. Springs will make nice blades usually a 5160 or like alloy. learning what steels are used for what will help greatly if searching for a suitable piece of steel to make a knife with.
And on the other end of the spectrum, grader blades and snow plow blades are made from an alloy to resist abrasion, you could spend a lifetime rubbing it on a rock and get no where.
YouTube has many videos on how to make DIY weapons. Crossbows, various slingshot designs, and some very ingenious bows and “guns” for firing an assortment of projectiles. A design for a crossbow with a magazine for arrows. Bow designs that use old wheels and springs. Bo staffs and usage techniques, as well as survival videos. No doubt if there is conflict it will be guerrilla warfare rather than direct confrontation — even Sun Tzu and Quintus Fabius Maximus have written about it. I understand that the Spanish and Portuguese people defeated Napoleon using this strategy after he wiped out their armies. I recommend downloading to ones computer before they disappear. Firefox web browser has various free download extensions.
Remember, there is no such thing as failure, just lack of persistance. If you think they will win, they have won already. Also, currently their major weapon is psychological warfare – using the media they are getting into peoples heads making them believe that all is lost already. The fat lady has not sung yet, and she won’t sing until the decent, freedom-loving people have won.
You can easily purchase the Firefox series on hard copy (a book) 🙂
Before Los Angeles Unified School District decided they didn’t want no damn conservative undoing the leftist propaganda they shoved down the kid’s throats, I found what I thought was a neat way to teach basic geology and chemistry. I bought flint and obsidian from a fellow in Oklahoma, and scrounged marble, granite and other rocks from stone store scraps. Even pumice. I taught the kids about density, hardness, rock types, etc. How? By letting them make tools from the different materials and seeing what worked best. I showed them how to fracture rocks, then knapp them to make a cutting edge, about stone hammers, etc. This one kid proudly showed me how he had taken his stone home to his dad who, oh so cleverly, used a daimond blade to cut the rock into the shape of a claw hammer. Defeated the purpose of the assignment, of course. Then the principal came down on me. “What’s this I hear that you are teaching the students to make weapons?” He growled. “I’m teaching them geology,” I growled right back. “And I’ll do what it takes to hold their attention and help them to learn.” I told him he was welcome to come to my classroom to see for himself. He never did. Not too long after is when they make up lies about me and forced me into retirement. One kid did make a pretty good stone hammer, though. Hope he remembers how he learned to do it.
I’M AFRAID AMERICA IS LOST ALREADY! SHE’s NOT GOING DOWN THE DRAIN, SHES PAST THAT, DOWN TO THE SEWER!
This is what I mean. Psychological warfare. US has a population of over 340 Million people and only a handful of psychopathic nutbags with a bit of money and influence – and we know who they are as well as their crimes and they are gradually being exposed with public opinion turning against them.
What is the purpose to this. Are you bringing a spear to a gun fight? It will take decades to use all the ammo in this country. If the government comes to confiscate firearms it will be civil war. If 10 percent of the AR owners resist that’s an army of 2 million. 4x the size of the active duty army some of whom are bound to join the rebellion. That would be a nightmare.
This article isn’t really advocating bringing spears to a gunfight. It’s more about those “just in case” skills, like those for when you find yourself stuck somewhere without any gear or if things really go sideways and you don’t have access to the usual tools. Having a gun is definitely better, but it doesn’t hurt to know how to make simple weapons, especially in survival situations.
I have several heavy duty sling shots and thousands of ball bearing, not to mention rocks are always plentiful. I’ve been practicing with it over the years and I’ve gotten pretty good! One of them even has a laser target on it for better accuracy. I’ve never tried to kill an animal with it, but I’m sure I could if it came to that. I prefer fishing anyhow.
Vary good comments ,
Great information.
In my life time,
I have never seen the United States in the mess that Biden
has got us in to,
This will be one that we will have to turn our ship in to the wind,
And try to ride out the storm.
Maned the guns, And try to keep the powder dry men.
And hope the ship don’t capsize .
Were a bout 7 moths away from dry land,
But if and when we get there,
We got one hell of a mess waiting for us to clean up,
God be with you all.