A short while back, I posted an article on different types of primitive weapons, and why acquiring skill with at least one is a good thing. This is a continuation of that article, but instead of sticks, stones and slings, we’ll now be looking at the so-called primitive weapons that don’t depend on muscle power alone.
In reality, it is a pretty short list, but these weapons are probably the ones you should consider most seriously. They tend to be more accurate and more lethal in even minimally practiced hands than anything we’ve discussed so far. They also have the greatest probability of putting meat on the table, although there are some drawbacks.
The first weapon up for discussion is the humble slingshot. Yes, Dennis the Menace’s armament of choice is as close as you can come to an ideal ‘primitive‘ weapon, in my opinion. A commercial version is my preferred option, where the power is supplied by surgical tubing and a wrist brace is provided for a steadier shot. Accuracy is fairly easy to achieve in a short time with a reasonable amount of practice. Size and strength of the user are not an issue, unlike some weapons.
The device is light and portable, easily stowed in a pack. Ammunition can be deadly ¼” or 3/8” steel shot, or even .177 sized pellets used to create a shotgun effect. However, even a reasonable amount of practice will allow you to become very good at selecting small stones suitable as ammunition, ensuring that you never run out. If you’re careful enough in your selection, accuracy and range will be nearly as good with ‘primitive’ ammo as with the steel shot.
A decent slingshot is capable of bringing down birds as large as a duck, and animals as large as rabbits, but are pretty much useless against anything larger. They are almost silent in operation, and have an effective range of about 20 meters or so.
Since they are so quiet in operation, a ‘shot’ will not betray your presence in an area. Should it come to a situation where you need to hunt for food, this means you aren’t being advertised to others in the area, whether other game or other hunters.
It is a ridiculously inexpensive weapon, the price of slingshots ranging from ten to forty dollars, with accessories and replacement parts such as spare tubing and steel shot being dirt-cheap. I stock several spare assemblies of tubing and pouch, as well as a supply of steel shot for hunting, but the complete kit including slingshot cost me less than fifty dollars. But you needn’t think that a commercially made slingshot is the only way to go.
While the commercial models are nice, a handmade slingshot is ridiculously easy to make. A bit of surgical tubing, part of a bicycle inner tube or other elastic material supplies the needed power. Add a forked stick and a bit of material to form the pocket and you have yourself a slingshot kit. As with other primitive weapons we’ve discussed, the slingshot allows you to be armed with only basic materials and a little ingenuity. It might not be quite as good as a commercial models (no wrist brace, for example), but a little practice will allow you to make s slingshot fully capable of doing the job.
As handy as it is as a hunting weapon, it is not very worthwhile as a defensive option, despite the use of it by the IRA against the British. While a headshot might indeed stun or even kill an opponent, bringing a slingshot to a gunfight is usually just another way of showing why guns are at the top of the charts in killing people.
That aspect aside, the combination of simplicity, reliability, silence, accuracy,ease of use, lethality for small game, availability of ammunition, ease of repair and the ability of almost anyone to create one out of the simplest of materials make the slingshot a ‘primitive’ weapon everyone should consider having in their preparedness and survival plans.
In reality, it is a pretty short list, but these weapons are probably the ones you should consider most seriously. They tend to be more accurate and more lethal in even minimally practiced hands than anything we’ve discussed so far. They also have the greatest probability of putting meat on the table, although there are some drawbacks.
The first weapon up for discussion is the humble slingshot. Yes, Dennis the Menace’s armament of choice is as close as you can come to an ideal ‘primitive‘ weapon, in my opinion. A commercial version is my preferred option, where the power is supplied by surgical tubing and a wrist brace is provided for a steadier shot. Accuracy is fairly easy to achieve in a short time with a reasonable amount of practice. Size and strength of the user are not an issue, unlike some weapons.
The device is light and portable, easily stowed in a pack. Ammunition can be deadly ¼” or 3/8” steel shot, or even .177 sized pellets used to create a shotgun effect. However, even a reasonable amount of practice will allow you to become very good at selecting small stones suitable as ammunition, ensuring that you never run out. If you’re careful enough in your selection, accuracy and range will be nearly as good with ‘primitive’ ammo as with the steel shot.
A decent slingshot is capable of bringing down birds as large as a duck, and animals as large as rabbits, but are pretty much useless against anything larger. They are almost silent in operation, and have an effective range of about 20 meters or so.
Since they are so quiet in operation, a ‘shot’ will not betray your presence in an area. Should it come to a situation where you need to hunt for food, this means you aren’t being advertised to others in the area, whether other game or other hunters.
It is a ridiculously inexpensive weapon, the price of slingshots ranging from ten to forty dollars, with accessories and replacement parts such as spare tubing and steel shot being dirt-cheap. I stock several spare assemblies of tubing and pouch, as well as a supply of steel shot for hunting, but the complete kit including slingshot cost me less than fifty dollars. But you needn’t think that a commercially made slingshot is the only way to go.
While the commercial models are nice, a handmade slingshot is ridiculously easy to make. A bit of surgical tubing, part of a bicycle inner tube or other elastic material supplies the needed power. Add a forked stick and a bit of material to form the pocket and you have yourself a slingshot kit. As with other primitive weapons we’ve discussed, the slingshot allows you to be armed with only basic materials and a little ingenuity. It might not be quite as good as a commercial models (no wrist brace, for example), but a little practice will allow you to make s slingshot fully capable of doing the job.
As handy as it is as a hunting weapon, it is not very worthwhile as a defensive option, despite the use of it by the IRA against the British. While a headshot might indeed stun or even kill an opponent, bringing a slingshot to a gunfight is usually just another way of showing why guns are at the top of the charts in killing people.
That aspect aside, the combination of simplicity, reliability, silence, accuracy,ease of use, lethality for small game, availability of ammunition, ease of repair and the ability of almost anyone to create one out of the simplest of materials make the slingshot a ‘primitive’ weapon everyone should consider having in their preparedness and survival plans.
Just make sure Mr. Wilson doesn’t find out you have one…
Originally posted June 10, 2010 @MPN
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