Category Archives: Press

Candor Fall Fest This Weekend; Atlatl Contests

This weekend Thunderbird Atlatl will be home in Candor and celebrating the Fall season with the annual Candor Fall Festival. There are a variety of events to attend. Check out the Candor NY Chamber webpage for more information.

There will be atlatl contests and demonstrations behind the Thunderbird Atlatl shop at 90 Main Street, Candor, New York from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Stop in for a visit and try the atlatl. For those interested in participating in the International Standard Accuracy Contest or ISAC, there will be contests both Saturday and Sunday.

For further information contact us at contact@thunderbirdatlatl.com or 800-836-4520.

Atlatl Fun – Beware, Atlatls Will Captivate

Is the atlatl fun?! We have to give a resounding yes to that after seeing hundreds of people use an atlatl for the first time. Some people are so captivated they keep coming back to try it again and again.

Who says atlatls are fun? We do.
Who says atlatls are fun? We do.

It is fun for us at the Thunderbird Atlatl shop to see stories in magazines, newspapers, and on local radio and television productions about people having fun with our atlatls and darts. Thunderbird Atlatl is proud of being one of the creators of the modern atlatl resurgence. Our atlatl and darts are used by groups throughout the United States. Internationally, we have sent atlatls and darts to countries all over the world.

In Elkhart County, Indiana, families enjoyed using our Hiawatha Atlatl and darts: video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player

This week in Michigan, the Cranbrook Institute of Science had a night camp and Thunderbird’s atlatls and darts were part of the program. It looks like they are using our Nanticoke Atlatl in the picture associated with the article.

A few weeks ago, Bob Berg of Thunderbird Atlatl shared atlatl fun with groups at the Primitive Pursuits program in Ithaca, NY. The first photo in this article and photos below are people having fun with atlatls and darts. The group made expedient atlatls from natural resources nearby and also put together a few of Thunderbird Atlatl’s popular atlatl and dart kits. They also used the atlatl to vanquish neaby predators. They learned how to make an atlatl and dart during the workshop.

Atlatl Fun with an expedient atlatl made from surrounding natural materials.
Atlatl Fun with an expedient atlatl made from surrounding natural materials.
Participants at Primitive Pursuits in Ithaca having atlatl fun with a finished Catatonk Hunter Atlatl and an expedient atlatl.  Bob Berg of Thunderbird Atlatl (center) leads the fun.
Participants at Primitive Pursuits in Ithaca having atlatl fun with a finished Catatonk Hunter Atlatl and an expedient atlatl. Bob Berg of Thunderbird Atlatl (center) leads the fun.
Thunderbird Atlatl Bob Berg shows how an atlatl and dart can handle predators. The Primitive Pursuit class helped capture this predator.
Thunderbird Atlatl Bob Berg shows how an atlatl and dart can handle predators. The Primitive Pursuit class helped capture this predator.

Dr. Pol Learns About the Atlatl

We are back to the Northeast after a couple of weeks in Florida. It was a nice break from the frigid temperatures in upstate New York but even the Floridians were battling colder temperatures.

While we were gone, National Geo Wild posted a video of Bob Berg of Thunderbird Atlatl showing Dr. Pol of The Incredible Dr. Pol reality show how to use an atlatl. Bob and Cheryll Berg’s son, Peter, works as a field producer at the show and we stopped by to see him in July 2013.

Enjoy the video of Dr. Pol using the atlatl!

Game Role Plays in MesoAmerican World

Atlatls designed by Thunderbird Atlatl are being offered as a reward for helping build capital for a newly created role playing game set in the MesoAmerican World. The game’s creator, Jason Caminsky, set up a Kickstarter page to fund the page. Fundraising is going well with five more days left. The first goal has been met and the creator, Jason Caminsky, has set a new goal.

Image from New Fire Game
Image from New Fire Game

Here is Jason’s description of the game:
Hello, everybody! My name is Jason Caminsky, and I am the creator and lead designer of New Fire, a tabletop fantasy roleplaying/storytelling game inspired by the history and mythology of the Aztec-Mexica, the Maya, and the other great civilizations of Precolumbian Mesoamerica. I, along with a wonderful group of about 20 other contributors, have labored long and hard, combining extensive research with imagination to produce this game of adventure, excitement, and dreams. We are very proud of our work, and can’t wait to share it with you all!

New Fire is not History. It is Fantasy. My goal was to create a fantasy setting using the history and mythology of Mesoamerica as its basis, the way so many other fantasy games use Europe as their basis. Mesoamerica is a uniquely beautiful, fascinating, and dramatic place, home to wonderful stories, exquisite art and culture, deeply moving spiritual beliefs, glorious architecture, and countless accomplishments that have been tragically under-appreciated by many. My greatest hope is to introduce these amazing concepts into fantasy gaming.

To create this fantasy, I and my fellow collaborators have done a tremendous amount of historical research. We have consulted professors, researchers, and people of indigenous Mesoamerican descent, read mountains of books, attended museums and lectures, listened to traditional music, and watched movies and films (both historical and interpretive). We have even practiced some of the skills and trades of ancient Mesoamerica, such as atlatling, flintknapping, and pottery. We have learned as much as we could, and let the things we learned guide our imaginations.

I want to state up front that there is nothing official or definitive about New Fire–Mesoamerica is a boundlessly complex and fascinating place, and it would take an entire lifetime of research to truly do justice to its nuances and depth. We have come to greatly admire Mesoamerica, and hope that our fantasy interpretations are entertaining and enlightening. But our interpretations are just that–our interpretations. We are not part of these cultures, and we do not speak from a perspective of authority. But we have worked very hard to try to at least speak from an informed, educated, and respectful perspective.

Check out the game and fundraising on the Kickstarter page.