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Vermont Atlatl Workshop; Annual Chimney Point Contest September 20 & 21

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Thunderbird Atlatl is looking forward to visiting Chimney Point Historic site for our annual workshop and contest September 20 and 21.

The 29th Annual Northeastern Open Atlatl Championship will be held September 21 from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Chimney Point Museum in Addison, Vermont, next to the Lake Champlain Bridge. It is $12 to register; $14 the day of competition. The museum and grounds are open for $6 per adult and free for children under 15.

Participate in or watch this annual atlatl championship testing skills in accuracy and distance. The sport of using the atlatl to throw darts is based on the ancient hunting technique. Newcomers to experts welcome. Flint-knapping and other demonstrations and lessons throughout the day. Pre-registration for competitors required. Call (802) 759-2412 to register. Vermont Archaeology Month event. The workshop is on Friday, Sept. 20, beginning at noon. Call the museum to register.

Food and snacks available for purchase, while they last.

Long Distance throw at Chimney Point contest
Workshop Participants try their newly made atlatls and darts

News

Visit Thunderbird Atlatl at the Coshocton Flint Festival & Knap In Labor Day Weekend August 30 to September 1

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Thunderbird Atlatl will be in Ohio Labor Day Weekend for the Coshocton Flint Festival and Knap In. There will be lots to see and plenty of atlatl demonstrations and opportunities to try the atlatl. The Ohio Atlatl Association will be there. Stop in and visit!

Articles, How To, News, Videos

Japanese Bamboo or River Cane? How do you tell the difference?

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While in Florida, Bob Berg of Thunderbird Atlatl spent some time explaining the differences between Japanese Bamboo and River Cane. With the help of Florida Park Ranger George Royal and Greg Maurer, Bob put together a short video on the two plants.

Once you decide on what material you are going to use for your cane or bamboo dart, check out Bob’s You Tube video on making Cane Darts

Articles, Misc.

Silver River Knapin Cancelled!

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The Silver River Knapin has been cancelled for 2024. We will try to set up an atlatl contest in the Gainesville, Florida area. Watch for updates.

Silver River sent out the following annoucement:

,”After a lot of consideration, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the Silver River Knap-In and Prehistoric Arts festival this weekend due to the persistent rainy weather forecast on Saturday and Sunday. We know from experience this will result in a very low attendance. We rely on gate admission income to cover event expenses.
The event will not be rescheduled but we do plan to hold it as normal in 2025. We apologize for this but we wanted to notify everyone in advance so that plans could be changed.
There is another knap-in the following weekend near the Flint River in Georgia. For more information about that event please contact John Lane at flintriverknapin@gmail.com.
If you are from out of state and are in need of camping accommodations this weekend, please call me here at the museum so that we can discuss options with you (352) 236-5401.
Thank you all and we are sorry for any problems this causes.”
Ph. (352) 236-5401
www.SilverRiverMuseum.comThunderbird Atlatl will be at the Silver River Knapin at Silver River State Park February 17 & 18.

News

Busy Holiday Season. Shipping Services Setting Holiday Cut Offs. Order your atlatl sets!

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The shipping services (UPS/Fed Ex and USPS) are sending out their holiday advisories for receiving packages before December 25. The post office has set December 15 for its ground advantage and priority mail shipping. UPS and Fed Ex have similar advice.

The Thunderbird Atlatl shop elves are busily working to get orders out as quickly as possible. Give us a call at 607-659-3854 or 1-800-836-4520 if you have a special request or need.

Gift certificates are also available if you are unsure of what to get. We can email or snail mail gift certificates to your recipient(s)

Happy Holidays from the Thunderbird Atlatl staff!

Our into everything shop/family cat, Molly, says she will gladly help send out gift certificates!
And so it begins. Packages going out this holiday season 2023!

Articles, News, Our Products, Video

Uses for Thunderbird Atlatl’s Hafting Resin New Video

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Not quite a 100 ways of what you can do with Thunderbird Atlatl’s hafting resin but Bob Berg shows several uses in this new You Tube video on our Thunderbird Atlatl channel.

Thanks to Peter Berg for taking the time to put this video together. Thunderbird Atlatl’s hafting resin is available in packets of two cubes or in larger packages of 10 cubes.

Hafting Resin

News

Florida ISACs, contests held despite weather & location obstacles!

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International Standard Accuracy Contests (ISACs) are always a draw for atlatlists but the Florida ISACS in February faced some challenges! The first ISACS at Letchworth Love State Park had to be moved to just outside the park gate when the state park did not have a safety officer available!

The hay bale target inside the park was moved to just outside the gates to county property and with the goodwill of the park’s neighboring property owner, the contest continued! Photo below: Thunderbird Atlatl’s set up at the Letchworth Love State Park.

In Silver Springs, the knapin (as was the Daytona 500) was cancelled because of rain! Yes, it did rain a lot! Greg Mauer found an alternate site at a local archery club and the ISAC went on Saturday morning before the heavy rains hit! Photos below: Greg Maurer, Donna McCracken and Bob Berg compete in an ISAC in Silver Springs, Florida.

In the photo below, Bob Berg straightens cane darts. Bob Berg with the help of Florida State Park Ranger George Royal and Greg Maurer on video put together a video on the differences between River Cane and Japanese Bamboo.

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