Okay atlatlists – the challenge is to watch the television game show “Jeopardy” on Friday, May 16, whenever it is scheduled in your local viewing area.
Thunderbird Atlatl sent a video clue to Jeopardy a few months ago and we are told it was used in the show that will appear on May 16. Your challenge is to guess the right question!
We will be watching with you!
Our individually made premium bamboo darts are state of the art and the best you can get, with our money back, no questions asked guarantee, just like all the rest of Thunderbird Atlatl products.
I start with bamboo that I select myself from cultivated stands of Japanese Arrow Cane often called Yadake, grown in Georgia, USA. Each shaft is carefully selected, sun dried, then fire straightened and trimmed. The outer skin is scraped off, the node area is filed smooth, and then the shafts are reheated and straightened once again. After that the shafts are sanded then polished. The finished shaft is a golden brown with a lustrous copal varnish finish that is applied to the finely polished shafts. I make the copal varnish myself using traditional techniques and materials. I use many of the same techniques used in making Kyudo arrows.
The Japanese bamboo used in making these darts is one of the finest natural dart materials that we have worked with. The way I fasten the conical copper points directly onto the ends of the shaft without an intervening fore shaft has proven to be the most effective method, both for accuracy and durability. We have found through experimentation that darts that are designed with a joint, where the fore shaft and main shaft come together, have an inherent weakness. We have experienced that darts with fore shafts generally fail at the joint. We have chosen to avoid fore shafts in favor of accuracy and durability.
At the spur end of the dart shaft is a fiber binding that creates an attractive and durable dimple that is finished in pigmented copal varnish. The fletching is wrapped with fine silk thread and glued. I finish by trimming the feathers with sharp scissors to create a very fine dart. –Bob Berg
Thunderbird Atlatl will be returning to the Great Lakes Traditional Art Gathering on Drummond Island, Michigan July 9 to 13.
Bob Berg will be teaching about natural resin adhesives and atlatl dart making. Cheryll Berg will be on hand to help out. The atlatl courses will also include an Atlatls on Water target course. On the adhesives side, Bob will focus on birch tar, traditional resins and dop hafting.
Bob’s classes are only a few of the amazing schedule of classes offered during the program. Other topics include historic technology and crafts, textiles and fiber arts; metal arts; language, oral traditions, music and dance; hunting and fishing; maritime traditions; natural history and sustainability; foods and cooking; shelter arts; bushcraft; symposiums and programs for children.
Instructors include Erik Vosteen, Dave Shananquet, Daisy Kostus, George Martin, Jennie Brown, Peter McCreedy, Barry Keegan, Mike Miller, Craig Perdue, Sam Thayer, Waaseyaa’sin Christine Sy, Roger LaBine, Rachel Mifsud, Ben Piersma, Larry Horrigan, Ferdy Goode, Amy Schmidt, Tim Carr, Carly Shananaquet, Bob Love, Chris Hornby, Hugh Covert, George Hedgepeth, Georgia Donovan, Keith Knecht, Jan Zender, Rochelle Dale and others.
Click on the link above to find out more details out about the event and information about registering. It’s definitely worth a trip to Drummond Island in Michigan’s beautiful Upper Peninsula to spend a few days learning about the traditions that have brought us all forward to today.
These photos show Thunderbird Atlatl’s atlatl fishing excursion (after a full day of preparation!) last year at the Great Lakes Traditional Arts Gathering.
We came across this definition of atlatl in an online dictionary the other day.
The dictionary lists the origin of the word atlatl from the Nahuatl language but then says its first know use was 1871. We’re not quite sure where the 1871 date comes from.
However one neat thing is that the dictionary does offer an audio pronunciation.
I have hunted a lot of times with atlatls. Over the years, I have hunted mostly wild boar and deer. Many of our customers use our atlatls and hunting darts for hunting deer, elk, bear, boar and other game animals.
A couple of days ago, “Atlatl Bob”, William Robert Perkins, called me to talk. Every few months “Atlatl Bob” calls to make sure that everyone knows that I’m not “Atlatl Bob” and that we continue to enjoy our friendly competition.
Bob Perkins and I often don’t agree on various atlatl theories. We do agree, however, that foreshafts on atlatl darts are just not effective for hunting large animals. We both have done many experiments with atlatl hunting including the use of hunting darts with foreshafts.
Both of us have come to the conclusion that atlatl darts with foreshafts were probably used more for warfare than for hunting. There have been countless examples of darts with foreshafts found in the Southwest. Every time either of us have used darts with foreshafts for hunting, or witnessed someone else using darts with detachable foreshafts, we have found them to be ineffective in penetrating deeper than the connection. Usually the foreshaft breaks off from the main dart shaft when it strikes an animal. If the foreshaft is only five inches long that is how far the dart penetrates.
A dart without a foreshaft has a lot more penetration and is much more effective in killing an animal you are hunting.