New Catalog

We are currently working on our 2004 Catalog, which this year will be printed as an 8 ½ x 11 booklets rather than the newspaper format we used in the past. The front and back and center section will be in color and the rest black and white. We are looking forward to having the new catalog done by January 15th. We will be mailing copies of it to our last 1000 customers that we have addresses for. If you want a new catalog you may email us, sign our guest book or send a post card.

How To Make An Atlatl, Adventure Course

Atlatl Information, Sticks and Stones, Primitive Hunter Gathering, With Emphasis on How To Make and Use An Atlatl, by Bob Berg

My “Down to Earth Survival Skills Using the Atlatl Course” contains information on how an atlatl is made. I talk about pre-atlatl weapons such as thrusting spears and thrown spears and how they were made and used. I cover the topic of how to make a dart point from stone, bone, copper, steel and shell. I also talk about how an atlatl is constructed out of natural materials that can be gleaned from nature. I discuss how to make darts from several different materials such as split wood, cane and tree shoots. I use a hands on approach and teach you how to make an atlatl using mostly flint and bone tools. My atlatl dart construction discussion will lead you down the path to achieving excellent results without having to start from scratch with a lot of experimentation that I have already gone through myself over the years.

My method of teaching is low-key and hands-on. I prefer to teach in areas where natural materials can be found at hand which is just about anywhere where there are trees, stones and water. It is always good (but not necessary) to locate my classes in areas where I may actually engage in hunting or fishing. I encourage my students to seek out and find venues where this can be done legally and ethically; including obtaining all necessary licenses and permits.

I tend not to talk down to people but prefer treating them as equal peers in an on going process of learning and experimenting with our inborn primitive humanity. When I teach you how to use your atlatl I will cover the topic of how to reach your primal instincts and exploit them to your own great advantage that you can put to use in hunting and fishing with the atlatl, or in using it for target sports.

I like to relate what I teach to what is found in archaeology. I will lay before you my observations about the atlatl and put to rest a lot of “myth” about the atlatl. I have definite ideas in these areas but I will discuss the other points of view also. In my Atlatl Curriculum Vitae I will avail my students of my entire life’s work in the fields of experiential and experimental archaeology.

I consider my class as being a kind of prehistoric art study where the student reaches into him/her self for the primitive expression of our humanity in the work that we endeavor to create, whether it be a fine stone tool, a length of cordage, or a meal of a fish caught with an atlatl and cooked over a fire started by friction. In the primitive earth skills camp we set up in your chosen location we will live for a time as our ancestors utilizing whenever we can, the things that nature prepares for us.

Though it is not very primitive I encourage my students to bring cameras and keep them ready for any opportunity to record our activities. I usually don’t cover the topics of deer hide tanning, primitive archery,
Cultural or social anthropology, the making of primitive clothing, but I am well versed in those subjects and can speak fluently on the subjects.

I do however do hands on cordage making, fire by friction, flintkapping, woodworking with stone tools, and primitive food preparation. Rather than centering my discussions on Native American culture I work with a more general whole world primitive theme, so no matter what your cultural heritage I will be discussing your ancestors.
Whether our venue includes survival tool making or other
Survival techniques like atlatl deer hunting, fishing, shooting an ISAC, stump shooting or just a plain old primitive campout, you will get a lot from my classes. Classes are best if they have more than 5 students but less than ten. I charge $500.00 per day plus travel and material expenses. I am highly adaptable and will work with you to come up with a good program wherever it may be.

Atlatls in America: A Brief Overview

The word “atlatl” is the Aztec word for spear thrower. Our history in North America was greatly affected by the Native Central Americans’ use of the atlatl.

Bernal Diaz’s account of the conquest of New Spain, what is now Mexico, talked extensively of the use of atlatls by the natives, both those on the side of Montezuma and those who allied themselves with the conquistador Cortez.

Archaeologists and anthropologists both have recorded extensive use of the atlatl by Native Americans, who still were using mostly stone tools and stone tipped projectile weapons at the time of European contact. Atlatls continue to be used today in the Amazon Basin as well as in Alaska. Apparently there has been a resurgence in the use of the atlatl among native Alaskans in the Nome area and in the Aleutians and Kodiak Island.

See:
The Conquest of New Spain (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
by Bernal Diaz del Castillo (Author), John M. Cohen (Introduction, Translator) “BERNAL DIAZ DEL CASTILLO

Icicle Atlatl Contest

Icicle Atlatl Contest , January 10, 9 am to 3pm. January 11, 9 am to 2pm, 2004 Icicle Atlatl Contest & ISAC, Tioga Park, Nichols, New York. Turkey dinner at my house (90 Main Street Candor, New York) at 5pm on Saturday night. ( snow date Jan 17&18) check here for snow cancelation. Contact: Bob Berg 1-800-836-4520

Venison Recipe

Bone a shoulder of atlatl-harvested venison and cube it. Dredge the cubed venison in egg then coat with brown bread crumbs. Set aside. Boil a half-cup of barley in two cups of water, stir, cover and let stand for 20 minutes. Cube a rutabaga or several turnips; slice a pound of parsnips into narrow strips. Ring two or three onions and crush a half a dozen cloves of garlic. Fry the garlic in a dash of olive oil. Add the onions, and parsnips, then the rutabaga or turnips. Don’t spare the olive oil because the venison is generally fat free. Don’t over cook the vegetables. In a large iron covered pot, sauté the venison until it is just browned but pink on the inside. Add the vegetables, barley, freshly crushed peppercorn, a dash of sea salt and a cup of red wine. Cover the pot and let simmer for 20 minutes. Serve with fresh brown bread and butter. This goes well with a hearty burgundy. Practice your French after the second bottle of wine.

The world's foremost atlatl and dart outfitter