Obsidian Arrowhead

[gudspelr]

So, got a question for you guys.  I have a friend who said he knows how to knap arrowheads out of obsidian, which I thought was pretty cool.  Obviously, obsidian was used historically for arrowheads, but what do you all think about the practicality of it now?  Is it too brittle?  Are there concerns that it wouldn't be durable enough?  I don't want to try and use something that would cause more difficulty for the animal, but if it wouldn't, I'd sure love to give it a try at some point.  Thanks for the input.


Jeremy

[Grey Taylor]

First, check your local game laws to be sure you're allowed to us non-metal broadheads.
Second, people use obsidian on big game every season. If the head is well made and put in the right place on the animal, it's dead.
It's worked for a few thousand years, no reason to think it's stopped working now.

Guy

[Traxx]

As was Stated,it is effective.
but what do you all think about the practicality of it now? Is it too brittle?
Its not as durable as steel,i dont care what anyone says.Interesting to note,that all Native people who had access to iron or steel,all pretty much abandoned Flint and obsidian heads.That should tell us something.

[Grey Taylor]

Turning to steel does say something about durability. But it also says something about ease of manufacture. I can't knap worth beans, but I can file an edge on a piece of metal.
No doubt that obsidian and the other lithics aren't as durable as steel. On a marginal hit like trying to go through a shoulder blade I'd probably rather have steel. But I still wouldn't hesitate to use a stone or glass head to hunt with. I don't need it to last through multiple animals, I just need it to work on one.

Guy

[ishiwannabe]

Obsidian is the sharpest material known to man. Put a well knapped head into the right spot, and you should be good to go. Make sure you do check the local laws as stated above though.
Good luck.

[gudspelr]

Thanks for the advice and opinions.  Will definitely check the regs for whether or not it's legal.  I THINK it might be-only stipulations that I can remember off the top of my head is no 'barbed' broadheads and no mechanical ones.  Still gonna check though...


Jeremy
 

[Teacher_of_the_Arcane]

Hi All,

I've a video "Spearthrower" with Doug Leeth...an atlatlist.  One of the things he does in the video is put a stone-tipped atlatl dart through the door of a pickup truck....penetrates but does not pass through, and on par with the Snuffer he was using for comparison.  Minimal damage to the point.  Probably doesn't always happen that way, but was very interesting to see.     :D

[getstonedprimitivebowhunt]

..... the 8 point Ohio Buck that I put a "OBSIDIAN" pointed arrow throught this past season wouldn't of thought a metal head would of put him down any faster... Clean through both lungs. Down within 40 yards. Most that put down "stone" never tried it !!! And I thank God they don't !!!!

[Killdeer]

Before:

 

After:

 

 

Doe was spined at 25 yards. I used a second stone point to finish her. The second point went up through the body cavity through lung(s) and into the ventral aspect of a thoracic vertebra to kill her. That one, shot from mere feet, shattered. Both tips punched holes in the vertebrae.

I regard these as single-use projectiles.
Killdeer

[gudspelr]

Thanks, Killdeer-please forgive the dumb question...it looks like artificial sinew for hafting on the first pic, what's the black stuff on the 2nd and 3rd pics?  Is it applied over the sinew?  Also, do you make your own heads/arrows?  Thanks again


Jeremy
 

[Grey Taylor]

Not to answer for her, but judging by the "before" picture and the backstrap sinew shown in it, I suspect real sinew was used for hafting that head. The black substance is probably pitch; melted pine sap mixed with ground charcoal, used grass or hay, and possibly a small amount of beeswax. It's primitive style hot melt glue.

Guy

[Killdeer]

Not bad, Guy!
The black stuff is actually store-bought pine pitch, which came black. It cracks off easily in the cold, so I mixed it with deer fat that I cooked out of the marrow and lardy chunks from over the butt. This was mostly to waterproof the sinew.

Killdeer

[Grey Taylor]

Store bought pine pitch?
I'll be darned, never heard of such an animal. Probably a lot easier than wandering the woods looking for sap dripping on the trees (although not as much fun).

That reminds me of a story...
A friend and I were hunting javelina in Arizona and sharing camp with a compound shooter. Nice fella but he thought we were a little nuts for using longbows. That was reinforced when Sal began extolling the virtues of pine pitch, nature's hot melt glue. The next day we managed to collect a good amount of sap and Sal figured he'd use an empty soup can to melt it next to the campfire that night.
As he was stirring the mixture and telling Ed, the other guy, how good this would turn out, the mix got a little too hot. It burst into flame, shooting about a foot and a half up out of the soup can.
Sal was down on his knees frantically trying to blow the flames out, I was laughing so hard I couldn't stand up, and Ed was moving his camp chair back from the fire and the two crazy longbow guys.
We eventually got the fire out but I suspect that Ed will be staying with his wheel bows and avoiding the primitive side of archery for the time being.

Guy

[Killdeer]

One of the many uses of pine pitch, free fire starter!

Oooh, that reminds me...

Two or three years ago I stopped at a rest area on my way to ATAR. While my pooch was exercising her nostrils, I espied a rather large clot of pitch on the ground beneath a trimmed tree. I scooped it up, wrapped it in a catalpa leaf and put it in a Starbucks cup in the holder in the truck.

I think I better go look for it, before it performs one of its many other functions.   :rolleyes:
Killdeer