Blowguns

[Tyler_Durden]

The last week or so I have been piddling around with different blowgun possibilities in my room. They are so simple, easy to make, and accurate, but I can't seem to think of a great way to use them as a tactical weapon, other than poison delivery.

Maybe I am hoping for too much, but how else can they be used. It's unlikely you will be able to greatly injure someone with a dart alone. Or am I mistaken?

Concealment wouldn't be a problem, and of course making a decent blowgun is very easy, but what about the ammo? Needles seem to be the best as far as the bulk of it, but stabilization that is both effective and durable has been some trouble to me. So far, the best I have done is to stick the needle through a half inch of shoelace, then fluff out the back end.

I haven't tried much though. Just kinda messed around half-assedly with whatever was within arms reach.

Any ideas?

[PYRO500]

what kinds of blowguns have you been making? ones with a piece of pvc and a needle surrounded with your or what? if you use a professionally made blow pipe you will see these plastic/metal things with the darts are extremely powerful! with the wire tipped ones you need pliers to pull them out of a 2 by 4. by themselves they are weak, but witha poison they have much potential. they could be used for temporary incapacitation of someone if you were to shoot them in the face, these things would take out an eye easily, or pentrate the cheek, or stick into bone, witch means pain galore for the victim, but as these things go for defensive weapons they just don't work, if you were gonna get someone, you wait till they walk past you and you hiding behind some bushes stick them in the face with one of these and run, guranted to put them out for a while.

[NoltaiR]

Oh how this topic brings back memories :)

My cousin bought a commercial blow gun that shot little wire-point darts. Well I wanted to show him up so I made a improvised blow gun out of a 4' long by ¾" ID galvenized aluminum pipe for the 'gun' and a cap to a drawing marker with a nail superglued to the top of the cap (the part that is closed in).

Although my shots my darts never shot out with near the accuracy and lightning speed that his gun had because my darts weighed about 50 times as much as his and were about 5 times as large, I could still pull off putting a 1/8" hole in a ½" thick peice of plywood at 30 feet away just because my darts had so much force upon impact. While his little darts would just stick in the plywood (however you are right about needing to use pliers to get those damn miniature darts out).

Anyways we even got past the stage of just randomly shooting darts and went to go find some frogs.. once we were good enough to get a frog at least 5 feet way (which was simple for his gun put took a hell of a lot of luck for my gun) we went to find grasshoppers (less than 1" long) to shoot. Now he could easily get one from about 3 to 4 feet away but I had to be about a foot away and still I only managed to get it once or twice before giving up. Anyways the main difference was that while he could get it on the first shot and would momentarily stun the frog before jumping off, when I shot mine into the frog, you could hear bones crack and it didn't move anywhere :rolleyes:

Well so much for my stories, I have heard of people making darts similar to my homemade ones and instead of using a nail, they would use a BB stuck to a few grams of AP which is somehow binded to the cap. When the dart would impact, the BB would set off the AP. Now if you can get good with this, then you could pick off vehicles at about 30+ feet away.

[Jack Ruby]

In the FTP there is A .Doc file titled BtoD.doc.

It is written by someone calling them self, "Agent Blak of C-Spec"...?

The file Talks about making darts from Syring lungers and the Hypodermic Needle. The blow Pipe is made from a length of PVC.

I tried this design out and it work great.

[xoo1246]

Tactical application, as what? A weapon of the assassin? Tell me more about i.

[DBSP]

I just thought of a sutible job for a blowgun. If you could get a dart to carry either poison as PYRO suggested or a paralyser or something it could be used to take out guard dogs safely and quietly. A blowgun is guite sile´t if you compare it with a shotgun or even a 22.

[Madog555]

i got a comercial blowgun. once i shot it into the aluminum downspout on my house. it penitrared through and was sticking out into the inside of it like 1cm.

my uncle used to make blowguns from 3/4inch copper pipe when he was in the navy. they would be big (like 5 feet) and the dart was made from a nail put in the front of a paper cone that fit the pipe.

well, one day he and his friend were talkin about them and a skeptical guy overherd. so my uncle took his blow gun, loaded it, pointed it at a nearby building with a concrete foundation and shot it. the dart stuck right into the concrete foundation of the building.

Agent Blak is a member from the old forum, i wonder where he went, i hope he turns up.

that AP thing sounds awsome, but if it goes off in the tube that is in your mouth thats gonna hurt.

if u put one into someones eye just right it may penetrate into the brain.

[ 02 March 2002: Message edited by: Madog ]

[MacCleod]

I have a blowgun a friend made for me out of 5/8th. i.d. electrical conduit that works well.We made darts for it from 4-1/2 in. segments of stainless steel wire which we sharpened.For the end we used bell-shaped foam earplugs (MAX brand,from Howard Leight industries).We'd heat the wire,then stick it up through the center of the plug.These fit the pipe perfectly,and are quite powerful,have to be pulled out with pliers.It's pretty accurate up to about 30 ft.

[Yi]

My friend & I used to use paper cones with nails through them, but found the paper cones get wet and break. Also the nail is fairly short and heavy. Then we found that blowgun darts made out of thin springsteel wire (~1mm maybe slightly less), with one end sharpened and one end flattened with a hammer, pushed through a cone made out of the stuff they wrap flowers in. They work very well and accurately.

[Tyler_Durden]

I bought one. For $4 I didn't see any reason not to. Also, I got 50 practice darts for about $5.

The practice ones are, like you say, that thin steel stuff. There are also stun darts, paintballs, broadhead darts of some kind, and some other kind I forget the name.

I can hit a circle of about 2" radius 9/10 times from a spot about 15 feet away. Not bad.

[xoo1246]

Get a scope... :)

[Jack Ruby]

When I aim my Blow Pipe I use line of sight(looking down the tube; not through) with both eyes open.

Distance is aproximated to a just your tragectory.

How do you fellows aim yours.

[Tyler_Durden]

Scopes are not very practical, but I don't doubt someone sells them.

I thought about that also... aiming... and I tried many different things. I tried both eyes, and using just one never worked. I tested keeping my focus at different points, on the tip of the blowgun, the target, in between, etc.

What I found was that, for me, the best system is to switch focuses between the tip of the gun and the target, but before you shoot, be focusing on the target. The aim is sort of instinctual and natural.

This is exactly what you are supposed to do when playing pool/billiards. I shoot a lot of pool, so this system of aiming fits me pretty well... and it seems like the best solution so far.

I am always open to suggestions though. I may be wrong.

[Jack Ruby]

I shoot a lot of pool... Usually 8-Ball.

It is great for keeping the mind sharp and intinctove aiming.

[inferno]

There was a site i lost when my comp crashed, it was <a href="http://www.defence-systems.com" target="_blank">www.defence-systems.com</a> or something (tried that it doesnt work) and anyway they sold commercial blowguns, 12-72 inches (12, 18, 36, 48, 72) and commercial target arrows, and paintballs.

Twas a great site, they also sold everything from knuckledusters to pepper spray to slingshots to bb guns to stun guns! Oh and did i meantion tasers? That site is great but if u want it, id do a search. Was called defence systems or something, search for blowguns on google or something.

[Cricket]

I used to have a blow gun, but my brother bent it so I made some detonators out of it. Once I was sitting and surfing the Internet(here probably) and I saw this mouse run across the kitchen floor so I loaded up my blowgun. Then I saw him again. I turned right (he stoped for about .25 second) and began blowing (the blowgun) before I was even on target and somehow it all worked and I stuck him in his left eye and into the kitchen floor (not carpet). He was eeking and jumping around everywhere, but he was pinned to the floor because the dart was stuck in there. It was so funny. And then I saw another one so I did the exact same thing to him, even in the left eye. I was so amazed, still am. I never was that gooda shot even if I had time to aim. And with these detonators I made, I only used them like firecrackers (AP only, no secondary). They were fun. I bought it at the Winnermaker (spelt wrong) Gun Show (said to be the biggest in the world). It was about $14 for the gun, 50 very sharp darts, 50 stun darts, and the grip and dart holder stuff. Oh and also, you can make a neat little sight by duct taping a laser pen to your gun and sighting it in. You have be a little more careful with it though or you bump it and it goes off sight and you have to either hold the on button (unless it has a continous switch) or make something to hold it for you. It works with paintball guns too. Bye.

<small>[ April 15, 2002, 04:51 PM: Message edited by: Cricket ]</small>

[Zero]

Memories, indeed.

I used to make little tiny 1/4 inch blowguns out of pens and later brass tubing. I made darts from cut off coffee stirrers, straight pins, and yes, epoxy putty. Making the darts balanced took a bit of practice, but once you get it down you can crank those suckers out.

I would take my toys to school (where several of my friends were improvised small arms enthusiasts - spitball launchers, straw shooters, &c.) and proceed to cause all sorts of trouble. I'll wager there are still little yellow straw darts in the cafeteria ceiling to this day...

Regardless, my meek little straw darts didn't do much damage at all. Certainly noting beyond irritating the target no end. They were, however, extremely accurate if constructed properly. I had a few kicking around for a while that I shot at my dartboard. I could repeatedly stack one dart inside the other from across the room...

I probably still have my full auto launcher around here someplace. I should dig it out and post pictures.

~Zero the Inestimable

[mark]

What should i shoot out of this little baby? I know its not a blowgun, but it would shoot similar things.
<img src="http://www.paintballresource.org/userimages/276.jpg" alt="" />

[BoB-]

For simple and cheap, just pick up some cheap Q-tips at a department store (cheaper prices), instead of rolled up paper like normal Q-tips use, the cheaper ones use a hollow plastic tube to connect the cotton. Just cut one in half, and super-glue a sharpened finishing nail about a 1/4" into the hollow tube. If your barell is bigger than the cotton tip, just "fluff" it out a bit until you get a seal.

Sure, they wont take major punishment like store bought darts, but who cares? it take less than an hour to make hundreds. Oh, and if they arent flying right, try lengthening the nail, if that doesnt work try lengthening the Q-tip half.

Be *very* careful with a blowgun you intend to use poisonous darts with, the entire barell, the quiver, and sometimes the mouthpeice get covered in poison.

I've killed many rabbits with my 4' blowgun and the darts mentioned above, 2 in the stomach or one in the head usually does it, and how do I fire 2 shots at a moving object? with one these; the coolest blowgun accessory ever!

<a href="http://www.alaskabestpawn.com/image10a.gif" target="_blank">http://www.alaskabestpawn.com/image10a.gif</a>

A blowgun repeater magazine! You should be able to find one of these wherever blowguns are sold, but they're kindve expensive, mine was $20.

[mark]

I made some mini blowdarts today! They take about a minite to make each, and there pretty fun to shoot.
<img src="http://www.paintballresource.org/ubb/userpics/209.jpg" alt="" />

[skeleton_keys]

The last few weeks I've been tinkering with a CO2 powered blowgun. I bought a "CO2 Power Handle" from Blowgunsnw.com, which works pretty well for distances of about 5-20 feet. The only problem is, the handle only works with 12 gram CO2 canisters. I bought a 20 oz. CO2 tank and a remote line, and tried attaching it to the head of the power handle. When I cranked on the CO2, the handle started leaking like crazy, and wouldn't fire as accurately or powerfully as it had with just the 12 gram cartridges. I've been trying to build a wrist mounted, three-shot-at-a-time dart gun, and so far the only thing stumping me is how to get a valve that wouldn't allow the CO2 to leak, and preferably could be operated by pushing a button instead of squeezing a lever or twisting the stem. Any thoughts? I've got almost the whole thing built, except for that one snag.

[Anthony]

Dunno if this will help, but you can dummy 12gm cylinders which have a standard CO2 sized threaded fitting on them. Used for converted CO2 airguns and crap paintball guns to run on refillable bottles.

[mark]

Does anyone know how I could make a 40 caliber dart that detonates a 22 caliber blank on impact? I just got a real blowgun today, so any help would be apreciated.

[A-BOMB]

Mark, making the darts easy but its the blowing the dart out the barrel with anothe speed and power to fire the blank. Just put some Armstrongs in a straw thats got one end filled with hot glue, and put on of those sharp steel darts in it and fire at some thing hard. Thats what I did.

[mongo blongo]

I got an interesting idea about poison darts.
When a bee stings you it leaves behind it's stinger. This stinger is like a hollow barbed needle with a bag of venom attached to it. If you try to pull the stinger out you will end up squeezing the bag of venom which injects even more venom into the victim.
Right you all probably knew that. My idea is exactly that, but using a small hypodermic needle and some type of bag containing something like Hydrogen Cyanide as the dart. It would be even better if the needle was barbed to make it harder to pull out.
As soon as the unsuspecting victim is shot, :mad: it will be instinctive for him to try to pull it out.
The need for some kind of elaborate injecting system will no longer be needed as the victim will do it for himself. :p
Well not really my idea, it was rather mother nature's. :)

[nbk2000]

I've taken tiny blood sampling pipets from the doctors office. These things have a bulb about the size of a pea, with a tube about 1/4" long.

It'd hold probably a tenth of a milliliter, but with HCN or similiar, that's more than enough.

Solder a straightened out fishing hook to a sports ball inflation needle, with the pipet glued in it. When shot, the victim will attempt to pull it out, injecting themselves. This would indeed save you from having to create some complicated mechanism to do the injecting.

[Wicked]

Can you send me like, a few hundred of those? I wanna go shoot a few people I hate on the bike trail with them while I'm sitting in a tree. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

[Wicked]

Actually, 10-20 should do.

[mark]

Haha. Haha. Haha. How clever you are.

[mongo blongo]

That's good NBK! That's the kind of thing I'm thinking of! But wouldn't a sports ball inflation needle be a little too thick?
The injection needle should be very short so that when shot into the victim, the only thing outside the body should be the bag of poison to ensure that he pules it out by the bag.
If you could put some bristles around the bag, it would not only make the dart fly straight but disguises the bag of poison to the victim.

[Zach]

at the size of a pea the bulb would most likley just look like a plastic ball. and think about it- when a misquito bites you (and you feel it) what do you automatically do? you slap at it.
ive been shot with blowdarts, the long ones that are between 2 and 3 inches long, and what i did was clutch at the area of pain and drove the dart a little deeper.(i didnt know that id been shot)
i dont think disguising it is a problem, and the shorter the dart is generally the less stable it is.

[Wicked]

True, the only problem I see though, is that the venom would discharge if you held it wrong, or if you shot it too fast, so nbks idea is good, but id just cut the sheeth its in into smaller pieces. The problem with the tastles or whathave you, is that they would be harder to make, asin something fuzzy or somewhat in what I see. I've got my good ol' bomber blowgun here, and when you shoot, if it doesnt fit enough, it won't launch. Sooooooo :rolleyes: it would haveto be a very good tastle :p

[nbk2000]

You'd want the inflator needle because of it's sturdiness. A needle meant for injection (syringe) is too flimsy to survive an impact from a launcher without bending or breaking. An inflator needle is VERY thick and will easily penetrate clothes and skin at speed.

Plus the thickness of the needle allows for soldering on of the barbs, and the large bore insures almost instantaneous injection of all the poison.

Also, the heavy needle makes the injector dart tip heavy, ensuring stability in flight.

If a person had a plug in the needle made of a rapidly soluble salt, and an elasticly compressed poison bulb, then the dart should automatically inject the toxin upon embedding itself in flesh, wheter or not the target grabs it. :)

[Ctrl_C]

what about building (or obtaining?) small syringes that use the momentum of the dart to push the syringe plunger in?

[Wicked]

I think that'd be too hard.

[Anthony]

Wicked: One liners like that don't really help anyone. What is helpful is if you add *why* you think it would be too hard. People are unfortunately, or fortunately not telepathic so you need to explain yourself.

[mongo blongo]

NBK- I see your reasoning. Maybe the needle could be sharpened a bit more to be extra sure the penetration occurs? Maybe some lead weight could be used to get a better momentum.
Do you know what these blood sampling pipets are called by any chance?
Thanx!

[mark]

I just dreated this little gadget the other day. Its for shooting heavy darts, but I shot a target dart right through 1/2" wood with it.
<img src="http://www.paintballresource.org/ubb/userpics/309.jpg" alt="" />

[Wicked]

Shit marc, you got createive there, good idea, maybe its possible to just make a handheld with a pipe and a spring, then a small plunger, anyways, I'm going to try and play with your idea, I like it :) I betcha a pvc pipe would be good enough :)

[mark]

Thank you. I had another hit of creativty today. Im ade a fairly safe exploding dart that goes off nicley on concrete when fired from my stomp gun.
<img src="http://www.paintballresource.org/ubb/userpics/317.jpg" alt="" />

[PYRO500]

are those cartredge primers attached to stun (plastic) darts? why are they off center?

[Tyler_Durden]

Mark! PLEASE explain yourself more thoroughly! I have no fucking clue what either of those pictures mean!

Don't just give us a vague, cryptic explanation of the picture and your "invention". Explain what it's made with, how it works, how you made it, and whatever else you can provide that you think would be useful to us.

I am going to guess that the first picture is a device to give you more power in the blow gun... more specifically, you stomp on that bottle to force the air through the tube and out the blowgun, which would be more powerful than just blowing it.

Am I correct? What do I win?

As for the second picture, it looks like commercial stun darts with small copper-looking things carefully placed on top of them to make them look explosive.

Am I correct? What more do I win?

[mark]

You win a reproachful glance due to your mockery of my high resolution, if indeed poorley explained pictures. You were right about the first picture, it is indeed a stomp rocket type of device. You were wrong about the second picture. Those are 22 caliber blanks that are fitted into a hole in the dart.

Pyro500, there crooked because they were drilled with a hand drill and my vice kept slipping.

[Wicked]

Heh heh, I tryed to use some gunpowder in a container, and used an estes modle rocket ignighter to set it off, well, I shot the dart through a sinder block,,,,,,, whoops :rolleyes: anyways, I'm going to figure out some better ideas, maybe something more household and something thats more burny than exploseive. My g'ol' plaster of paris + gasoline was nice, maybe if I................................................. :D

[xoo1246]

Not really related but almost: I made myself a simple pipe gun with a thin but heave walled metal piple, maybe 30 cm long. I used a small amount of electrically fired gunpowder to propell a nail dart. It worked well(didn't sound much (pop)and penetrated maybe 2cm hard wood at 1,5 meters distance). Maybe one could substitute the nail arrow and use a lead bullet, this way createing a simple single-fire pen gun.(no need for any mechanical work) I used a 9v battery but this could be changed to a smaller 1,5 v(using a micro-bulb as igniton source).
Good for assassinations and such. :p

<small>[ May 08, 2002, 03:16 PM: Message edited by: xoo1246 ]</small>

[Wicked]

I'm not picking on you dude, but please refrain from posting unless you have a point to make. If you did have a point then it made absolutely no sense

<small>[ May 09, 2002, 08:44 AM: Message edited by: Anthony ]</small>

[Lazy01001]

Ahh the blowgun, what an awesome weapon. You all had different methods of aiming. The way I aim is pretty much 100% guess work. But, I guess i shouldnt really call it guess work, since I have had the gun for about 7 months. I belive I am almost 90% accurate. I love the idea of the 22 blanks!!!!! :D But I have pretty much no clue on how to make it. A little help?

[inferno]

This isnt a lethal weapon or anything, but a metal tube i found, about an inch in diamter, could shoot little balls of gladwrap with excellent accuracy, about 10 metres. The tube is about a foot long. A poster i have with an actual target on it, could be shot on the 1 inch bullseye about 4/5 times from 15 feet away. Thats just balls of glad wrap, nothing special. And i just aimed it from instinct.

Blowguns are pretty accurate. Good darts can be made from those ear-wax cleaner things, cotton buds. You know, the ones with the little balls of cotton on each end of a plastic tube. Well anyway, cut off one end, get a needle, melt the plastic with a lighter for a few seconds and insert the needle. The plastic dries hard around it. They can be shot out of ballpoint pen cases with reasonable accuracy. They can just stick into wood, but not very far.

[Jack Ruby]

"what about building (or obtaining?) small syringes that use the momentum of the dart to push the syringe plunger in?"

I tried this a while back. I even tried putting a fishing weight on the back of the plunger.

Didn't work at all. The raneg was also very limited. Sorry if I bust and bubbles.

[mongo blongo]

Yea I had that idea too. :(
What about a very thin syringe. Pull the plunger out, put a small lead ball in it (not too small, just small enough to move through the tube freely), seal the end where the plunger was. Fill it with your poison and when it comes to shooting, make sure the ball is at the back of the tube. On impact the lead ball will be thrown forward pushing the liquid out. Not all the poison would be injected but with HCN that's not a problem.
Does anyone know how tranquilizer darts work?

[kingspaz]

how about the ball hitting a primer or somthing. the primer could then shoot the toxin into the victim.

[EP]

I'm looking for diagrams of tranquilizer darts, but all I have found so far is a couple pictures.

<a href="http://www.pneudart.com/images/darts/high_dart_lineY.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.pneudart.com/images/darts/high_dart_lineY.jpg</a>

[BoB-]

Kingspaz sortve described it, an inertially detonated primer launches the plunger from a tiny syringe forward with the gas's generated. NBK explained it a few years back (where is that dude?).

An inertial switch isnt that hard to make, the sensitive side of the primer faces a striker which is held away from it by a spring, when inetia takes over the weighted striker keeps moving, closing the spring, and detonating the primer. You should be able to do it with a few bits of telescoping antenna.

[McGuyver]

Does anyone know of a poison that will kill almost instantly-one that attacks the central nervous system and paralyzes the pest. NBK mentioned sodium fluoride in an earlier thread about killing dogs, but I'm pretty sure it takes at least a few hours. The poison ingredients must be easy to obtain. I don't feel like going to Africa just to some poison. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> I know about the ones the Indians use and that can only be found there. I'm probably asking a bit much here, but oh well. The poison would preferably be easy to apply to darts and not be dangerous unless it enters the bloodstream.

[kingspaz]

they smear the points of their darts on poison arrow frogs if thats anyhelp at all...

[nbk2000]

Only poison arrow tree frogs in their native enviroment are toxic. Domestically raised poison arrow tree frogs, or those long since captured, are non-toxic. It turns out that the frogs absorb and concentrate toxins they get from the venomous insects they eat in the wild.

For us, hydrogen cyanide, nicotin sulphate, or lab concentrated organophosphate pesticides would be the quickest killers, taking only a minute or two to kill.

There's also succinylcholine chloride, which will almost instantly paralyze, before suffocating to death, a victim. But you'd have to get that from a chemical supplier, thus paper trail.

I mentioned NaF because of it's cheapness and ease of availability.

[nbk2000]

Seeing how you have the plastic "stun" darts, I got the idea of using them as sabots for firing steel flechette darts. The design would be similar to the tank sabot rounds.

This picture of a tank sabot round seperating in flight has been altered to include a serrated flechette in it.

<img src="http://server3001.freeyellow.com/nbk2000/Flechette_Sabot.jpg" alt="" />

You can buy a pound of 1.5" steel flechettes for $5 in the US. That's 800 darts for $5.

The serrations are added on the flechette to allow for toxins or germs to be carried into the target.

Also, the idea of a stomp pump is good.

For a CO2 powered blowgun, you could possibly adapt something I noticed once. If you use a spring loaded center punch set to "hard", and use it on the seal of a powerlet, the entire powerlet will instantly discharge with a POP sound. 12 grams of CO2 gas in less than a blink of an eye.

So, I'm thinking you could install an immovable centerpunch in a blowgun with the point of the punch pointing towards the mouthpiece. A powerlet in a tube (that slides over the blowgun tube) is pressed against the punch till it discharges, firing off the saboted flechette at high velocity (much faster than lung or stomp).

Now, if the blowgun tube was strong enough, you could neck it down at the business end and use a sliding stopper to seal the blowgun, retaining the noise, thus having a silent flechette launcher. Similar idea to the silent projector described in the black book series.

[Nico]

There's a neat little piece here about use of an improvised blowgun:

<a href="http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/fiction/windsofchange-ninja.pdf">The Girl And The Ninja</a>

[ShotgunsAreFun]

What about modifying a blowgun to be powered by a CO2 cartridge(can get 10 of them for AU$4) with a trigger? Could make a spring loaded stripper type magazine for it without much trouble I would think. But then again, I haven't tried so I wouldn't know.

[Fukineh]

I shot a marble at my friend using one of my pneumatic cannon barrels as a blowgun with pleasing results. Since the 3/4 " barrel has female adapters on it to attach on to the 1 1/4 " male adapter on my cannon, it provides a nice "cup" to blow into just like the commercial blowguns have. Is this relevant; not really, but it's an easy way to make high caliber blow dart guns out of PVC. Or of course you could just flare the end like PVC darts are made, a more practical and probably better method.

[germanic]

eeehm, those ideas are nice but they're not blowguns. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> anyways, wouldn't it be easy to just make a paper cone with a needle in the front. If you file a tiny bit into the needle, so that it will break of when someone tries to pull it out. that would leave a horrible itch. and if you dip the tip of the needle into poison or heavy metal you might even leave a horrible itch. :) just a few ideas.

[heaton3805]

Why don't you guys just do what ACTUAL assassins have been doing for over 3,000 years??? Run the needles through melted wax, bounce the thing across across the blade of a knife, dip in substance of choice and allow to dry...

Also, me and friends have used Novicain for years...It's funny to watch people fall and squirm and it works quite fast as well :D

[Anthony]

It'd be interesting to know where you supposedly got Novocaine, and why your targets dropped instantly when it typically takes 2-5 mins to take effect.

It'd also be interesting to know why you'd be stupid enough to go shooting people up with an uncertain amount of powerful anaesthetic. Further yet, why despite being knocked down rapidly with must be a large dose, why none of your "targets" died or suffered other severe symptoms.

We don't take kindly to bullshiters here, so let's hope you're telling the truth...

[nbk2000]

I was able to (back in the mid-90s) buy lido/nova/procains for less than $10/lb, over the counter in 'frisco, from chemical suppliers, no questions asked. These are considered "harmless" substances.

Also, maybe he's meaning that the darts would numb a leg so much that it'd be "dead" and they couldn't support their weight on it, thus falling?

I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here, so use this opprotunity to explain yourself and what you did, before you "vanish", eh? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

Also, it seems really rather stupid to be shooting people with a drugged blowgun dart for shits and giggles. I don't think the police would think it very funny, though your new husband, "Bubba", might find it hilarious. :D

[heaton3805]

Thank you NBK. Yes, I did mean that it would numb my "targets" leg. And we use to buy this stuff in a small plastic bucket type container for around $15 at a low grade medical store. Also, we were not just shooting these things at random people, we use to have little "bouts" of sorts with these darts. I am not using any bull shit at all here, sorry if it sounds so...

[Spaced Monkey 2002]

I don't know whether this product is any good, but I found this on a home security webpage.

<a href="http://protectiondevices.com/blowguns_2.html" target="_blank">http://protectiondevices.com/blowguns_2.html</a>

You need to cut your sig down to two lines maximum!

<small>[ February 22, 2003, 05:40 PM: Message edited by: J ]</small>

[Skean Dhu]

i've noticed that almost everyone has had troubles with stabilizing the darts.
::3 simple steps for stabilizing darts::
1)take some yarn and wrap it around your first three fingers (like you make a monkey's fist knot) and then wrap twice horizontaly around the middle to hold it together.
2) stick your dart through the area around the knot ie;the center
after that tape/glue it in place and cut the loops of yarn so you can make it all fuzzy.
3) trim it flush with the end of your dart, do this by sticking it down your blowgun until you can't push the end.
the fuzz should cover the last 1/3 of your dart

[chemofun]

about poisons that are easy to get for darts...you could probably get some off the skin of a puffer fish. I have a puffer fish as a pet. It was cheap and is pretty easy to take care of. I dont know if you can just rub a dart on them though. I do however know that they produce a lethal nerve toxin called TTX i blelieve, Tetrodotoxin. I don't know for sure how to extract it but i know it would work well. You should look it up in more detail.

[nbk2000]

Puffer fish toxin is contained in the ovaries and liver of the fish, so you can't "rub a dart on it" and get the poisonous effects.

You can't even do that with captive Poison Dart frogs (actual name :)) because they get their toxicity from the poisonous insects they eat in the jungle, something domestic crickets and worms wouldn't provide. :(

Now, if you had a stone fish, then you could do the dart trick by pulling out one of its spines, which contain the venom and are disposable as far as the fish is concerned, and attaching it to your dart. They're about 60% fatal, and pure agony for weeks afterwards if the victim survives.

I found one available for sale for $400 at a fish store once, by asking the owner if he knew where to get one, and he knew someone who had them.

[akinrog]

While reading through this thread, I remembered a fact that I noticed when I was reading an entomology book.

According to this book TEPP (Tetra Ethyl Pyrophosphate (sp?) or Pyrophosphoric acid tetraethyl ester) is supertoxic for humans. TEPP is a simple organophosphate insecticide which is ceased to be used due to its supertoxicity for mammals.

Anyway when I researched over the net about its toxicty, I came up with this link (http://hazard.com/msds/tox/gw.cgi?query=TEPP&whole=partial&start=0) which shows toxicity of various TEPP derivatives. In the first link which this URL gives (TEPP) the lowest lethal toxicity is 1700 ug(microgram) /kg (oral - human), 286 ug/kg and 380 ug/kg (intramuscular - human), 71 ug/kg (parenteral - human), LD50 2400 ug/kg (transdermal - rat) etc. etc.

However only downside with this compound AFAIK and IIRC, it is incompatible with the metals. They corrodes the metals and is being decomposed by them. In addition how fast it acts I don't know. Maybe somebody may shed a light on it HTH.

[rolynd]

There are some tranqilizer darts that use compressed air to inject the contents of the dart to the animal. They work quite easy and should not be too hard to duplicate. The tip of the dart is solid with a tiny hole 2mm behind the tip, at the side of the needle. They are loaded from the backside with the tranquilizing agent, then closed with a cap which has a small valve in it. Through this air is injected with a normal 20ml syringe to create an overpressure inside of the dart. To prevent the liquid from being pushed out to early you just stick the tip into a tiny piece of rubberlike plastic/PVC first(before loading). When the dart hits the animal the tiny rubberpiece is pushed up the needle and when the neddle enters the animal the tranquilizing agent( or poison) is delivered.

[Mr. Toliver]

One of the best commercial guns out there is put out by Cold Steel knives. It it has a 5/8" bore and comes with four styles of darts. The blowgun and a slug of darts is only $20. It really packs a wallop.

www.coldsteel.com

[tdog49]

Went squirrel hunting this week, using a .62 cal blowgun and darts made from welding wire. (specifically Railbuild 540 5/64). I was kinda skeptical at first but am now a true believer. I cant hit crap beyond 10 ft but my partner is pretty good and we took several at about 20-25 ft.

[milobloom]

I use a 1/2 piece of PVC piping with darts that are made of a paper cone (something fairly stiff, such as manilla tag) and bit of metal hanger (like you hang clothes on), sharpened on grinder, then held together with epoxy or superglue. The darts are somewhat heavy, but usually come out fairly balanced, and can penetrate through plywood over 1/4 inch thick, no problem.

[meselfs]

http://www.geocities.com/blowgunhunter/

Proof that commercial blowguns suck :->

From that site:

"At this range, a dart will go completely through its [squirrel] chest, and be stopped only by the dart head."

Am going to bicylce to the hardware shop tommorow (20 km: one of the few disadvantages of rural life) and get the components.

[meselfs]

http://www.geocities.com/blowgunhunter/

Proof that commercial blowguns suck :->

From that site:

"At this range, a dart will go completely through its [squirrel] chest, and be stopped only by the dart head."

Am going to bicylce to the hardware shop tommorow (20 km: one of the few disadvantages of rural life) and get the components.

[_SAS_]

Just on the topic of making blowguns and ammo...

I have always enjoyed blowguns since I can remember, mainly because they can be easily produced cost efficiently as well as being tactically advantageous in certain situations because of there range and silence.

I make my darts from Kebab sticks (still fairly strong and robust - but not to light) and attaching hand made paper cones to the end of each stick by means of glue. This way you can mass produce ammo in minimal time with a quality result.
As for the blowpipe itself, I use the curtain rail type of pipe (easy to find, plus I have never needed to employ a blowpipe in a tactical type of situation.)

Hope this is useful to someone.

[Charon]

I have a fairly good working knowledge of blowguns, I've used them for hunting as well as for other tactical uses (pranks, dynamic building entry, blowing up the neighbors prized koi pond) well, alot of that was exaggerated but hell here goes,

First, the best blowgun material i've found is glass (the big long tubes they use for glass blowing, making research and medical equipment blah blah blah)
It provides the least amount of friction and very little weight, however since it is brittle and has a tendency to shatter, a nice metal sleeve is nice to have for it too.

Secondly, ammo can be made from a ton of different materials, wood, metal, coat hangers, exacto blades, and as far as fletching, i've found that a frayed end of some parachord or mylar works really well.

Now as far as tactical uses are concerned, blowguns are used for alot more than killing living organisms, they are excellent deception tools, shoot out a light bulb or a window, it definetely is something that destracts people. A blowgun can even be used for building entry, hitting elevator keys and keypad numbers.

As far as poisons, since lethality from a blowgun isn't that easy of a thing to kill someone with, even if you hit someone intravenously (sp?) you would need a mighty good poison to take someone out, plus if you do kill someone, you run the risk with authorities, I've used a posion made from ants (take a bajillion red fire ants, put them in a pot and poil them down to a nice red sludge, there you go) and let me tell you whoever gets hit with that will drop and start crying.

[nbk2000]

I'm crying now that I see I let the previous post slip through un-deleted, and the poster un-banned. :rolleyes:

I really need to get more sleep.

Tell us, oh Ninja Master, how the fuck you perform a dynamic building entry using a blowgun?

[ShadowMyGeekSpace]

That post brings one word to mind: Wow.