Blowguns

The blowgun or blowpipe has a long history that spans the globe. Many authorities believe it was first invented in Malaysia where it migrated through the Malaysian and Indonesian archipelago's finding its way to the Philippines and as far north as Japan.

The blowgun, however, was not just a southeastern weapon; it also surfaced in the western hemisphere in the jungles of South and Central America, moving as far north as the southeastern United States.

Blowguns were originally invented to serve as a hunting weapon. They were used to bag small animals and birds, with small stones or hardened clay pellets being used for ammunition.

Eventually, most hunters discovered that they could take much larger animals by the use of thin wooden darts that were laced with lethal poisons. The poison was derived from the sap of specially cultivated vines.

The first blowguns were probably made in the same way as many still are - from hollow reeds and bamboo. There are advantages and disadvantages to this; a tapering bore slightly increases the efficiency, but projectile design becomes more complicated - essentially a narrow projectile with a large "Puff" of feathers or fiber on the end that will conform to the taper.

In our modern times, it's a lot easier to find a nice, smooth chunk of pipe than a suitable reed. Moreover, the skills and techniques required to turn reeds or bamboo into an accurate blowpipe easily rival those going into a high-end fly-fishing rod.

It means there are many directions you can go with this sport weapon. You can focus on the tube, the ammunition, building up your accuracy; and while you can spend a great deal of time and money - you don't have to.

That's the beauty of it.

You can find this in any hardware store for a few dollars and it is as good or better than any inexpensive "toy" blowgun you will find. Actually, it's probably superior to most. As you can see, it's a handsome thing, and has a mouthpiece. You can use it just as it is, or with some additional brass or plastic bits, come up with various different mouthpiece configurations.

This one is a nice chromed brass, dimensionally quite stable. At thirty inches long, it's short for outdoor shooting but it's ideal for indoor, recreational shooting at a dartboard.

My first darts were made simply by taping or gluing teased cotton balls to sharpened coat-hanger wire, and they stood up to hundreds of uses. Any old nail would probably work just as well.

All you need to make a simple paper blowpipe is an ordinary number two pencil, a sheet of ordinary typewriter (or legal size) paper, "scotch" tape and a couple of rubber bands to act as extra hands.

Simply place the pencil on one long side of the paper. Carefully roll the paper, so that the seam is straight. Gridded paper makes this much easier. When you have it fully rolled, temporarily fasten it with rubber bands and check the bore size with a filter plug. Loosen or tighten slightly as needed, but it should be spot on for an 8mm filter plug.

Once you are sure it's right, run a strip of tape along the seam, then tape the outside of each end.

This will work beautifully just as it is, and will provide hours of harmless indoor fun. Please note the advisory below, however. This blowpipe has no anti-inhalation safety and is fairly fragile.

You will find that even with a short, 11 inch pipe and simple projectiles, you will be able to achieve quite remarkable accuracy. Keeping the tube short also limits the amount of force that can be developed - force increases dramatically with the length of the pipe. Serious blowguns are at least four feet long.

If you and your children find this an amusing diversion, you may wish to spend a little more time and/or money on your blowpipe.

Simply put, this is some means of keeping the projectile from being accidentally inhaled from the pipe. The best way of doing this is a simple lip that is slightly smaller than the projectile itself, so that it has to be slightly squeezed to be inserted.

If you wish to be even safer, make a mouthpiece that has a much smaller hole than the bore, and turn your blowpipe into a muzzle-loader. It will be slower to load, but it will be safer for a child to use.

A simple and effective "muzzle-loader" mouthpiece can be made by rolling and taping a cardboard tube so that it is small enough to fit into the bore, and taping it in place.

If you prefer a traditional, breech-loading blowpipe, you need to create a rim that is two or three millimeters smaller than the bore, in a smooth curve. One way is to build up the inside of the bore with strips of paper saturated with wood glue. This will also make a much better mouthpiece than tape, which is very much a quick and dirty approach to the project.

If you are serious about crafting blowpipes, a particularly good approach is to create the whole thing from glue-mache; long strips of paper (those from a paper shredder are ideal) saturated in wood glue and wound around a waxed wooden dowel with a light coat of petroleum jelly or cooking spray.

Simply sand one end of the dowel slightly to create a one mm restriction, and then build up your tube on that as a base. Once it's dry, remove the dowel from the tube; the wax and lubricant will act as a release agent. Obviously, you must make your pipe SHORTER than the dowel.

If you are using a metal pipe, it's very simple to create an effective safety. Simply wrap one end of the pipe with PVC electrical/craft tape, the sort that stretches. Your final wrap should overlap the end of the pipe, creating a 2 mm overlap. This flexible tape overlap will allow you to press a projectile past it, but will prevent it from falling out or being accidentally inhaled.

A blowgun will shoot anything that fits in the tube. It does not have to be dangerous, much less lethal, to be an enormous amount of fun. While some form of dart is fine for target use, if you wish them to enjoy a less-expensive version of paintball or lazer tag, Cellulose cigarette filters make inexpensive, safe and reusable ammunition.

Cigarette filters, available at any smoke shop, or online. As you can see, they come in various "calibers" and they are made of pure cellulose - non-toxic and (slowly) biodegradable, and the only safety equipment needed is a pair of goggles. (not required for target shooting)

I don't suggest using cellulose filters outside, as they do not biodegrade easily. They are ideal inside, as they are quite unlikely to damage anything in a hallway or rumpus room. You will find that even with a short, 11 inch pipe and simple projectiles, you will be able to achieve quite remarkable accuracy.

A suitable target would be a cardboard square with various sized holes and something behind it to catch the filter plugs.

The plugs themselves can be easily and safely colored with food dye or non-toxic water based markers, and the whole process is a great way of spending an afternoon with your kids. (And they won't have the slightest idea that they are learning practical physics!)

While less accurate by far, miniature marshmallows are perfect for outdoor play in the park. They are far more plentiful for the dollar and will certainly biodegrade if the ants, birds and raccoons don't get to them first.

Obviously, you will have to size your blowpipes to the ammunition, following the directions above, or by taking your ammunition to your local hardware store for a size check.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oskay/ / CC BY 2.0

A box of cigarette tubes can be had for as little as two dollars, and with care, can be reused several times.

Just as they are, they make incredably efficient projectiles; the paper tube captures air very well and acts as a stablilzer in flight. Even a light puff will cast it against a wall with a quite audible "thwack." However, once the paper has been crumpled, you will need to remove it, leaving you with a filter wrapped with slightly stiffer paper and a small hollow behind a cellulose plug. This is a light, quick projectile in it's own right, though perhaps slightly less efficient than the full tube. To be honest, I cannot be sure as to which is better.

But won't it be fun finding out?

And either way, they are an excellent choice for a serious blow-gunner wishing to practice indoors without leaving pock-marks in the drywall.

Serious target shooters require greater precision, and as a blowgun is potentially VERY accurate, the choice of ammunition matters a great deal. Furthermore, projectile crafting and design is as much fun as actually shooting them.

A target dart needs to have a sharp tip and enough mass behind it to stick into the target medium. You can buy projectiles ready-made, and it's a good way of seeing what works and what does not work for you. But for my money, there's nothing quite as satisfying as seeing a dart you made stick in a bulls-eye every time.

I happen to favor a target made of closed-cell polyethylene foam insulation foam pinned to a blanket, which is then hung from the ceiling. One quarter to one half inch should do nicely - 4 to 8 inches of this stuff is used to stop arrows from full up compound bows and crossbows!

The reason for the foam is actually to preserve your darts, stop them accurately without impact wobble and allowing you to fasten paper targets with push-pins.

This sort of target allows me to use a light, fast, fairly delicate darts that can be crafted from simple, inexpensive materials, such as cigarette paper, cellulose plugs, cotton balls, q-tips and sewing needles. A sharp tip and a light fast dart make for precise shooting over short distances - say, ten to twenty-five feet, aiming at a target the size of a dart board.

A more classic target dart can be made by taking a bamboo skewer and adding a driver cone or a fiber tuft to one end. Generally, the longer the blowgun, the longer the dart. If you use bamboo, you will want to use a foam target, though they will stick in wood once... it IS a one time thing.

But if you wish to practice force and want to go for serious impact and penetration, then your darts will need to be a great deal more robust, made of wire and/or hard plastic, wood or ceramic and you will need more serious tools and materials to make them.

Photo courtesy this article.