Weapons were used the first time man picked up a stick or a rock to hunt or defend themselves. Without these tools, man was forced to use their bare hands for these tasks. Even the most basic weapons provided man a mechanical advantage. Weapons can help in several different ways. They can give man a harder surface for striking with more impact and momentum. Weapons can provide a piercing point for a quicker and more effective kills. Weapons can provide a longer reach to protect the user and allow them to attack from longer distances. Projectile weapons bring this advantage to an extreme. Projectiles can take out a target before it is eve close enough to pose an immediate threat. It also allows the hunter to take out their prey without having to get so close.
When you are in a situation of survival, primitive weapons may be your only choice. Keep in mind that primitive man was in this survival situation every day, and these basic weapons were relied upon heavily. Most people out for a basic hike or on a camping trip will not have a firearm, vertical bow, or crossbow with them. Even if an individual has a firearm, ammunition can run out quickly. When I am out hunting in the wilderness, I rarely have more than a few rounds of ammo with me. If you are fighting to stay alive and want to protect yourself or hunt for a meal, you need to have knowledge and practice making and using primitive weapons. In a SHTF scenario, these primitive weapons could be the only way to defend your family and your supplies from attackers.
To understand your options for surviving with primitive weapons, you must know their history and how they have been used for thousands of years. In this article, we are going to start with the most basic weapons. These weapons are so simple that they are even used by chimpanzees. We will move through a progression talking about each advancement in primitive weapons. Keep in mind that the more advanced the weapon, the more time it takes to build. In addition, in many cases more advanced weapons require more practice to be accurate. However, as weapons have become more advanced they have increased the mechanical advantage they give the user. As you consider your options with primitive weapons, be prepared to practice building them and using them before you plan to be efficient with them.
Blunt Objects
You can imagine, the most basic weapons you can use were also the very first to be used by primitive man. These are rocks small enough to hold with one hand, and clubs or heavy sticks small enough to be held with one hand. Rocks provide a hard surface that alone can do some serious damage because of the added weight. In addition, rocks with points on them cause even more damage. Sticks or clubs are not as dense and are more prone to breaking. However, they provide an extended reach of two to three feet. Not only does this allow you to swing from further away, but you get a faster strike speed. Extending your reach always increases your rotational speed and power. With a rock, you are forced to attack from a closer distance with more risk of injury to yourself. Both are options that would help any man with self defense or hunting. They have been used for millennia and are still currently used in certain parts of the world. They can certainly give you a needed mechanical advantage to take out slow-moving land animals, stun fish, and defend yourself against predators or other people.
One of the advantages primitive man figured out is that they both could be thrown. This gives you more reach as a projectile can disable or kill a target from much further distances. Rocks are still use in certain cultures around the world for hunting. With enough practice, you can be accurate and generate enough force to get the job done. With any primitive weapon you choose, you want to accomplish a disabling or killing blow and you want to create distance between yourself and your target. An accurate throw with the right sized stone accomplishes both of these priorities.
However, throwing a club or stick is typically a more accurate option. Throwing sticks are still used for hunting purposes in Papua New Guinea, Australia, and Africa. With enough practice, the right throwing stick can be surprisingly accurate. While swinging a club will give you a few feet of extra distance, a throwing stick can provide a disabling or killing blow from up to 40 yards away. To get an accurate throw with a hard strike, you want to ideally find a throwing stick with a knot on one end for more rotation. In addition, the knot is often the part of the stick that will hit your target. This provides as much weight as possible at the point of contact.
Good throwing sticks are normally about two to three feet long and two to three inches thick. They are best thrown side arm to take out small land mammals and birds. When surviving in the wild, this is the best blunt object you can choose. It gives you the best distance and killing force. However, you should never expect to just pick up a stick and throw it accurately on the first try. You will need lots of practice with a throwing stick before you ever try to use it for hunting or self-defense. Set aside some time for practice as soon as you decide this will be your survival weapon. Set up an object or target roughly 20 to 30 yards away. Start throwing and be sure you can hit your target on the majority of your throws before you ever plan to use this weapon for survival.
Bow Sticks
The next jump in primitive weapon technology was the bow stick. This is a much longer and thinner stick than a normal club or throwing stick. These are normally five to eight feet long to give maximum reach to the user without having to throw their weapon. There is an old saying amongst survivalists that if you throw your weapon, you better not miss. This is because it completely leaves you unable to defend yourself if it is the only weapon you have. For a single weapon, there are advantages to keeping it in your hands. The bow stick was and still is used for striking and also for grappling. These bow sticks are still used in martial arts like Kung Fu, and it has become both an art and a skill to use one properly. Masters of this weapon can whip them around their bodies with incredible speed. They can be used to strike with a swinging motion, to strike with a thrusting motion, to defend against a person with a handheld weapon, and to create leverage for submissions and leg sweeps. Many people have dedicated their lives to perfecting their use of this weapon.
You can make a simple bow stick by finding a straight stick that is five to eight feet long and strong enough to bend a little without breaking. Then, use a knife to shave off all of the bark and smooth out the surface. You want your finished product to be between one and 1 ½ inches in diameter. You may want to harden your bow stick in the fire for a stronger striking surface. Whether you buy a bow stick or build one, it will take plenty of practice to get good with it. It may seem simple to just pick up a stick and swing it, but proper use of this weapon is even more challenging than the ones mentioned above. If you are serious about it, you may even want to take some classes to get a head start.
Single Point Spear
It may seem like an obvious move, but eventually somebody took a bow stick and sharpened one end. This created the first spear. The spear could still be used in every way a bow stick is used, but now what used to be thrusting blows became thrusting penetration. It allowed the user to pierce the skin of the target potentially causing a fatal strike with one movement. While the bow stick was and still is primarily used for self defense against other people, the spear can also be used for hunting and for defense against predators. People have used spears in war and for hunting for thousands of years, and still do use them in areas like Africa and South America.
There are two primary types of primitive spears. These are a single point spear and a multipoint spear. The single point spear is much more effective for going after larger targets. To make a single point spear, you will want to start with a standard bow stick. However, be sure to verify that your spear at least reaches from the ground to your shoulder. Once you add a point, you have to be sure that you will not fall on the sharp end accidentally. This length will prevent that. It also gives you an ideal reach to strike with one hand or both hands. Test the weight to be sure you can use the spear single handed or two handed before you spend too much time on it. If it is too heavy, shave some more wood off of the shaft.
Next, you want to sharpen one end of your stick. Pick an end with minimal knots on it as it will be easier to shape. You want your taper to be long and gradual instead of short and blunt. Mine is typically at least six inches long. This type of point will provide much better penetration and allow you to get into the vital organs for a kill. Once you are happy with your point, you will want to harden it in the fire. This process draws the moisture out of the wood leaving a more durable point. Without this step, your point would smash down with every strike and you would have to sharpen it constantly. You do not want to let the wood catch fire, so either run it through hot coals or hold it above the flames. The point should be blackened, but never burned.
Again, you will want to get lots of practice with your spear. You might think that it is easy to hit a target with a long, pointed stick but you would be wrong. The first time I tried it, I was very surprised. Practice with your spear one handed and two handed. If you want to be able to effectively kill with one strike, you should be practicing with a target about one foot in diameter. This is roughly the kill zone for most larger mammals. Still practice using the spear like a bow stick but put a particular emphasis on thrusting. Finally, you should never throw your spear. You will see people throw spears on television, but the odds of a kill shot from throwing a wooden spear are slim. In addition, you are completely exposed if you throw your only weapon. You are better to keep it firmly in your hands.
Multi-Point Spear
The other primary type of spear is a multi-point spear. Having multiple points on a spear makes it more difficult to pierce the skin of a large mammal. So why would you want that? Because the multiple points are perfect for spearing and pinning down fish, reptiles, and small mammals. Fact of the matter is that you are unlikely to get close enough to a large mammal to use a spear for hunting. A single point spear is better used for defense against predators and other people that might attack you. However, it is much more likely that you get close enough to use a spear hunting smaller animals. For serious hunters providing food for their families around the world, a multi-point spear is often the weapon of choice.
There are several different ways you can make a multi-point spear. The design that is easiest and strongest in a survival scenario is a four-point spear. As with a single point spear, you want to start with a bow stick at least reaching from the ground to your shoulder. However, with this design you want to split one end with your knife. The split should be about six inches deep from the end of your stick. Then, turn the spear 90 degrees and split it again about six inches deep. This should give you four sections of roughly the same size and length at the end. You next need to separate the four sections to sharpen them into points.
Find small sticks about two inches long and shove one down your first split until the ends are at least an inch apart. Then take another small stick and shove it down the second split as far as you can. Be sure you are happy with the spread on your points before you move on. If they are spread too far, they will be prone to break. If they are not spread enough, they will not penetrate properly. You can trim the excess wood off of the sticks if you want. You will next want to sharpen your points. Be sure not to get them so skinny that they will break with a strike. The taper on these points is a little more curved to provide penetrating sharpness and strength to prevent them from breaking. You will still want to harden your points in the fire just like you would with a single point spear. As an extra step, you may want to wrap some cordage around the base of your points to give them a little more strength.
You will likely have to thrust and strike several times before scoring a meal with your spear, so you want it strong enough to withstand the abuse. You also will need lots of practice just like you needed practice with the single point spear. This was never more apparent than when I did a life-raft survivalist challenge. A few years ago, I decided to strand myself in the open waters on a boat several days. It was during the summer heat, and temperatures were in the high 90s every day. Towards the middle of the first day, I found some driftwood and fashioned a four-point spear. I tried spearing both fish and bullfrogs, but my aim was way off. Thrust after thrust produced nothing for me to eat. On the second day, I felt determined that I would figure this out. I struck so many times that I did break my spear, but I had enough cordage to lash it back together. Just before dark, I finally speared a bullfrog and had frog legs for dinner. Make sure you get some practice with a spear before your life depends on it.
The Atlatl
Primitive weapons continued to progress as people wanted to be able to project spears at further distances. A standard spear thrown by hand will not go very far and has minimal killing force. Instead of long, thick spears people started fashioning shorter, thinner spears. Instead of having just one, a person would have several like arrows for a bow. This would allow them to safely project their weapon and still have a weapon in hand. Standard spears thrown by hand could only reach about 30 to 40 yards. Especially when a person was defending against attackers, they wanted more distance to keep the attackers further away. They also wanted more speed and killing power for defense and for hunting.
The atlatl added a wooden throwing arm that extended their reach by two to three feet. This provided more rotational velocity which meant more distance, more speed, and more killing power. They could now project spears up to 100 yards and take out targets with one strike. With enough practice, this weapon could also be incredibly accurate. The throwing arm always had a hook on the end that would fit into a notch on the end of the spears. In addition, fletching was added to the spears to make them more accurate. Fletching was typically feathers or leaves attached to the back end of a spear to create drag. This drag keeps the spear straight and prevents it from flopping around in the wind. While the four-point spear is a survivalist favorite, many survivalists prefer the atlatl. However, this weapon requires much more practice to be accurate.
Bow and Arrow
I would be remiss if I did not mention the bow and arrow. Primitive bows and arrows are technically considered primitive weapons. However, making an effective set in a survival scenario is very difficult. Fashioning this weapon properly so it will not break and will provide enough power for a kill takes years of experience. In addition, completing the process properly requires a specific type of wood and weeks of work perfecting the weapon. After all of this, it also requires just as much practice as an atlatl. My suggestion is to pick another weapon for survival purposes.
As you can see, there are lots of different primitive weapons to give you a mechanical advantage for hunting, fishing, and defense against predators and people. As you select your weapon, remember that the more complex options take more practice. Once you decide your best bet, get in as much practice as you can. It would be wise to build these weapons and practice using them at home before you are in a survival scenario. This will ensure that you know what you are doing when it counts. If you find yourself in a survival scenario, it could save your life.
Ryan Dotson is a survivalist, writer, photographer and prepper. Mr. Dotson was raised in the Ozark Mountains. His interest in survivalism began with the Boy Scouts. His father, uncle and grandfather continued to teach him how to hunt and fish. Currently living in Mid-Missouri, Mr. Dotson has begun to write about his experiences of survival here at SurvivalistWarrior.com.