The SPEAR

The ccurent knife thread has mentioned using knives as spears. Consensus is it's a bad idea. The main objection is the very real potential of losing this primary tool. Why a spear? It stirs images of us gazing over a vast tundra plain, spear in hand, the wind softly rippling our fur parka and Darryl Hanna standing next to us. Or we are Anthony Hopkins besting Bart the bear ( Bart is the one not overacting.) So why a spear? These were the first physical extension of our reach, physically and mentally. That Saturn rocket blasting into space is just a very sophisticated spear. The earliest were merely fire hardened shafts with pointed ends. The neanderthalers utilised these STILL IN CLOSE PROXIMITY to their prey. A study found one modern athlete with the same bone trauma as Neanerthal fossils, the rodeo cowboy. Later fire hardened spears in a massive cache in Heidelburg Germany for horse hunting display very sophisticated aerodynamic shaping for short flights. The thrusting spear was now a short range javelin. The problem with these designs was the tip. A full diameter shaft requires a great deal of energy to penetrate. The invention of compound projectiles took the greater cutting and penetrating efficiency of a bifacial edge with the mass of a shaft to thrust, or throw. Later inventions such as the Atl- Atl, or spear thrower and later bow made for greater distances, energy and greater efficiency of smaller projectiles. If you want a spear for survival, Cold Steel sells a copy of the splendid Masai and the mentioned Bushman economy blades ( albiet with upswept and not SPEARPOINT blades.) www.ragweedforge.com/ThrowingCatalog.html has a dedicated spearhead. I have one on my list of toys. I'll give a field report. But not on Bears. SUVs maybe <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> If you do a websearch with GOODSEARCH to support ETS, you will find countless hits of the scariest spear of all- Britney <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

ah, but the mighty spear took out the swift boat captain in Apocalypse Now................

One of the most valuable aspects of having a spear in an emergency situation where one is in a very remote area is that it builds confidence (hopefully not an inappropriate overconfidence to hunt down Bart!) If one is not armed with some sort of firearm, a spear is a good close in weapon or hunting implement. I obtained a pair of black throwing knives from Brigade Quartermasters that are essentially just flat spearheads that come with several 1/4 inch holes in the handle area. By the addition of one more drilled hole it can be attached to the split end of a shaft found on site and carried easily in a fannypack size survival kit or BOB. I like Ragnar's spearhead and did not know that he was stocking such a thing.

Thank you for the link.
I've made a few on my forge, but haven't been happy with the way they turned out. I tried milling one, but it's a lot of chips. What I need is a correctly made one to get dimensions, hardness, and grind, and go from there.