Man uses a spear to save girlfriend from a mountain lion

You will not be standing or jumping on this crossbar. It is to prevent a charging animal from continuing up the shaft on impact. Some boar spears had crossbars 18-24 inches wide. It was to hold off an aggressive animal until it died.

 

I know a guy here who hunts pigs with a knife and NO dogs. Nuts if you ask me. But he likes to stalk close enough to stick it, then track it down to finish it. Very sporting, maybe less than humane. But that's his thing.

I wouldn't do it unless I had to. I have personal experience with just how fast pigs are. If you poke one and it doesn't take off and run, you are in a potentially very bad situation armed with just a knife.

 

Sounds like you may have been on the POAHOMO(sp) Trail. Or most any other Muddy trail.

 

We have pigs everywhere here.

Another guy told me he was camping and a pig ran over his tent and in doing so, stepped on his head. Being a good monkey, I laughed, uh, with him.

 

@Yard Dart , @kellory , @HK_User , @Hanzo
Great ideas and conversation... been doing a bunch of research on the web on spears... guess a mastodon was found with the remains of a spear in it's spine that says we were hunters some 14,000 years ago and used spears all the way back then ;0)

Also seems like almost all the cultures going way way way back had their versions of what was a pretty effective "tool"...

Here's my notes of that and this conversation...

A good spear had or has some sort of "spine" down it's center towards the tip for strength...

Length, thickness and width seemed to be "mission specific"...

Many served dual purposes as they could be removed and remounted quickly...

A butt cap served balance purposes as well as simply to preserve to the base... oh and of course if it was spiked for walking on ice and "other" more defensive or offensive uses

Length of the staff or pole it was mounted on varied by use and culture...

Also how it was mounted ... socket or tang...

Cross bars did indeed serve many purposes... to prevent the spear from penetrating continuously and allowing the "animal" to reach you... (I am reminded of the old movie "Excalibur"... "come father... let us embrace"... stick an opponent with your trusty spear and have him pull you to his own weapon with it "duh... let go of the spear stupid") however there are other uses for the crossbar... like yes stepping on it... but also for you "technically trained monkeys"... it also serves as a great at length "hooking", "tripping", "grappling", "climbing" and "trapping" feature for the two legged types... think tonfa and sai ...

Some were double edged and some were single edged...

Some were double beveled and some were single beveled...

Just received a blacksmithing cone stake for this specific project that will help me forge the socket (whether it be closed or open).... I'll need to practice forging that first... this project is officially begun...

I have some idea of the weight on another old to ancient socketed tool the arrow head...

But am not sure about the weight on a useful spear head (tool)... any thoughts on this subject?????

Of course thoughts on any of the other things I mentioned here are always welcome

Thanks for listening... JMHO

Bear

PS... you know these things are widely available for a wide range of prices from very affordable to absolutely ridiculous, from very rough to splendidly ornate, for re-inactment fairs and demonstrations... dull as a doorknob... to cnc precise, razor sharp, real deal, frightening prospects...

 

Thinking about all this made me wonder if you could forge a metal core to embed into a rattan stick. Kind of like the Yagyu Jubei stick we talked about, @Bear. A core strong enough to make the stick practically unbreakable, but light enough to preserve the stck speed for Escrima use. Hmmm... I would probably buy such a thing... And if the spear head could be affixed to it, then you have a hand spear for thrusting. In that case, a single edge would be my preference. The stick handle would make it into a good chopper. And used separately...espada y daga.

 

How long would you want the rattan stick? of course you could affix the spearhead to it... no screw as discussed... too easy to become loosened and fail at the absolute wrong time (don't ask about my experience with this ;0)

So a steel core rattan stick with a solid quick attach spear head... don't forget the butt... all hand forged?

special @Hanzo price....

One meeeeeeeeeellllllllliiiiiiiiiooooooooonnnnnnn doooooooolllllllarrrrrrssssssss

seriously... it's do-able I don't know much about rattan other than it's tough stuff... tell me is it hollow ... got a piece I can have to "play" with?????

Bear

 

20-24 inches would be ideal. I knew that would be the price. Lucky, I have unlimited doooooooolllllllarrrrrrssssssss. Just not many dollars. And practically no sense.

Rattan is fibrous so not hollow. That was why we used it. We break sticks all the time and a hard wood stick could come back on you when it breaks. Rattan breaks but the broken stick stays together, attached by the fibrous material.

I can dig up a rattan stick up for you to play with. Have some polycarbonate training sticks too. Those are practically indestructible and heavier than rattan. I am soooo out of practice!

 

Yagyuzue

 

@Hanzo, aluminum would make a much lighter core. It is 1/3 the weight of steel. You could drill your rattan with a drill bit and hand drill ( they are available up to three feet long over the counter) use epoxy in the bored hole, and drive in the aluminum dowel rod (available at any hardware store).
The hardest part would be drilling a straight hole.
Edit: you could leave a spike on the end for thrusting..

 

I have some rattan.. I've used as part of a SCA weapon for 25+ years... It's solid core Thrusting spear... ( dummy head but it got the job done...

 

@Bear. How long would you want the rattan stick?

I now use a 6 foot Rattan as one of my Cow sticks. That is the same stick I showed before with my digging point on the end. I used a piece of pipe that fit the digging end and welded that to the metal spade. The Rattan is Unbreakable and fast, lightweight and will stay pretty plumb as long as it is not stored when wet or placed in direct sunlight.

 

Very strong, but not unbreakable. We routinely break them almost monthly, sometimes more often. They break under sustained full speed full contact impact.

 

Your Cows must be tougher than My Cows. Well maybe not tougher than the cows but the ground in front of them.

FWIW, My Rattan is now mounted on the New Tractor Fender with mop clamps and sees some abuse from the elements. My other cow stick is at the front door, I always have one close to hand if not in my hand.

I feel a bit "Lost" without the Staff when I go to town.

 

Wasn't used on cows. They were used in Escrima practice. Our instructor believed in full speed full contact training, so we had much heavy stick on stick contact.

But thanks for the chuckle. I liked the "Your Cows must be tougher than My Cows."

 

We duct tape ours... they last longer.....

 

I bet the Cows don't like the Duct Tape!

 

Use it on their mouths and they can't complain... PETA does but what the heck if you try to make everyone happy no one is happy