thunderbirdatlatl

1) I've had my mustache since I was a boy, so I don't know how to live without it!

2) Spears (and by spears, I mean big, heavy hand-thrown spears the size of a broom handle) have a lot of power but they don't have a lot of accuracy and you can't throw them very far. Atlatls are much more accurate than spears at any range.

As for the bow/arrow -- Atlatl darts are like giant arrows. They're 3-10 times the weight of an arrow, but they aren't nearly as accurate as an arrow except at short ranges like 10-20 meters. A lot of atlatlists are almost as accurate as archers at close range.

But if you get a good hit with an atlatl dart, it will have MUCH more killing power. Force is mass times velocity squared, so if you have a dart that's ten times the mass of an arrow and flies at half the speed, it will have substantially more killing power.

For instance, if you throw a dart that's ten times the weight of an arrow at half the speed, it will hit the target with two and a half times the force of the arrow.

Yes, I've killed wild boar, deer and lots of fish over the years. Atlatl hunting is a lot of fun and it's legal to hunt in many states like Missouri, Nebraska, Alabama, as well as some of the provinces in Canada.

I think Roderick Laird is one of the heroes of the modern atlatl movement. Bringing the atlatl out to be enjoyed by the general public has been a phenomenon that was started by those early atlatlists that continues on today. I also would like to mention the names Leni Clubb, Lloyd Pine, W. Carl Fry, and W.R. Perkins (Atlatl Bob who is not me!) as well as Zelia Nuttal as atlatl enthusiasts who also were early contributors to the atlatl world.

Some people are able to throw specialized tiny, light darts at tremendous distances as far as 250 meters. But that's not a typical situation.

The atlatl is primarily a short-range weapon and works best at 10 to 30 meters with any degree of accuracy. Atlatl darts are much heavier than arrows, so they don't fly as far...but the extra weight of the dart makes them much more deadly.

As for me, I can throw my 3 oz bamboo darts about 80 or 90 meters. I can usually throw my 8 oz wooden darts about 50 meters and my 6 oz darts about 65 meters. These long, heavier darts are designed for hunting and accuracy, not distance.

The general public buys a lot of atlatls because it's a fun outdoor sport that families can engage in.

A lot of groups are using our atlatls as a recreational activity. We sell to a lot of school groups, Boy and Girl Scouts, church groups, 4H clubs and camps. Quite often they buy our kits and assemble their own equipment at a meeting, and then take it out to the target range.

We sell to hunters and fishermen.

We also sell replicas to Museums.