The video provides a lot of important information. Also ethical. And you should reflect on yourself before you even start. All the information is presented very clearly and you learn a lot about the important “trappings” beyond just shooting the blowpipe. A very helpful, well-made video!
Great video! Very well done and informative. I built my own .625 blowguns for years, and I hold and aim traditionally (both hands very close to the mouthpiece). So, I use a pendant quiver, and a very light blowgun. I use a cupped mouthpiece and cannot use the ones on the commercial blowguns. 50 years of doing the same thing makes it difficult to change. Lately I have used several commercial darts in the 70-grain weight range and like them. Frankly it is easier to buy than to make them. I use my own cones, though. I have gotten used to the flexible cones I make from aisle marking tape, and they are my standard. They seem faster, and are definitely more consistent and quieter. I do have to change them often. I mostly shoot a four-footer, because I hunt in terrain with very dense vegetation. My shots are never more than thirty or forty feet. Bottom line, I am a sort of 'native' blowgun shooter, and the commercial darts and shafts are my 'trade points'.
New subscriber here. Thanks for the great video! I have a Cold Steel 5' Pro "Holy Grail" 1-piece blowgun. I bought it new, and I doubt if I have put over 100 darts through it, but your video inspired me to wipe the dust off of it and take a few shots. My old, tired and abused lungs then reminded me why I rarely used it. Though I would never part with my awesome big bore, {as I pretty much never part with anything), I also was inspired to research .50 caliber blowguns, as I had became stuck on the idea that this would be a great "compromise" caliber to have around in my old age. Needless to say, I was caught completely off guard by today's small bore offerings, or lack thereof. It seems that only .40 caliber is available now, and even these can only be found in 4-foot lengths and down, at least in a 1-piece design. About 35 years ago, my very first blowgun was a 6-foot long, 1-piece, small bore {probably .40 caliber), and it absolutely spoiled me, especially on length. I absolutely loved that blowgun, and shot it all the time for many years. But alas, it got lost in a move a while back, {or something), and here we are. SO... at least 5-foot long in a one-piece design is an absolute must ...that's just me. Besides, I already have a couple of 36-inch long blowguns, and never really liked them - probably because of the "spoiled" part. Anyway, if anyone knows of a 1-piece, extra-long, small caliber blowgun that I may have missed, I'm all ears. Thanks. Oh well, I guess it's time to hone my technique and start working to attain the lung capacity that I had in my 40s and 50s. 👍
Hello I bought a blow gun more then 25 or more years ago at an outdoor show . I put it away and I forgot about it last week I found it in an old dresser drawer in my basement but I couldn’t find the darts . So my question is how can I tell what size dart it takes . I know by watching your videos its not a .625 so it must be a 40 or 50 cal so is there some way of measuring to know? Thank you John
Where is the homemade and customs blowgun video? THAT is what i am interested in. I would rather make a custom blowgun and darts then buy a manufactured item that would cost 10 times what making one would.
Hi John, I always like your professional and well explained Blowgun Videos. They are the best on RU-vid and I have learned much from you. Kind regards from Germany.
Try your local hardware store. 0.75" aluminum tubing should come close to .625" ID (inside diameter) though most are slightly large. You can also mail order tubing but the oversize shipping is expensive.
Where can I get some stock .625 cal aluminum tubing to make a 5 or 6 foot blowgun…? I’d like a single peace blowgun as well, but can’t find that demand from a commercial blowgun ☺️😌
It's just a machine made aluminum pipe, nothing interesting. And a 3mm thick seamless aluminum pipe is not easy to buy, and you must buy 20feet length from the wholesaler in most cases I've asked. Just buy Coldsteel 4' PRO if you want a reliable aluminum blowgun
Homemade blowguns is by far the most requested topic I've gotten, and is going to be next on my list. I will say that this is one topic that there is a lot of helpful information already out there, though I will try to consolidate a lot of that information and some science for that video.
To the best of my knowledge, yes they are legal there. They are currently illegal in California, Massachusetts, Washington D.C., and Canada (you can reference en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowgun though that's not a guarantee that the site is up to date with the latest laws).
@@theblowgunchannel3250 it's really ridiculous to ban a pipe and some nails which is readily available all over the hardware stores, like in certain places, you can have a semi-auto assault rifle, but cannot have a wristbraced slingshot!
My pvc blowgun, 15mm x 1meter length, gives me 100fps on 6g darts, looks like a 5footer not needed and won't give any extra velocity. What do you think?
My guess based on my .625 data is that going from about 3 feet (1 meter) to 5 feet in length would give you an increase of 10-15 fps. That's not dramatic, but a blowgun dart is already a very slow projectile and every advantage helps.
Wow. I must confess, I'd never thought of anything even remotely similar to the card sight. It's absolutely brilliant, and the zeroing ingenius. I'm not gonna use it, but that's no indictment of its practical ingenuity.
I've spent hundreds on cold steel darts and can't get them to group. Didn't have other options back in the day but I'll have to give these a try. The 4' seems more accurate than the two piece.
It takes a LOT of practice! My guess is that the barrel connection in your 2-piece blowgun is not smooth and is affecting the dart trajectory. I have definitely see this happen. If you can hear the dart "tick" as is passes the connection try rotating the blowgun mouthpiece in 45-degree increments until the tick/impact is minimized. Hope this helps!
All of this info, of course, only applies to this gentleman and anyone with similar ability (lung power, shall we say). Other's with more lung power, who can send these same darts out the barrel at well over 200fps can consider longer barrels and achieve even higher velocities.
I seen at least 3 RU-vid’s where the host states that you can even use the blowgun as a walking stick . I walked trails with a walking staff.and on occasion had to put my entire weight on the staff. I can just imagine what the blowgun would look like after your hike
I use mine for a walking stick more than a blowgun, I’ve put all my weight in it and I weigh 220 pounds. The blowgun is still perfectly straight and is still accurate as it was out of the box
I agree that I wouldn't do so personally, though will say that the Cold Steel Pro blowguns can certainly handle it. Their blowgun mouthpieces do fit the hand very well for a walking stick grip. The one big change I would make if I were actually doing this would be to add a heavy rubber furniture foot to the end of the blowgun.
Hello, would you consider making a vid on how to determine the caliber of a blowgun? I inherited a 70s or 80s "Blowgun Survival Weapon" from my late father, but there's no caliber markings on it.
You can simply hold a ruler flat against the muzzle of the blowgun to measure the inside diameter. The standard sizes are .40 (inches), .50, and .625. A ruler will be marked in 1/16 inch but you can easily convert that to decimal.
I bought the Tim well’s signature series and the metal seems very thin…. Does the viper or any other model have thicker metal?? I feel like it’s barely a 16th of an inch thick… really sad about this. Thank you
Thank you so much for this well made video! I'm looking forward to the one about breathing and blowing technique. Any idea when to expect it? Thanks in advance!
Ok, you say the blow gun is the most inaccurate weapon. I've been thinking the atlatl is the #1 hardest weapon to shoot accurately. Thanks for the information.
I believe the numbers are correct (thought there's a lot of them in there!), and check grains (weight) versus velocity. Thanks for watching, and straight shooting!
20: 30. KE = V × V × M ÷ 450240. That is Kinetic Energy = Velocity in feet per second × same × weight in grains ÷ 450240. So 134 × 134 × 54 ÷ 450240 = 2.15 KE.
Thanks for your videos. I think I messed up with the Distance between the upper part of the metal rod and the rubber “mouth part “ (Sorry, I’m not a native English speaker) should be pushed all the way to the third bulge? I feel that this could Diminish the diameter of the latter And therefore, I separated both. There is a distance between the bulge and the end of the pipe. Did I do the right thing?
Video idea - fun targets. Examples - stuffed animals for wire darts, go dinosaur hunting with plastic dinos and stun darts (my daughter and I used to do this in the backyard- she would place the dinos and I would have to go hunt them, then we'd switch), best sources for printable targets, etc. I also tried racing, by shooting the back of a toy car with stun darts and see who crossed the finish line first For birthday parties, plywood with a bunch of balloons stapled to it is entertaining. Kids (under supervision) take turns, random balloons have a prize inside, like dollar bills or a paper stating which prize they've won, raffle tickets, etc. Those 2-liter caps that let you pressurize bottles work well, but are super loud (which is kind of the point, but still, they sound like a shotgun sometimes)
I made my own blowgun based off his old video and I have learned a lot but one thing I see when people are shooting is a drop in power when shooting. A lot of people stop pushing air before the dart has left the barrel and this causes a drop in velocity by having a plunger like effect from the cone of the dart. When shooting you shouldn’t stop pushing the dart until you see it leave the barrel what happens is you make an airtight seal with you’re mouth and when the dart isn’t pushed enough the air fills the amount of space and creates a vacuum slowing the dart down hope this helps
Where can I get some stock .625 cal aluminum tubing to make a 5 or 6 foot blowgun…? I’d like a single peace blowgun as well, but can’t find that from a commercial blowgun ☺️😌
I think it may be a factor of lung capacity rather than stopping pushing air too soon. If that's happening, my guess would be it's with a .625 big bore blowgun that does require a lot of lung volume. This shouldn't happen with a .50 and especially not with a .40 blowgun. However, on the flip side good follow-through and blowing completely from the diaphragm is a good technique to focus on with any blowgun.
@@camgyvertv Try your local hardware store. 0.75" aluminum tubing should come close to .625" ID (inside diameter) though most are slightly large. You can also mail order tubing but the oversize shipping is expensive.
