I just wanted to give a tribute to one of my favorite weapons

The ROPE DART

The rope dart is a weapon with a metal dart attached to a long length of rope or chain (pretty straightforward huh?). It's use requires good muscle memory and skill but in the right hands is an extremely difficult weapon to read. It is commonly used in martial arts as a display weapon. However these things can generate an extreme level of energy and impact making this weapon highly lethal  :P. Another variation of this is the meteor hammer which is essentially the same thing except it uses blunt force trauma to deal damage rather than penetration. Have any of you had experience with the rope dart?

If you want to see a cool clip of a meteor hammer in a movie search "Shanghai Noon Horseshoe Fight scene". Jackie Chan makes a makeshift rope hammer/dart out of a long length of rope and a horseshoe and proceeds to save his life with it from armed assailants ;D

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Camo Sling makes all kinds of rope dart tutorial videos on YouTube under the username Smabber

Arcane Tinker wrote on Oct 24^th, 2013 at 9:33pm:

Camo Sling makes all kinds of rope dart tutorial videos on YouTube under the username Smabber

Thanks for the referral Arcane :)

Do you also practice the rope dart Slingin-Injun? Here's a link to one of my practice sessions - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-htq_IdEQlY :) It's fun but it's very rough on the hands!

OH! so you're Smabber camo-sling!

I've seen you on youtube before. I actually have a slinging style close to yours when it comes to helicopter. I've noticed that you kinda come out to the side which is something I do for a long-distance target.

But yeah, I practice the rope dart. Mine isn't the one pictured above. I don't have a working digital camera so I just found one close to mine on google images. Mine is made from cord like the pictured one, but the actual dart is made from an eye post for a tent/awning. An eye post (at least thats what I call them) is a rounded steel post about 7" long that curves around into an eye at the end for tying rope. I sharpened the stake part and did a double figure-8 knot on the eye of the post to secure it. My rope is about 9ft long. I practice it for fighting techniques rather than showy techniques for entertaining people (though the rope-dart has to be flashy lol ;D). I've never seen your rope dart tuts, do you do it for showy entertaining moves or combat techniques?


Not that I would use a rope dart for combat, I just find it more fun that way  ;)

BUMPERSON

I have almost finished a rope dart. Fun to play with, even though I almost caught myself in the eye once.  I'll have to check out Smabber/Camosling's tutorials.

Pictures as soon as I get this one finished.

We've had several guys on this site making Rope Darts out of railroad spikes. They all seemed to turn out pretty well.

I made two rope dart "heads": one's a practice head, and the other made from a railroad spike.
(The practice one's a 2"x6" duct-tape reinforced tube/bag filled with rice, and it's held up VERY well.)

I used to practice quite a bit for a couple months back in 2010.
Honestly I'm no longer really fond of "exotic" weapons/martial arts, since I got tired of the whole "3x the training of more contemporary weapons/martial arts to reach proficiency" thing that usually comes along with it. :p
The sling is the only exception to that "no exotic/inefficient/'soft' weapon" rule thus far, probably since being way outside of mélee range is a little more forgiving of boo-boos. :)
These days I stick with more efficient weapons, like longsword, dagger, spear, and sword&buckler.

Keep in mind that I'm not bashing other views on this--SOMEONE has to keep the tradition/s alive, after all. ;)

My taboo is against weapons that bend in the middle. The exceptions are: Bolos, the bullwhip (only hit my horse in the ear once, and myself in the ear once. Once is enough to learn from), and a sling. Anything else, multi-section staffs, nunchakus, morning stars, doesn't matter. If it bends or has joints, it's out.

I'm basically a sword/spear/tomahawk guy. Although in a tight situation, a Springfield 1911 A-1 does wonders. ;)

Kjev wrote on Oct 29^th, 2013 at 4:15pm:

My taboo is against weapons that bend in the middle. The exceptions are: Bolos, the bullwhip (only hit my horse in the ear once, and myself in the ear once. Once is enough to learn from), and a sling. Anything else, multi-section staffs, nunchakus, morning stars, doesn't matter. If it bends or has joints, it's out. I'm basically a sword/spear/tomahawk guy. Although in a tight situation, a Springfield 1911 A-1 does wonders. ;)

LOL Brother John Moses Browning is still in the game!

I do prefer tomahawks and quarterstaves. However, if used properly the rope dart is a very effective weapon. It has a weakness in defense though. It is pure offense so you better be making the first strike >:(! If you screw up? Well at least you got the 1911  ;)

Sadly, for a knifemaker, I'm kind of like the mechanic whose car doesn't work. I make knives aplenty, but I never seem to have one around when I need it.

Hey Kjev, if you watched NCIS on tv you would know "Gibbs Rule #9"---- Never go anywhere without a knife. [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Yup--you hit the nail on the head Kjev! ;)


Also, I finally found a photo of that rope dart I made with a worn-out file. (In retrospect, I probably should've made the eyelet smaller, and put a heavier taper on that head-thing that the ring goes through.)

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Looks nice! Mine didn't turn out nearly so well. (and I have a knife today!)

TheSlingin-Injun wrote on Oct 25^th, 2013 at 7:45am:

I've never seen your rope dart tuts, do you do it for showy entertaining moves or combat techniques? Not that I would use a rope dart for combat, I just find it more fun that way  ;)

I do a combination of both. As you know rope dart and meteor hammers aren't fantastic self defence weapons. I mostly practice the meteor hammer as kind of my relaxation method. But I ain't crazy enough to use a rail road spike!

Camo-sling, trust me:

You can use the spike. You'll only hit yourself in the head once. After that, you either learn...

Or you're a vegetable.
:D

Never try this without a helmet. 'nuff said.
( I swung the spike end into the helmet i was wearing... broke the helmet but not my head :))

squirrelslinger wrote on Nov 20^th, 2013 at 3:57pm:

Never try this without a helmet. 'nuff said. ( I swung the spike end into the helmet i was wearing... broke the helmet but not my head :))

Use a tennis ball attached to a length of rope. No need for a helmet, and no need to become a vegetable, problems solved!

Never liked my veggies anyway.

Use a small sack of rice, and you have some harmless heft to make it more realistic  8-)

Camo-sling wrote on Nov 20^th, 2013 at 4:54pm:

squirrelslinger wrote on Nov 20th, 2013 at 3:57pm: Never try this without a helmet. 'nuff said. ( I swung the spike end into the helmet i was wearing... broke the helmet but not my head :)) Use a tennis ball attached to a length of rope. No need for a helmet, and no need to become a vegetable, problems solved!

Donnerschlag wrote on Dec 4^th, 2013 at 12:25pm:

Use a small sack of rice, and you have some harmless heft to make it more realistic  8-)

probably gonna do this.
:)
tennis balls just don't weigh much. maybe a sock reinforced with duct tape, with a duct tape wrapped outer cord.

Aren't you the guy who invented "the rodeo" throw?  LOL?

who? what?