I agree with you english, it is a formidable weapon.  Those atlatl dart/spears are pretty heavy and get some decent range if thrown correctly. 

Chris

by the way ,english that particular post about you not understanding" is understandable?

and....

when the atlatl bob research team was first making atlatls, they didnt have a reason in the deepest pit in hell as to why the natives used atlatls and not have invented bows. they were basically using two by fours and broomsticks as their weapons.

This was dumb, they did not understand that darts had to flex, and that the sandstone on the natives atlatls were to bend the atlatl to store energy, and the dart to flex to store energy, and due to the natives stupidly obvious experimentation with this they invented a formula, although not written, was passed on through skilled artisans.
when the atlatl and the dart flexed, they used the right amount of weight on teh end of the atlatl and the right "timing" so the kinetic energy was released from both objects at the same time.
This efficient method was the prime reason why there are no mammoths and why spanish cuirasses in old grave sites are riddled with large holes and why, in some plaes, they did NOT even develop the bow, recurve, longbow, crossbow, et cetera.

i use a flexable dart and you seem to get more energy than you put into it like a spring

well thats pretty good. what do you guys use for the heads. I have been knapping heads but they break easy. and i cant make them out of steel but maybe normal arrow heads?

ok thanks

I should introduce you then, to the beauty of the MammotHunter forshafting system! You don't need to cut any holes. Take a 1.3 metre long wooden dowel for the main shaft of the dart, and a 65 centimetre long length of dowel for the forshaft, and a 16-centimetre length of PVC pipe the same diametre of the dowel. (for instance, if using 3/8 inch dowel for the shaft, use a 3/8 inch diametre pipe). Sharpen one end of the foreshaft until it's sharp like a pencil, and leave the other end slightly tapered, which can be done with a penknife, and in a few minutes until it is just thin enough to fit snugly in the PVC length. Scrape a little of the PVC tube out at the ends, like how you would carve the hole in a cane dart for inserting the foreshaft, and put one end of the foreshaft in the end of the pvc pipe, making sure it fits tightly, and put the dart shaft in the other end. I've made my first darts this way, and even though it's not abo, the idea is, and I still have many of the first darts I ever made! The PVC allows the dart to be quite flexible and still be very durable. It proabbaly took longer to describe the method than the actual method itself takes in practice.

Yes, I know what you mean by finding sufficiency through primitivism. The only reason I use wooden dowels and not cane for my darts is that all the cane in this area where I live is too small and weak to be used for darts, much less even arrows. I spent a good part of my childhood making makeshift bows and arrows out of wood and cane shafts when I was little and "hunting" the rabbits in this huge undeveloped lot across the street from my house. And I can't begin to tell you how many arrows splintered coming off of the bows, most of which were the bent dry sapling and shoestring type. Besides which, my parents would freak out if they knew I was building atlatl darts (Dad might already know, but I'm not sure. He does mention atlatl darts a lot. Mom started screaming at me about how crazy I was when I built my first atlatl by itself.) so having a large shipment of cane shafts delivered to the house would arouse a hell of a lot of suspicion. But going out and buying wooden dowels and PVC pipe from Home Depot is perfectly innocuous. Maybe when I get my own place though, I can build darts and atlatls primitively to my heart's content.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4715&item=3945458304&rd=1...
Check out this very cool mini atlatl.