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bow vs atlatl - whats deadlier? (Read 28790 times)
Paleoarts
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Re: bow vs atlatl - whats deadlier?
Reply #15 - May 9th, 2010 at 2:58pm
 
i would agree with you, Walter. given the choice in a fight to the finish, i would take the bow as well, but i wouldn't be over confident. the atlatl in the hands of an experienced user is a deadly scary prospect.
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Re: bow vs atlatl - whats deadlier?
Reply #16 - May 9th, 2010 at 3:33pm
 
Quote:
The Bow took over from the Atlatl so logically the Bow is deadlier.

Not logical reasoning.

Bows are easier to learn to use, therefore bows make more sense. They also have the range on an atlatl - and slings have range on bows.
But that does not necessarily make bows deadlier. Dead is dead, an atlatl will kill you just as dead as an arrow - or a sling bullet come to that.

Bows are 'idiot' weapons. as in 'any idiot can learn to use one'.
Slings and atlatls require much longer training, higher skill  and more practice periods to become effective.

At the end of the day at 100 yards a long bow trumps an atlatl.
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Re: bow vs atlatl - whats deadlier?
Reply #17 - May 9th, 2010 at 3:46pm
 
who hear can hit a human target at 200 yards with a bow? the bow is an idiot weapon in that it can easily be shot.
skill, on the other hand, is deadly. getting an arrow in a human target at 200 yards- good luck to you if your versing this guy

atlatl, the advantages i see to it are intimidation factor. an 8 foot dart sounds a lot worse than a foot or two arrow. and atlatls are easy to make. the one i use took all of 10 minutes, darts are the hard part, but from what ive read, they can fly 200 yards, right?

the way i see it, the archer wins, since its easier to aim with a bow than an atlatl. otherwise, i see it as a fair fight.


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Re: bow vs atlatl - whats deadlier?
Reply #18 - May 9th, 2010 at 6:08pm
 
a good analogy is this...a bow is like a .223 rifle with a twenty round magazine. small, light, accurate out to a decent range. the atlatl is like a .45 pistol. limited ammo and range, but just as high rate of fire or better, just as accurate at shorter ranges, and much more stopping power.

this isn't perfect since the atlatl has nearly the effective range as most bows, and most arrows have nearly the same killing potential as darts. in my opinion it's more about user skill than it is equipment.
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Re: bow vs atlatl - whats deadlier?
Reply #19 - May 9th, 2010 at 6:26pm
 
its almost always user skill, id say that goes without saying,
thats why here we need to compare the weapons
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Re: bow vs atlatl - whats deadlier?
Reply #20 - May 9th, 2010 at 8:40pm
 
  I do believe the bow to be more deadly, if it is assuming that we are talking about a high poundage longbow.  One thing I will say though, is that a bow is easier to shoot accurately than an atlatl and has greater range, not necessarily that the atlatl is less deadly if it were to connect.  I would say that this would all depend who was wielding the weapons, in the right hands a bow is very deadly, and so is an atlatl, and so is a sling.  A expert slinger could easily compete with a mediocre archer in deadly combat.
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Re: bow vs atlatl - whats deadlier?
Reply #21 - May 10th, 2010 at 9:55am
 
I would be too busy running for cover, in a zig zag pattern as unpredictably as possible, to give too much thought to wheter it´s bow arrows or atlatl darts whizzing towards me...
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Re: bow vs atlatl - whats deadlier?
Reply #22 - May 10th, 2010 at 12:37pm
 
This really depends. A basket shield can stop arrows fairly reliably, those things are surprisingly effective at that. An atlatl dart can get the guy standing behind it. If I had one of those, then the atlatl is a scarier prospect.

That said, you can carry more arrows than darts, so without that factor or similar, the bow is suddenly more dangerous.
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Re: bow vs atlatl - whats deadlier?
Reply #23 - May 11th, 2010 at 7:37am
 
I would definately rather face a noob with a atlatl than one with a bow.  That said, I wouldn't want to face of with Paleoarts unless he had a nerf bow Wink
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Re: bow vs atlatl - whats deadlier?
Reply #24 - May 11th, 2010 at 1:13pm
 
A hit from an atlatl dart would be worse than a hit from an arrow. That´s what I think anyway.
Some bows from the peruvian rainforest shoots 2 meter arrows, which are capable of going through multiple bodies.
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Re: bow vs atlatl - whats deadlier?
Reply #25 - May 11th, 2010 at 5:07pm
 
If I were hunting a large dangerous animal, I would rather have a group of atlatlists with me than archers

Not only do they (atlatls) have considerably more destructive force/penetration, but I think they might be a little quicker on the initial draw, less tiring to hold at ready
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Re: bow vs atlatl - whats deadlier?
Reply #26 - May 12th, 2010 at 10:36am
 
A better question is whose hands the weapons are in rather than the weapon its self.  Weapons are just objects, it's whether it's in the hands of a master.  I'd rather a bow because I've practice extensively with it.   I've probably thrown a dart less than 1000 times.

One advantage of the bow would be that it's a better ambush weapon because of less movement.  While I hope I never have to try to dodge an atlatl dart, ducking as the man throws the dart (based on the motion of the arm) would be easier than ducking an arrow as the archer releases the string.  

On the otherhand, the man with the atlatl can keep his arm cocked and ready to throw while the archer can't realisticly keep a bow drawn for more than a minute

For me, if I'm hunting a 2,000lbs  bull, I'd take the atlatl.  For a 150lbs deer, a bow.  For the neighbor's dog who digs in my garden, a sling and a tennis ball.

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Re: bow vs atlatl - whats deadlier?
Reply #27 - May 12th, 2010 at 1:16pm
 
I would rather face someone with an atlatl than with a longbow.  The longbow has a greater range, and is generally easier to use than an atlatl, from what I've read here.  I've never used either, though I did shoot a fiberglass bow quite a bit as a kid.  That said, if I had to get hit with one or the other I'd fear an atlatl dart more than an arrow because it's so much bigger.  
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Re: bow vs atlatl - whats deadlier?
Reply #28 - May 12th, 2010 at 3:56pm
 
also, the atlatl takes a bit longer time to load, so you have some time to get ahead to more cover, dodge his dart, go to cover, dodge his dart, go to cover. he eventually runs out of darts, or your too close for him to do anything except use the atlatl as a light club.
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Re: bow vs atlatl - whats deadlier?
Reply #29 - May 13th, 2010 at 9:27am
 
xxkid123 wrote on May 12th, 2010 at 3:56pm:
also, the atlatl takes a bit longer time to load, so you have some time to get ahead to more cover, dodge his dart, go to cover, dodge his dart, go to cover. he eventually runs out of darts, or your too close for him to do anything except use the atlatl as a light club.

I bet a practised atlatl shooter can reload as least as fast as it takes to nock an arrow. Secondly you talk about dodging at least two darts while running towards your attacker, the range gets pretty much point blank... Thirdly in the unlikely event you are not dead yet, reaching your attacker, hoping he brought only two darts, he might stab you with his third (that is not a lot of ammo) 6 foot long dart...
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