Atlatl Dart Tuning Vol. I - Manipulating Spine (flex)

The first in a series of short videos covering some of the methods I used to manipulate the spine (flexibility) of atlatl darts to get the best performance I can.

As a disclaimer, I'm not an expert in these matters! Evey atlatlist has his or her own favorite methods and materials and way of doing things. I'm just passing along info about my way of going about some of this stuff.

I hope it helps someone out there.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Atlatl
• dart
• Spear
• Propulsor
• Spearthrower
• PaleoPlanet

[barbarizzagore]

what's that kind of fletching on the arundo dart? have you used it on arrows as well? It looks like it would be too obstructive with a bow but I could be wrong. Is it a decent substitute or even good enough that it doesn't deserve to be called a substitute? I believe it appears in the Making An Atlatl Part II video and it seems to be flying perfectly.

[Paleoaleo]

Hey, thanks for watching. THe feathers are just dyed turkey feathers from an archery supply house. I buy them "full length" as they say. I use the same feathers and same fletching method on arrows. I just cut them a little smaller.

[trysxalittle]

hi pale, some great post u put up, must of took awhile to do the stone age bow, the arrows that u were shooting did u make them also? do u intend to post any on making and harding arrows? great to see the old skills still alive keep up the good work ;)

[Paleoaleo]

Thanks. I'm really just a hack, having a good time. No expert here. Yes, I made the arrows too. I have one video series on making an arrow, but using modern tools. I should do a stone age arrow video. I got a new computer and my video camera doesn't interface with the computer (a mac). So I've got to work around that somehow. Hope to do so soon so I can do more videos!

[Paleoaleo]

Sure, bamboo makes a great dart!

[ashnbrandon1]

idk y i just cant keep from askin this what does ur wife (suposing u have a wife) think about all ur obies and things :D

[polerigger]

can u buy fack feathers to use for fletching

[fly2000jtb]

I have a bamboo patch will they work as well for Darts? I mean of course the thinner ones. I cut them back once or twice a year and that makes them long and skinny. Thanks for the video it was really a good teaching tool for me. Joseph T.( fly2000jtb)

[NoOne3234]

Adding a heavier head moves the center of mass forward. Fins move center of pressure backwards. For an aerodynamically stable projectile, you need the center of mass in front of the center of pressure. Might the increased effectiveness of the heavier tipped dart be coming from increased aerodynamic stability rather than changes in flex?