A blowgun (also called a blowpipe or blow tube) is a simple

ranged weapon A ranged weapon is any weapon that can engage targets beyond hand-to-hand distance, i.e. at distances greater than the physical reach of the user holding the weapon itself. The act of using such a weapon is also known as shooting. It is someti ...

consisting of a long narrow tube for

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles c ...

light

projectile A projectile is an object that is propelled by the application of an external force and then moves freely under the influence of gravity and air resistance. Although any objects in motion through space are projectiles, they are commonly found in ...

s such as

dart Dart or DART may refer to: * Dart, the equipment in the game of darts Arts, entertainment and media * Dart (comics), an Image Comics superhero * Dart, a character from ''G.I. Joe'' * Dart, a ''Thomas & Friends'' railway engine character * Da ...

s. It operates by having the projectile placed inside the pipe and using the force created by forced

exhalation Exhalation (or expiration) is the flow of the breath out of an organism. In animals, it is the movement of air from the lungs out of the airways, to the external environment during breathing. This happens due to elastic properties of the lungs ...

("blow") to

pneumatic Pneumatics (from Greek ‘wind, breath’) is a branch of engineering that makes use of gas or pressurized air. Pneumatic systems used in industry are commonly powered by compressed air or compressed inert gases. A centrally located and ele ...

ally propel the projectile. The propulsive power is limited by the strength of the user's

respiratory muscles The muscles of respiration are the muscles that contribute to inhalation and exhalation, by aiding in the expansion and contraction of the thoracic cavity. The diaphragm and, to a lesser extent, the intercostal muscles drive respiration during q ...

and the vital capacity of their lungs.

History

Many cultures have used such a weapon, but various indigenous peoples of

Eastern Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

, Southeast Asia, Western Europe, North America,

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. C ...

(the

Huehuetenango Huehuetenango () is a city and municipality in the highlands of western Guatemala. It is also the capital of the department of Huehuetenango. The city is situated from Guatemala City, and is the last departmental capital on the Pan-American High ...

region of Guatemala), and South America (the

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Boliv ...

and the

Guianas The Guianas, sometimes called by the Spanish loan-word ''Guayanas'' (''Las Guayanas''), is a region in north-eastern South America which includes the following three territories: * French Guiana, an overseas department and region of France * ...

) are best known for its historical usage. Projectiles include seeds, clay pellets, and darts. Some cultures dip the tip of the darts in curare or other

arrow poison Arrow poisons are used to poison arrow heads or darts for the purposes of hunting and warfare. They have been used by indigenous peoples worldwide and are still in use in areas of South America, Africa and Asia. Notable examples are the poisons se ...

s in order to paralyze the target. Blowguns were very rarely used by these tribes as

anti-personnel weapon An anti-personnel weapon is a weapon primarily used to maim or kill infantry and other personnel not behind armor, as opposed to attacking structures or vehicles, or hunting game. The development of defensive fortification and combat vehicles gav ...

s, but primarily to hunt small animals such as monkeys and birds. North American Cherokees were known for making blowguns from river cane to supplement their diet with rabbits and other small creatures. Blowguns are depicted in paintings on pre-Columbian pottery and are mentioned in many Mesoamerican myths. Back then and today, the Maya use a blowgun to hunt birds and small animals with spherical dry seeds and clay pellets. The clay ammunition is made slightly larger than needed (to allow for shrinkage and refinement) and stored in a shoulderbag. The outside of the dry clay pellet is shaved off and burnished right before use. Shorter blowguns and smaller bore darts were used for

varmint hunting Varmint hunting or varminting is the practice of hunting vermin — generally small/medium-sized wild mammals or birds — as a means of pest control, rather than as games for food or trophy. The targeted animals are culled because they are con ...

by pre-adolescent boys in traditional Cherokee villages. They used the blowguns to reduce the population of small rodents such as rats, mice,

chipmunk Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of the family Sciuridae. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia. Taxonomy and systematics Chipmunks may be classified either as a ...

s and other mammals that cut or gnaw into food caches, seed and vegetable stores, or that are attracted to the planted vegetables. While this custom gave the boys something to do around the village and kept them out of mischief, it also worked as an early form of pest control. Some food was also obtained by the boys, who hunted squirrels with blowguns well into the 20th century. Today blowguns are used with tranquilizer darts to capture wildlife or to stun caged dangerous animals. Herpetologists use blowguns to capture elusive

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia althou ...

s with stun darts. Blowguns are also used recreationally, with either darts or paintballs.

Sport blowgun

There are several competition styles practised around the world. A standardization of competition style, based upon

fukiya The ''fukiya'' (吹き矢) is the Japanese blowgun, as well as the term for the associated sport. It consists of a tube, with darts approximately in length. Unlike modern Western blowguns, the fukiya has no mouthpiece: instead, a shooter must m ...

, is being pursued by the International Fukiyado Association and hopes to become an Olympic event. It is a target shooting, using a standardized length 120 cm or 48 inch, and barrel caliber, dart shape, length and weight are free. In each round the shooter shoots 5 darts and there are 6 rounds per game, for a total of 30 darts. The target faces are 7 (6 cm), 5 (12 cm), 3 (18 cm) points. The bullseye is 160 cm above the floor. Two other styles are also being pursued to make up the Olympic blowgun event, both based upon the Cherokee Annual Gathering Blowgun Competition. The Field Style competition is similar to the winter Biathlon, where the shooter runs from a starting line to a target lane, shoots and retrieves the darts, and continues to the next station. The course length varies from or longer, with from 9 to 16 targets at various heights and shooting distances. The final style is the Long Distance target shoot. The target is a circle of diameter, and the firing line is away. Three darts are fired by each shooter, at least one of which must stick in the target. All successful shooters move to the next round, moving back each time. The sport blowgun competition is managed by the International Fukiyado Association, with which national associations in the United States, France, Germany and the Philippines are affiliated.

Gallery

File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Dajak met blaasroer TMnr 10013424.jpg, A Dayak man using a blowgun, Dutch East Indies, circa 1920 File:Rivercane blowgun quiver shawna cain.jpg, Rivercane quiver with blowgun darts, fletched with

bull thistle ''Cirsium vulgare'', the spear thistle, bull thistle, or common thistle, is a species of the Asteraceae genus ''Cirsium'', native throughout most of Europe (north to 66°N, locally 68°N), Western Asia (east to the Yenisei Valley), and northwe ...

File:Blowgun demonstration in Oconaluftee Indian Village, Cherokee, North Carolina.jpg, Demonstration of Eastern Cherokee blowgun in

Oconaluftee Indian Village The Oconaluftee Indian Village is a replica of an 18th-century eastern Cherokee community founded in 1952 and located along the Oconaluftee River in Cherokee, North Carolina, United States. History The Cherokee "living museum" founded by the E ...

, Cherokee, North Carolina File:Achuar con cerbatana (Amazonía Ecuatoriana).jpg, An

Achuar The Achuar are an Amazonian community of some 18,500 individuals along either side of the border in between Ecuador and Peru. As of the early 1970s, the Achuar were one of the last of the Jivaroan groups still generally unaffected by outside c ...

man with a blowgun, Ecuador File:JacaltekMayaBlowgun.jpg, A Jakaltek Maya holds a clay pellet between his lips as he prepares to insert it into his blowgun in Guatemala. File:BlowgunJacaltekMaya.jpg, A Jakaltek Maya hunter aims at the eye of his target and then blows a clay pellet towards it. File:Proffits champetres 9.jpg, Illustration c. 1480 of Medieval Europeans using a blowgun to hunt birds.

Materials

Darts are typically made of hardwoods to prevent cracking, although bamboo skewers can be used informally. The dart's fletch can be made of many materials, such as down, feather tips, and animal fur. Modern materials, such as

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

or carbon-reinforced plastic, are also used. In Japan, the competition darts are made of

cellophane Cellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose. Its low permeability to air, oils, greases, bacteria, and liquid water makes it useful for food packaging. Cellophane is highly permeable to water vapour, but may be coat ...

rolled into a cone (Fukiya), topped with a non-pointed brass brad. The Japan Sports Fukiya Association JSFA has privatized the sport, and all materials must be purchased from them. International Fukiya Association IFA chairman H.Higuchi promotes worldwide blowgun rule cooperating with other countries. In other nations, the modified piano wire is used to make the cal and cal darts, with certain manufacturers making specialty darts for odd sized or larger caliber barrels ( cal, cal, cal, and cal). Use of home-made darts in the larger sizes, or for hunting is common, utilizing bamboo skewers ( diameter), wire coat hangers, and even nails, or knitting needles.

Specifications

As a primitive weapon, there are no set dimension for a blowgun's length and diameter. However, generally there are several sizes: # Fukidake — diameter is cal in Japan. Tournament length is , but for practice one can use a tube. No mouthpiece is used; users wrap their lips around the tube. International versions can be slightly more flexible, allowing a tube of and cal under IFA rules. Darts consist of a paper cone long, weighing . # Cherokee – made of river cane, . Dart is long and made of locustwood or other available hardwoods such as oak, ash, maple, walnut, etc., fletched with thistle down or rabbit fur, that provides an air seal. # Jakaltek — wooden blowgun averages long with a sight placed from the end. Clay pellets are the most common type of ammunition and clay is sometimes added under the sight when the diameter of the blowgun is too thin for more stability and a better aim. # Modern (US/EU) — typically has a diameter of cal, however, both the cal and cal are admitted for competitive shooting, with restrictions on barrel length and darts dimensions/weight; with varying lengths having distance restrictions imposed. Bell-shaped mouthpiece. Standard length limited to in IFA sanctioned competition. # Paintball marker — made to be identical to the size of a cal paintball. # Sumpit — usually about in length and in diameter. It is made from bamboo or wood, and can a single piece or two to three pieces joined together. Metal spearheads are uniquely commonly affixed at the tip, allowing them to also be used as stabbing weapons. They use thick short darts with soft cork plugs or resin-coated feathers or fibers at the blunt end. Bird-hunting versions can use clay pellets.

Legality

A law was passed in Guatemala in the 1930s outlawing the use of the blowgun in an effort to protect small game. It was difficult to enforce in rural areas, but was one of the reasons for the decline of blowgun use in Guatemala. In the United Kingdom under the

Criminal Justice Act 1988 The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (c 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Title The title of this Act is: Unduly lenient sentences In England and Wales, the Act granted the Attorney General the power to refer sentences for c ...

, and in Australia, the blowgun is categorized as an offensive weapon, and as such it is illegal to manufacture, sell or hire or offer for sale or hire, expose or have in one's possession for the purpose of sale or hire, or lend or give to any other person.

Antique An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...

blowguns are, however, exempt. In Canada, the blowgun is classified as a prohibited weapon and is defined as any device that "being a tube or pipe designed for the purpose of shooting arrows or darts by the breath". Any imported blowgun must be deactivated by either drilling a hole or by blocking it. In the Republic of Ireland, blowpipes (blow guns) are classified as illegal offensive weapons. In the US State of California, blowguns are illegal. They are also illegal in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, but are legal elsewhere. There is currently no age requirement for using a blowgun.

Poisoned darts

Shooting darts with a blowgun is an extremely stealthy, and even lethal, hunting technique if the darts are poisoned with plant extracts or animal secretions. In Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, some isolated areas in South America, and in the Amazon and Orinoco basins, blowgun hunters impregnate the tips of their darts with '' curare''. The explorer Joseph Gumilla first mentioned the use of this poison. In ancient literature, it's also referred to as ''uiraêry'', ''uirary'', ''uraré'', ''woorara'', and ''wourali''. The Ticuas, an ethnic group from Brazil, Colombia, and Peru, produce a type of ''curare'' called ''Ticuna''. This poison acts quickly on the prey, killing birds like the toucan in a matter of three to four minutes and small monkeys in about eight to ten minutes. In the

Orinoco basin The Orinoco Basin is the part of South America drained by the Orinoco river and its tributaries. The Orinoco watershed covers an area of about 990000 km2, making it the third largest in South America, covering most of Venezuela and eastern ...

, the blowgun and curare are used by: the Hoti, who make blowguns that are unique in their components; the Panare, who obtain blowguns from the Hoti; the Huottuja, or

Piaroa The Piaroa people, known among themselves as the ''Huottüja'' or ''De'aruhua'', are a pre-Columbian South American indigenous ethnic group of the middle Orinoco Basin in present-day Colombia and Venezuela, living in an area larger than Belgium ...

, who get their blowguns from the Yekuana or Maquiritares; the Maquiritare, who get their ''curare'' from the Piaroa; and the

Pemon The Pemon or Pemón (Pemong) are indigenous people living in areas of Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana.See pp.112,113 and 178 of ''Venezuela: the Pemon'', in ''Condé Nast Traveler'', December 2008. They are also known as Arecuna, Aricuna Jaricuna, ...

es, who also get their blowguns from the Yekuana or Maquiritares, though they make their own ''curare''. In the upper Rio Negro basin, the combination of blowguns and poisoned darts is used by the Curripacos, or Banivas, who make their own blowguns using technology and materials different, in part, from those of the ethnic groups of the Orinoco. They also produce their own ''curare''. Their ancestors, the Waodani, used a match known as ''kakapa'' along with the ''curare'' to impregnate the darts of their blowpipes. The Piaroa are known for making ''curare'' to impregnate the darts of their blowguns. They produce it beginning with extracts of different species of plants from the

Strychnos ''Strychnos'' is a genus of flowering plants, belonging to the family Loganiaceae (sometimes Strychnaceae). The genus includes about 100 accepted species of trees and lianas, and more than 200 that are as yet unresolved. The genus is widely dis ...

genus- mainly ''maracure'' (Strychnos crevauxii)- mixed with ''kraraguero'' sap to increase the adhesion of the poison. An animal hit by a dart poisoned using the Piaroa recipe usually dies within fifteen minutes, depending on its body mass. In the Philippines,

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

, and Sulawesi, the sumpit (or sumpitan) blowgun darts are typically coated in the sap of ''

Antiaris toxicaria ''Antiaris toxicaria'' is a tree in the mulberry and fig family, Moraceae. It is the only species currently recognized in the genus ''Antiaris''. The genus ''Antiaris'' was at one time considered to consist of several species, but is now regarded ...

'' (''upas'') which causes convulsions and death by cardiac arrest. Uniquely among blowguns, sumpit are also commonly tipped with metal spearheads for use in close combat or when the ammunition is exhausted, functionally similar to

bayonet A bayonet (from French ) is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit on the end of the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar firearm, allowing it to be used as a spear-like weapon.Brayley, Martin, ''Bayonets: An Illustra ...

s. The Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia use the concentrated sap of ''

'' (Malay : ipoh) to coat the point of their darts.

References

External links

The Blowgun ForumLefora Blowgun ForumFrance Sarbacane Sport AmateurDeutscher Blasrohr Sport ClubInternational Fukiyado AssociationJapan Sports Fukiya AssociationUnited States Blowgun Association Hunting by more natural methods
from ''The Smoky Mountain News'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Blowgun Ancient weapons Recreational weapons Primitive weapons Pneumatic weapons Indigenous weapons of the Americas