A proper four pronged fishing spear?

[Mistwalker]

Bamboo-1


I stopped by to see a neighbor today and while I was there I asked if I could have a couple of sticks of his bamboo. He said sure, you can have as much as you like. I only brought a few stalks home today but I am going to get more. He has a lot of it so I am thinking of making some bamboo blinds for the front porch, some bamboo wind chimes, and maybe even a decorative bamboo privacy fence around part of the front yard. However I need to learn about the proper drying process first as I also want to make some cane poles as well. Tonight I played around with one stalk and started on a four prong fishing spear. I know I still have a ways to go just yet. I still have to thin down the tines and sharpen them more, plus I still have to tie in the piece of wood I used to spread the tines open with…but it is coming along ok.

All I used was this…

this,

A bamboo stalk, some braided cord, and then whittled a stick to fit inside and spread the tines.

It can serve well as a defensive weapon or as a hunting spear simply sharpened like this.

I split one end on the stalk in quarters down to the second joint where I had tied the braided cord tightly around it, and then started whittling on the tines with the little BK13. The 13 worked really well for this. I’ll get some better pics tomorrow in the day light when Lisa can snap them.

and it is about 8 feet long.

 

[Mistwalker]

Here are a few shots from whittling on it today.

then I wrapped it…not really happy with it, will likely change it a bit

a better shot of ho long it is in the day light.

and a couple of the larger pieces I have been playing with.

 

[Chinkapin]

Very nice spear, when I was a kid we called them "gigs," and used them on frogs. Very effective. I have a fairly large cane patch that grows on my place in Arkansas, but none of it is as big as that piece in you hand in the last photo. Wow!

We were lazy slackers, who bought the four-tine spear tips at hardware stores, It never occurred to us to make one out of cane. Apparently we were short the "creative" gene as well.

Can't wait to try making one of these, I'll hang it in my cabin on the wall, as a conversation piece. (that is if it looks as good as yours, otherwise, I'll just dispose of the thing and act like I never made one. LOL

 

[Barney]

Wonderful spear, have you caught anything with it? That BK-7 looks handy as well. I am on the look out for Bamboo now.

 

[sam_acw]

That Becker is so tempting. My ideal survival knife design is basically a full tang Leuku with an extended butt and a stronger tip. That's pretty close to it.

 

[Mistwalker]

Very nice spear, when I was a kid we called them "gigs," and used them on frogs. Very effective. I have a fairly large cane patch that grows on my place in Arkansas, but none of it is as big as that piece in you hand in the last photo. Wow!

We were lazy slackers, who bought the four-tine spear tips at hardware stores, It never occurred to us to make one out of cane. Apparently we were short the "creative" gene as well.

Can't wait to try making one of these, I'll hang it in my cabin on the wall, as a conversation piece. (that is if it looks as good as yours, otherwise, I'll just dispose of the thing and act like I never made one. LOL

There is some that is bigger there that I will be getting...it's growing so fast he said there is no way I could possibly cut too much.

Hmmmmm....I always got in trouble for being too creative lol.

Wonderful spear, have you caught anything with it? That BK-7 looks handy as well. I am on the look out for Bamboo now.

Thanks, no I'm still in the process of making it...the tines still need some thinning and to dry a bit...still a little limber yet. I think while that one dries I'm going to start on a smaller one more suited to the small fish in the pond on the mountain...and a little shorter so it will fit in the bed of my truck.

 

[sam_acw]

Have you ever tried the Ka-Bar Bull Dozier? Looks similar but maybe a bit too combat.

 

[Mistwalker]

Have you ever tried the Ka-Bar Bull Dozier? Looks similar but maybe a bit too combat.

Haven't tried it but I may...it does look more tactical..however it is also smaller and may be better in some ways. However I like the flat grind of the Beckers and the B.D. is a hollow grind. Don't get me wrong, I have a major "thing" for tactical knives that will also function in the bush...I am just starting to move away from hollow grinds I think.

 

[Air Pirate]

I like this project. Not far from our house is a big cane field on public land. I was wondering what I might be able to do with some of it. What did you use, and how did you use it, to spread the tines out?

Also, my woods chopper is actually a Japanese bamboo knife. It's only 12 inches long but it has great weight for chopping, a thick spine for batoning, but still has a fine enough edge to cut meat and veggies for food prep.

(It's the one that's not a Mora or SAK)

 

[Chinkapin]

Mistwalker and Air Pirate, be careful. I cut the hell out of myself about a year ago on a piece of dry bamboo. It shattered in my hand, and my hand slipped down over the broken area and it sliced one of my fingers just like a knife blade.

When I examined it later, (after the bandage), I was amazed at how sharp those length-wise split shards were.

 

[Mistwalker]

I like this project. Not far from our house is a big cane field on public land. I was wondering what I might be able to do with some of it. What did you use, and how did you use it, to spread the tines out?

Also, my woods chopper is actually a Japanese bamboo knife. It's only 12 inches long but it has great weight for chopping, a thick spine for batoning, but still has a fine enough edge to cut meat and veggies for food prep.

(It's the one that's not a Mora or SAK)

I just whittled a piece of sycamore...suppose you could use about anything...into a somewhat conical shape and adjusted it to the size I wanted that spread the tines out to where I wanted them...I'll try to post some pics...but everything but that stick is shown..those are the only tools I used.


Yes...bamboo can be razor sharp...that's one of the good and bad things about it.

 

[Mistwalker]

Well…I finished it tonight. I cut a joint out of another stalk and made it into a ring to use as a spreader and tine support.

I cut flat spots on it for the tines to sit on.

and notches inside to hold the string in place.

next I whittled some notches in the tines to hold the string in place. And then put the ring in between the tines and tied it in place. Now I’m wishing I was back in Florida for a day or three.

Here are a couple of shots of my oldest playing with it (before I finished it) to give some perspective…she’s 5 feet 2 inches tall.

 

[Air Pirate]

Sweet! I think I'll head on out and find a good piece and make my own spear.

Chinkapin, I have accepted that I'm going to hurt myself no matter what I'm working on. I just consider it a blood sacrifice to the DIY Gods.

 

[Mistwalker]

Sweet! I think I'll head on out and find a good piece and make my own spear.

Chinkapin, I have accepted that I'm going to hurt myself no matter what I'm working on. I just consider it a blood sacrifice to the DIY Gods.

Cool, it's a fun project. I like the attitude, and the Japanese Bamboo knife. I once had one that was made in Vietnam, is yours sharpened only on one side also?

 

[stovie]

Hi Mistwalker
is this a traditional piece of work based on indiginous craft. And how does the four prongs perform in comparison to 3 & 2 prong examples?

Is there any advantage to using green bamboo as opposed to dry?

Having not used one I'm curious to know...

thanks

Stovie (who has more bamboo than he knows what to do with)

 

[Bravo4]

Stovie (who has more bamboo than he knows what to do with)

Lucky you, I loves the bamboo, so many things that one can do. I was checking out a book on bamboo uses, it was pretty good, extensive, and I think it was this one
http://www.amazon.com/Book-Bamboo-Comprehensive-Remarkable-History/dp/087156825X

Book says you can make bamboo phonograph needles,,,maybe that was how they did it on Gilligan's Island

 

[Mistwalker]

Hi Mistwalker
is this a traditional piece of work based on indiginous craft. And how does the four prongs perform in comparison to 3 & 2 prong examples?

Is there any advantage to using green bamboo as opposed to dry?

Having not used one I'm curious to know...

thanks

Stovie (who has more bamboo than he knows what to do with)

Nope, it was based on a kid (me long ago) wanting a way to spear Flounder I found in the shallow waters along the shore, and fish trapped in tidal pools I had made along the causeway in Tampa Florida in the Gulf of Mexico, and having bamboo growing behind our house. Because of the way it splits four prongs are just easier to work with. Dry bamboo is better and I've learned how to harden the tips by drying it over embers but in a pinch...in a "survival" situation... green will work for spearing fish. I made two pronged ones from forked sticks...I like the four prong for better chance of actually hitting the fish because you don't actually aim for the fish you aim below it because of the visual effect the water creates...this changes the deeper the fish is...more prongs just gives a better chance for success and holds larger fish better.

 

[Chinkapin]

Mistwalker, I'm curious about one thing, when you say dry bamboo is better - - do you mean that it is better to work with or once the spear is make, it is better after it is dry?

One thing I have noticed about bamboo / cane is that if it is kept indoors, even for a long time, it will dry out and harden but it will keep its green color, whereas if left outdoors it will decay fairly rapidly.

I have a bamboo section that I whittled out and made into a shot tube for carrying lead shot for a muzzle-loading shotgun. (works very well, bye the way) It has been kept in a drawer for three years and is still green and looks almost fresh, yet it has hardened quite a bit.

Just some observations.

 

[Mistwalker]

Mistwalker, I'm curious about one thing, when you say dry bamboo is better - - do you mean that it is better to work with or once the spear is make, it is better after it is dry?

One thing I have noticed about bamboo / cane is that if it is kept indoors, even for a long time, it will dry out and harden but it will keep its green color, whereas if left outdoors it will decay fairly rapidly.

I have a bamboo section that I whittled out and made into a shot tube for carrying lead shot for a muzzle-loading shotgun. (works very well, bye the way) It has been kept in a drawer for three years and is still green and looks almost fresh, yet it has hardened quite a bit.

Just some observations.

I think it is easier to work with still green and fresh, but better to use after drying. Yes, from what I am learning the green bamboo will rot outdoors where as some of the yellow or beige bamboos will not. I am looking into planting some of the more durable bamboo here on my land...not with decoration in mind but harvesting to use. I am told that the green bamboo can be hardened over fire or coals and I'm told that if I dipped the tines in borax it would preserve it.,,,not sure about that one just yet. However, as it is it would last through several fish before needing replacing, sharpening the tips when needed as long as you didn't strike a rock hard with it in the process.

 

[hog]

Very cool spear and nicely made.
All you need is an out rigger cannoe and some palm trees.