Bolas survival weapon: throwing and crafting tips!
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- The Bolas or Boleadoras is a primitive survival tool used to entangle animals. Today, I will share a number of construction and throwing techniques that made the Bola a really effective improvised hunting weapon for me.
First some crafting Tips:
Consistent weights allows the bola to spread out more predictably. One trick is to saw off 3 identical billets of wood. This enables weight consistency as well as floatation if a bola is casted onto water.
2 notches are carved into each billet of wood.
You’ll want 2 pieces of cordage of the same length, from your chest to your finger tip. The 3rd piece of cordage should be 3-4 inches longer, the longer cordage will help the bola spread out in flight.
Now tie a claw hitch around each billet on the notches.
Then an overhand knot to secure the 3 lengths of cordage.
The finished bola takes less than 10 minutes to construct and will perform reliably for thousands of casts.
Now on to Throwing tips
When carrying the bola, you want to create a cinch knot. This knot keeps the weapon compact when in transport. It also allows a silent and fast deployment of the weapon..
When casting, too much spinning reduces the accuracy of this weapon. Instead, I prefer a half rotation or at most 1 rotation before releasing the bola.
During the cast, you want to lean your body into the release given it extra power. At the moment of release, this introduces an imbalance in the weapon’s center of gravity. This imbalance then causes the bola to fully spread out in flight.
During the release, the bola should be kept completely parallel to the ground. Minor changes to the release angle greatly limits the spread of the bola, thus significantly reducing hit probability.
Now in terms of learning curve. I find the bola to be harder than a throwing stick, but easier than the bow, the atlatl or the sling. After just 2 weeks of daily practice, I was able to get 2 hits out of every 3 casts at 30 feet.
Now this weapon has some limitations. The bola cannot be used in dense vegetation. Throwing it creates a highly visible motion, giving away your position to the prey. And you can't carry more than a few bolas with you on the hunt. With that said, the bola is easy to make, simple to maintain, and relatively quick to learn. The bola can take down a broad range of prey, from long legged ruminants, to birds with long necks or wide wingspans.. Overall, I believe the merits of the bola outweighs it's disadvantages as a survival weapon And thus it has a place in my arsenal. Anyways, you enjoyed this video, if you want to see more videos like this one, please like, share, and subscribe to my channel, thanks and good bye!
Audio: Creative Commons Dangerous Toys
I hadn't considered using wood for a bola because I thought mass was needed for the blunt force trauma effect, but I understand now that's not really the point. I like this.
Thanks for watching!
Gaucho here, from the brazilian south specifically. My culture uses bolas a lot (Boleadeira). Usuall you want a softer, lighter material like wood or bone for catching calfs or foals, due to them having more delicate shins in order to avoid injuries.
We generally use them from horseback, it's great to catch emus.
@@PeagaportoVery interesting and good to know. Thank you sir and good luck in your future duties :)
If you need mass maybe you can just take a small leather pouch or plastic bags layered up, and fill it with sand, small rocks, or lots of screws or nuts and bolts so it becomes a makeshift rock. Even primitive pottery can be used to make the weights, or using lots of pine sap/super glue to just stick rope around a stone. It doesn't need to be reusable, just work once or twice. Also you can use rope to make like a net around a rock and use that.
I use golf balls that are drilled through and knotted. They bounce rather than dig in, and increase your chances of entangling your prey.
Thats a great tip, thanks!
I was thinking of monkey's fists with golf balls for cores. Your idea is great.
@@cowboy6665monkey fist are illegal in a lot of states,they are deadly
I found a rawhide bolas at a flea market yesterday, thanks for the throwing tips!
Thanks for watching!
Dont forget u can also tie as weight larger wooden logs than this for bigger prey and smaller logs for smaller prey this gives a huge potential to the weapon and probably makes it the best prey capturing weapon out there because with spears and slings and other projectile weapons u can cause the animal/prey to bleed to death but by the time that happens the animal /prey will have probably gotten away and take a lot of time to track down however a bola is an amazing design for disabling the prey from fleeing than finishing it with ur melee weapon can be a primitive club or if u feel thats too risky just stab it with a spear from safe distance with that said this weapon is absolutely the best primitive tool to bring food to table of course although this is not necessarily a "weapon" But more of a secondary equipment for disabling prey this makes hunting with it way more easier than without it
Thanks for watching!
@@NYTXK9 Thanks for watching! I don't see why not, but I suppose there are modern tools for disabling a person that is far easier to learn than the bola.
Good video if I can make a suggestion when throwing hold one of the weight back with the knot it will open a lot better and entangle better
Thanks for the info!
No problem hey if you try it let me know how it works for you
@@josephbishopbackwoodssurvi3918 will do.
I made one of these In the mid 1980s when I was 11. Made it after being inspired by an Advanced Dungeons & Dungeons book and Planet of the Apes movies. The one I made was made out of yo-yos and tripped up a friend while he was running. He fell hard and I had it taken away by his Mom.
I hadn’t thought about my yo-yo bola in decades.
I enjoy this channel a lot and since I have been living in North Jersey all of my life I have recognized many of the locations of your videos.
Thanks for making these.
Thanks for watching and sharing your story! 😀
The mom that prevent you from becoming the ultimate hunter ! hah
Hi, lady from Australia here. Love your content; you really master every topic you cover!
Wow, thank you!
I was looking to make a mini bolo with marbles so I can catch our roosters but I guess little pieces of wood will work. Edit: Thanks for the video.
Thanks for watching!
Awesome... will give it a try, when I get time. Thank you.
Have fun!
I stumbled across your channel a little while ago and love your vids. Instant sub 😁
Thanks for subbing! I appreciate it!
You are back!
Yep, I finally got a few days off work! Thanks for watching!
Very nice design I will have to try that.
Thank you! Cheers!
Awesome skills bro! I would round off the edges of the wooden weights.
Thanks for the tip!
@@WannabeBushcrafter welcome bro
I daisy chain them so that they are short and never tangle: they auto release as start swing to throw and add feathers to the center to slow it down causing quick opening, best thrown into rising flocks of birds
Thanks for the tips!
Great video
Glad you enjoyed it
This weapon is very easy to build
Yes it is real quick to put together and low maintenance
Recently I saw a video (I don't have the URL) where the person made a sling with a mini trebuchet on the end. He took a stick about 1 meter long and tied a hand sling to the end attaching one string to the stick with a knot and the other string with a loop in the end slipped over a small groove in the end of the stick. He placed a stone in the pouch and by slinging the stick like an atlatl, was able to throw the stone a huge distance. I might need to try making something like that.
thanks for watching!
Let me know if you find it
nice thanks
Most welcome!
You should cover shelters next
Thanks for watching! Yeah I need to get around to primitive shelters one of these days! I have learned to build a few simple ones.
Can you make a video of using it on a lion?
Lol thanks for watching!
Can u do a video on rope darts or meteor hammers as a possible survival weapon there easy to make out of primitive tools u just need a rope and rock or wooden stake
Thanks for the idea! I have never heard of rope darts and just googled it. It seems like a very interesting weapon.
@@WannabeBushcrafter a meteor hammer is the same except it has a iron ball instead of a spike in fights u don't use them like u see ppl u online those r flow artists u want to use it like how slingers using the Greek underhand or Byzantine sling style it's about as effective in range similar to a spear and the rope lowers it's power fast but the rope is also what creates the leverage that give it power
Interesting, I'm going to read more about this weapon. Thanks!
.... and drones too
Thanks for watching!
One guy said to throw it holding one of the weights .
Thanks for watching! Yes, he actually commented on this video, I tried it out and it seems to increase the probability of the bola spreading out.
This is a very well made video for a wannabe.
Thanks!
Man’s playing Ark IRL 💀
LOL thanks for watching!
@@WannabeBushcrafter and thank you for making this I’m subbing
A monkeys fist knot hunting application
Thanks for watching!
Bolas would be more effective
I believed I used a bola on a balustrade but it turns out they bounce off. It’s probably cause the balustrade has a huge leg
Thanks for sharing your story!
Great stuff! I really appreciate you take the time to actually learn how use these different tools. Far too many survivalist and bushcraft youtubers make a sling or a bola, play for an afternoon and never go back to it once the video they want is filmed.
Thanks! I find that with primitive weapons, most of the fun is in the learning journey. It seems like for each weapon design there are all of these small tricks and refinements that primitive cultures had figured out long ago. And they combine to make a big difference in effectiveness.
Sling much better
Thanks for watching! I see different primitive tools as being better at different tasks. The Bola has advantages over the sling for certain activities and vice versa. For example you could get very high hit probability at 10 yards with the bola after just a few weeks of practice, it takes more practice to do the same with the sling. Also being able to immobilize a target rather then injuring or killing it can be useful for certain situations.
I'm not into hunting, but i wonder if it could deal with a big dog, sometimes i found myself dealing with dogs in the mountains, i don't want to hurt them but i don't want to be hurt either, maybe this little proyect could work for that? what you think?
This is a really good non-lethal tool for disabling certain animals.
Just remember, this is nothing like the actual South American boleodora.
Thanks for watching!
How about if you used bomb than stones or woods🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Lol thanks for watching!
More like Masta Bushcraft 🥋
Thanks!
Es una boleadora gaucha 😂
Thx for watching!
Second! I have a question, if throwing the bolas at a larger animal like a deer or elk, would you aim at their legs or their body?
Thanks for watching! You would want to aim at their legs. When it hits it wraps around the target, completely entangling it.
Bruh this isnt ark
LOL thanks for watching!
Maybe if you put a shot where actually see how you throw them instead of a far away pan where you barely see the bolas...
Thanks for watching!
Great! Now I can survive in stone age. Why would I need that these days, is another question
Thanks for watching! The short answer is you don't need any of these primitive weapons in the modern day, but the knowledge of how to construct them is useful just in case you get into a survival situation.
Should try making aborigonal boomerang like the ones on throw stick chanel.
Thanks for watching! I'm going to build a boomerang one of these days.
I just made one with whiskey rocks in monkeys fist knots, works great!
Nice thanks for sharing!
I think I would change the bits of wood to lead sea fishing weights.
Thanks for watching! Yeah fish weights work well so do small pouches filled with gravel, and angular stones. I like this particular design with the wooden billets because it has less parts than the other designs and can be constructed from materials anywhere and it spreads out consistently and can float on water.
Love the channel name, your doin it tho bud, good for you
Thanks 👍
Would one made with three monkey’s fists wrapped around smooth stones be more effective on land, due to the higher weight of the stones?
Thanks for watching! I've made other versions of this weapon with stones in small pouches. I'm not sure if it really is more effective, the speed with which the bola wraps around the target seems to be the same. Perhaps something hard like stones could with greater ease break an animals legs?
@@WannabeBushcrafter I was thinking that might be so, or perhaps the greater momentum would keep the weights spread wider for longer, or begin spreading wide earlier in their flight. Not sure! I do think that the wood discs are a great idea though, in terms of consistent mass and that they float, so you won’t lose it if you miss when hunting waterfowl!
You are my hero! Keep up the good work 🥷
Thanks!
@@WannabeBushcrafter as we say in wales. Croeso fawr.
Nadolig llawen â blwyddyn Newydd dda
Yay first comment and top 7 likes.
Thanks for watching!
This there a book or something were i can get information on this tool its really hard to search for as Spanish translation is literally ball
Yeah a lot of bushcraft handbooks have various Bola designs. One good one is from the SAS Handbook.
@@WannabeBushcrafter thanks ill check them out
Use lead weights.
Yeah I have another version of the bola that uses 2oz lead fish weights in small pouches. The bola design in this video is more of a survival bola that you can make anywhere without too much resources.
Welcome back
Thanks! I finally got a couple of days off work :D
Dank.
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the tips. The bolas are also obviously an appreciably effective survival tool when up against ill intentioned specimens of the human variety.
Thanks for watching! Yeah this tool is particularly useful in that it is designed to immobilize the target. Most other primitive weapons were designed to kill game.