Flint Ridge Knap-In 2007

Last weekend I met my brother at the Flint Ridge Knap-In in Ohio. It is one of the biggest flintknapping gatherings in the country. It's special because it takes place at a historic flint quarry. You may be able to read the words in the picture below, but in summary, the site was used to quarry and make flint arrowheads and spear points for 10,000 years. Looking at an overhead map of the area, you can see thousands of small quarries that are mostly filled with water now.



I bought 40+ pounds of dacite and obsidian rock to tide me over for awhile. The following day the guy I bought it from bought a hickory stave for bow making from me which basically gave me half my money back. It worked out beautifully. I spent most of my time knapping. I'm still a beginner and haven't made an arrowhead suitable for hunting. I'm trying to finish at least one before I go hunting in a week.

The is one piece of obsidian I was working on. I haven't been able to make this into a point yet.


They had an atlatl (spear-thrower) range set up and allowed anyone to try it for free. They also had a competition where you threw three darts at five different distances. I didn't do very well, but my brother did. It was fun though. I'm going to have to makes some darts for the atlatl I made.


My brother and I had to make an unexpected trip to Iowa following the knap-in, so we stopped by my viburnum patch on the way out of Indy. We each harvested some gorgeous shafts. Today I'm going to start working on a bowstring made of yucca fibers. If I can do that and make a stone arrow head, I can hunt with completely primitive gear in a week.

Gathering Viburnum

As I mentioned in my last post, I decided to go to Eagle Creek Park over the weekend to gather some viburnum. It was our second day of 50F+ degree weather in Indianapolis this year so it was a perfect day for it. There was still a little bit of snow and ice around, but most of it had melted and most of the area I was in was very wet. I was very glad to have brought my rubber boots. I spent a portion of my time standing in 3 inch deep water since that is where a lot of the viburnum was.

My primary goal was to find potential atlatl darts (spears). My theory is that a good arrow wood is also a good dart wood. Viburnum is awesome because it grows straight and long. It doesn't put out branches unless it has reached sunlight, so some of the shoots in the middle of the patch grow 15 feet high or more without any knots or branches. The middle of the patch is where I looked to find my atlatl darts.

While I was looking, I also found some nice arrow shafts. As I trimmed the darts and shafts down to size, I ended up making a pile of thinner pieces. I decided I almost had enough to make a basket. Viburnum is also nice for making baskets because of the long semi-flexible branches. Long material means fewer ends to tuck in when weaving. Some of my basket material was 7 feet long.

At the top is my basket making material. The middle branches will become arrow shafts, and the long ones on the bottom will hopefully become atlatl darts. I will be straightening them as they dry out.


Most of the viburnum was off the main path I was on. I spent over an hour moving from one patch to the next looking for candidate darts. On my little journey I came across a few interesting things. Below is a dead stump that caught my attention. I scraped some chunks off and then ground them up in my palm. It can be used as a coal extender when making fire by friction. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, coal extender is basically fuel to keep a coal burning until such time as you can blow it into a flame. I broke off a couple big chunks to take home and try out.


On my way back to the main trail I stumbled across a little metal tin. It was odd because it was covered in camouflage duct tape. I had no idea what it was and the scout in me was a little nervous since it was camouflaged. Convinced that the park was clear of bombs, I opened it. It was a geocache.

Basically it is a little treasure box that people locate with a GPS device using coordinates posted on geocaching.com. People take and leave trinkets and sign the booklet. I signed it for fun and noted that I found it without a GPS device to let future seekers know that I'm better than them. :) Just kidding.


There is a navigation trick I've seen in almost every survival book I've read but never tried before. Before I went on my excursion into the viburnum patches, I set it up. I put a stick in the ground and marked the top of the shadow it cast with a small twig. When I came back about an hour later I marked the shadow again with a twig. I then laid a branch so that it intersected both points. This made an east-west line. From there I found north and south. It probably would have helped to have a compass to confirm to myself that this works, but it seemed to be correct based on my understanding of where I was.


Tomorrow I will post pictures of the basket I made when I got home Saturday.

First Atlatl

I started making my first Atlatl recently. For those of you who don't know, an atlatl is a spear thrower. It it basically a lever that allows you to throw farther (and probably more accurately) than with just your arm. It is the precursor to the bow. Coincidentally, I am making it out of one arm of a bow I broke during tillering.

Below is the what I started with. It is half of a bow including the handle at the top of the picture. Looking at the bend below the handle, you begin to see why this bow broke.


I referred to a few websites and texts I have to get an idea of the approximate dimensions of an average atlatl. This one is 23 inches long. Here it is after cutting it to size and some basic shaping.


I carved in a groove and spur with woodworking tools. This is where the end of the spear will be inserted. The spear end will be hollowed out to accept the spur.


Depending on the weight of the spear(s) I make, I may or may not add a weight to the atlatl. From reading, I found that it is good for the atlatl to weigh a similar amount as the spear. If it is too light or heavy in comparison, accuracy and distance suffer. Since I don't have any spears yet, I am not going to commit to a certain weight. Below is an example of how a weight might be added. Of course I will attach it with something a little nicer looking when I have it all figured out.


As with many survival arts, you can make a quickie version. Just pick up a stick that has a branch at the end for the spur. From reading, it sounds like preparing a spear is the real art form. Length, weight and spine (flexibility) are all important. I imagine when the sap is down in winter is the best time to harvest. I may have to make a visit to the old viburnum patch assuming good arrow shaft shrubs also make good spear shafts.

Antler atlatl from New York Museum of Natural History. Picture taken by my brother.