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So me and my lady were discussing our cold steel blowguns and wrist rockets and started wondering just how effective they would be as a bugout tool/zombie apacolypse tool or however. Obviously effective at taking small game up to dog size... Even antelope and deer with poisons.. But poisons take time to make so without poisons blah blah... Anywho.. Experiences? Thoughts? I am sure this has been covered before but specifically concerning the cold steel big bore blowguns and slingshots.
 
this is a review i wrote for a friends web site.

you can read it here or <broken link removed> .


ColdSteel’s Blowgun First Impressions.

My first blowgun was mail ordered from a martial arts supply company when I was about 14 years old. I remember it had a circular mouthpiece that only allowed you load from the muzzle much like a muzzleloader; it was a 2-piece job, which connected in the middle with a plastic copular. The darts supplied with that old blowgun were also cheap, pretty much consisted of a cut wire that was connected to a plastic ball. My how the world has changed with Cold steel’s blowgun lineup. These are world-class blowguns, this is a serious tool. So I was excited to try out the product.

Pulling it out and just holding this 5 foot long piece of (aluminum?) It has the serous feel of a cold steel weapon. The version I received is a one-piece design, that would make it excellent for a variety of other tools, like a walking stick (included with the blowgun is an end piece that would prevent debris from lodging in the tube if used for this purpose), and the mouthpiece is a heavy rubber molded piece that could also double as its handle. You could also be like a ninja and use it as a snorkel under water. (I wonder why cold steel doesn’t make a ninjato?) In addition the blowgun comes with one quiver/dart holder that holds’ 12? Darts, you can order additional quivers that attach right over the tube as this one does, it holds them nice and tight. The construction of the quiver allows for the pointy tips of the darts to be inserted into a soft foam, this makes handling the equipped blowgun much safer, as there is less of a chance you will accidentally prick yourself on the dart tips. Oh yes, brother, those dart tips are sharp, only like cold steel can do. A variety of darts are included with the package, they range from (-----plastic tips, to bamboo skewers, small boradheads, big boradheads, needlepoint’s, very pointy zytel tips, to an archers favorite thumper blunt types. I was amazed at the variety of darts and how well they held up to use.

Now for the fun part, shooting it. Since I had some previous experience with blowguns firing and aiming this one was easy. Soon my friend and I were over 30 yards away making precise hits on a mannequin torso target. Blowgun firing and aiming tips, 1) turn your head to the side, away from the mouthpiece to avoid accidentally inhaling the dart backwards. 2) Take a deep breath, 3) aim with both eyes open, with one hand holding the mouthpiece, and the other hand holding about ½ way down the blowgun to balance some of its weight. 4) Pucker your lips and blow hard and expel as much air as you can quickly. I also used to play the trumpet way back in my middle school days so that action came second nature to me. But I'm sure with a few practice try’s you will get the hang of it within a few minutes.

Performance.
As usual cold steel delivers real world tools at an affordable price. I again had some friends come over to put it through its paces, and they were at first a little scared of its length and appearance, but everyone had a great time, even novices experienced marked improvement in both accuracy and penetration with just a few practice shots. The device is easy to clean, strong and sturdy. Bottom line everybody had fun with this product. It just leaves a smile on your face after you hit your mark.



The Ammo question.
Cold steel offers a rather large variety of ammo to shoot out of this big bore blowgun. I’ll begin with the stock variety pack that it comes with. Darts were tested against multilayered cardboard, and an old mannequin torso we had lying around.

Stock Ammo types


Advantages


Disadvantages

Stun Dart


Safety, good for training and tracking in flight.


Not as cool when noting sticks.

Broadhead Darts


Practice darts, hold up to abuse, easy extraction from targets.


They don’t stick very deep.

Bamboo Dart


Fly as quick as lasers.


Don’t have great penetration, and tips break after several uses, but you can just whittle down a new tip easy.

Mini Broadhead Dart


Great flyers, good penetration, nice and small tips come out of targets easily.


Not a lot of weight behind it, tips are pointy but not sharp.



Additional Specialty Ammo

Zytel® Broadhead Dart


Good flight, have enough weight to be powerful,


They rip up your targets quick, and it’s sometimes difficult to extract them the target after firing.

Razor Tip Broadhead Dart


These are the primo hunting darts sturdy, sharp and arrowhead like tips.


Hard to extract from targets.

Multi Dart, w/ cone drivers


These are pretty cool, good penetration, small and sharp point, can fire up to 3 darts at a time comfortably for a shotgun effect.


Very small and thin darts easy to loose, either the dart themselves, or even finding that cone driver again. Cone driver system is not as quick to operate.

Stun Dart /Thumper Blunt


Nice weight, pack a good punch, Thumper Blunts.


One trick pony.
 
I was recently shown a video of that actually! I couldn't believe someone shot an arrow out of a slingshot. I was shocked how accurate it was!! And I am ashamed I never thought of it except for playing around and being silly!
 
I was recently shown a video of that actually! I couldn't believe someone shot an arrow out of a slingshot. I was shocked how accurate it was!! And I am ashamed I never thought of it except for playing around and being silly!

I practiced extensively with mine, and was able to keep all my shots in the 10" ring at 30 yards. And while not as accurate as my 70 lb. Bowtech compound, applied in this manner it could be used to secure deer sized game in a survival situation,, if needed.
 
jlittlewolf, depending what type of bands yours requires, you can stop in at most fishing tackle stores and find surgical tubing that is used for the "wrist rocket" type of sling shots. Make sure you get the type that is strong enough to to supply the force needed. Also make double sure that if fits the aluminum correctly, as to have one come loose can be devastating to your eye, which is directly in the line of fire if it snaps or comes off during the process of stretching to fire it. It's also important to examine your tubing for abrasions regularly to avoid this.
 

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