Blowguns

 In the beginning blowguns were made from bamboo or other hollowed out sticks of wood. North American Cherokees were known for making blowguns out of river cane to hunt for rabbits and other small creatures. As crude as these primitive weapons were, they were also extremely accurate.

 No one knows exactly where blowguns originated; however, it is generally believed that they appeared simultaneously throughout many parts of the world. The earliest evidence of blowguns dates back thousands of years to parts of Africa and Asia.

 In the America's, blowguns have been used for several thousand years by Native Americans as survival weapons. They were also used as far back as the year 1500 by the Ninja in Japan, for silent assassinations.

As a primitive weapon, there were no set dimensions for a blowgun's length and diameter. However today, most modern blowguns typically come in two sizes:

The .40 caliber blowgun measures 3/8" in diameter, and
The .50 caliber blowgun measures 1/2" in diameter.

 These measurements are based on the "inside" diameter of the blowgun tube.

 In recent years, blowguns have seen a resurgence of popularity here in the US as well as other parts of the world.

   Blowguns are used to help maintain wildlife by delivering tranquilizer darts in complete silence. The animals can then be studied and released back into the wild.

 Many people are also finding that blowguns can offer quite a challenging sport. With different darts to choose from such as soft-tip darts, stun darts, and even paintballs, the blowgun offers a wide variety of sporting activities.

 There are several competition styles of blowgun practiced around the world. A standardization of competition is being pursued by the International Fukiyado Association, and has high hopes of becoming an Olympic event. It is a 10-meter target shoot, using a standardized barrel caliber and length, and a standardized dart, as outlined by IFA.

 Two other styles are also being pursued to make up the Olympic blowgun event. The Field Style competition is where the shooter runs from a starting line to a target lane, shoots, and retrieves the darts, and then continues to the next station. The course length varies from 1/4 mile to 1/2 mile or longer, with a number of targets at various heights and shooting distances.

 The final style is the Long Distance target shoot. The target is a circle that is 24 cm in diameter, and the firing line is 20 meters away. Each shooter fires three darts, and at least one dart must stick in the target. All successful shooters move to the next round, moving back 2 meters each time.

AVERAGE LENGTH ACCURACY AND VELOCITY FOR MODERN BLOWGUNS: (these are averages based on an adult shooter with normal lung capacity)

18" - accuracy range 40 feet, 125 feet per second
24" - accuracy range 65 feet, 150 feet per second
36" - accuracy range 100 feet, 200 feet per second
48" - accuracy range 150 feet, 250 feet per second
60" - accuracy range 175 feet, 300 feet per second
72" - accuracy range 225 feet, 350 feet per second

These Blowguns are not toys. They should only be used under adult supervision!

NOTE: These items cannot be shipped to California.