Kids, ask your parents before crafting lethal weapons!
August 27, 2007 7:33 PM   Subscribe

Would you like to learn how to make a rope dart from a railroad spike? Of course you would. Practice enough, and you might be able to take on this guy. Also, plenty of additional DIY fun therein.
posted by Burhanistan (19 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- frimble



 
Thats way too much work for me, if I want to instantly and seriously fuck up my face and head I'll just run through a patio door and have done with it.

Pretty cool looking though.
posted by Divine_Wino at 7:50 PM on August 27, 2007 [2 favorites]


Try not to kill anyone.
posted by schwa at 7:53 PM on August 27, 2007


too late...
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 7:59 PM on August 27, 2007


Seriously Burhanistan, that website would have had 12 year old me in jail or in the hospital or more likely handcuffed to a bed in the jail hospital, it's really great, thanks.
posted by Divine_Wino at 8:00 PM on August 27, 2007


me fight pretty someday.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 8:01 PM on August 27, 2007 [3 favorites]


So this is a form of self defense that involves wrapping a rope around your own neck?
posted by StickyCarpet at 8:31 PM on August 27, 2007


Never seen this before - looks nasty. I did make a cool hatchet out of a rr spike the other day, though. Here's some basic instructions (some blacksmithing experience required).

Also, check for HC on the head of the spike - you definitely want high carbon if you're going to be making any sort of tool out of a chunk of iron. Many old railroad spikes are mild steel, or steel with copper.

All the same, I suppose, if you're using it to break skulls, though.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 8:40 PM on August 27, 2007


what's pretty cool is my new martial art where i shoot myself off an car airbag in a parking lot then hit a guy with a rope dart in midair. i'm gonna go practice now, bye.
posted by facetious at 8:42 PM on August 27, 2007


The mall-ninja in me rejoices.
posted by Balisong at 8:48 PM on August 27, 2007 [1 favorite]


Mall-ninja, exactly!
posted by Divine_Wino at 8:52 PM on August 27, 2007


Couldn't you poke your eye out with this thing?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:08 PM on August 27, 2007


The dart? Cool. The guy swinging the thing around? Kinda boring. Where's the video of this thing going through eight inches of 600-year-old oak?
posted by maxwelton at 9:41 PM on August 27, 2007


The kinder, gentler, alternative is to break off a 3 foot or so apple branch, poke an apple on at the end, and fling it. An impressive ballistic event ensues...

Yeah, no doubt the metal missile would do some damage, but I'm skeptical about the comparison to a .45 bullet.
posted by Tube at 10:14 PM on August 27, 2007


That's IT Burhanistan, I quit! You'll have to find a stalker who APPROVES of your love of violence!

*flounces off*


(P.S. I just tried to watch Fellini's "8 1/2" and didn't get it, surely it shows.)
posted by davy at 11:30 PM on August 27, 2007


Reminds me a lot of the kid in the garage with the light saber.
posted by pkingdesign at 11:32 PM on August 27, 2007


.45 ACP bullet, 230 grains at 850 feet per second is 370 foot-lbs.
With a 1/2 lb projectile, you'd have to have to get it up to 38 feet/second,
or 26 miles/hour, for the same 370 foot-lbs of energy.
posted by the Real Dan at 12:08 AM on August 28, 2007


Ooo, the video linked to in the first link shows a demonstration where the spike actually looks like it has some mass. I've watched Wushu videos on youtube and the rope darts, while impressively swung, never seemed to have any weight to them. Didn't sit right in my eyes as a weapon.

The way the spike drops to the ground in the video makes the entire business look a bit more lethal. Movements are more conservative. Would rather have a sword, though.
posted by Mister Cheese at 12:32 AM on August 28, 2007


Oh! It's that thing from Kill Bill, sort of!

(Yeah, the neck-wrap moves struck me as odd in the movie too. I guess if you already recognize the weapon, they must show high skill and bravery or something -- like shooting an apple off someone's head, or swordfighting without dodging. Hell, if William Tell was the only example of archery I'd heard of, or Mensur the only example of swordfighting, I'd be doubting whether arrows and swords were real.)
posted by nebulawindphone at 6:35 AM on August 28, 2007


Ah, we used to do that in elementary school. The 60-pound me could chuck stuff tied to string/rope an extremely impressive distance (most of the way across the length of a soccer pitch - the longer the string/rope, the more velocity one can generate).

Never hurt anyone, but came very very close once.
posted by porpoise at 3:49 PM on August 28, 2007


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