Bow effectiveness for Home Defence

[Baba Louie]

I suppose if I lived in a longhouse, tipi or wickiup, a bow would be one way to deal with an errant intruder... but I might reach for my lance, warclub or coup stick first.

I'm certain that should I ever do so, there would be an immediate hue and cry to restrict those evil assault weapons. "No one really NEEDS a stick with a string or a stick with a sharpened rock tied to one end! That's why we're passing this new law. To keep the tipi and campfires of this great Nation safe."

I'm thinking blowgun here for some reason... maybe with some special tipped darts... works on monkeys in the jungle (I've read). Naaaah. Probably more trouble than it's worth.

Having said that, this thread did make me look up compact compound bows... several worthy of pondering... perhaps not with home defense in mind however.

 

[JShirley]

The problem is, we don't want to leave reality-land for fantasyville. If you don't have a firearm, distracting the attacker is a good idea. IF we head out for D&D territory, this thread gets locked. So...bring it back, guys.

John

 

[jcord]

Join Date: 09-15-05
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 690 One Spartan against the Odds

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I read here a post about a deer struck with an arrow. And a post about whooping like an Indian! And the post about razor tipped broadheads.

Putting aside all the times in my life when I had sustained painful injuries and yes, gunshot wounds; should I ever have a blade tipped shaft sunk into my vitals, I'm going to admit to most likely I too will whoop like an Indian!
The prospect of haveing some wooden shaft sticking out of my gut would give me second thoughts on persuing the man who placed it there in the first place.

You would not be standing there with an arrow stuck in your chest. Any good hunting bow will send that arrow completely through you so fast you may not know what happened. Soft body armor is also no protection from a razor broadhead. My arrows fly at 300fps from my compound and 195fps from my 60# recurve. Neither have ever left an arrow in an animal.

 

[ZeSpectre]

I pondered this one for a while and I have to say that if I didn't have firearms for home defense my automatic go-to backup item is still a PR-24 or a MagCharger.

(I guess old habits are hard to break).

 

[cowssurf]

I'd much rather have a baseball bat than a bow. I would feel great, though, if I had a black powder revolver in my hand, though I might feel silly showing it to friends and saying, "I keep this loaded in my drawer."

 

[tinygnat219]

Bow for home defense?

That's a silly thing to even think of.

 

[mr.trooper]

If you have to defend your home without a firearm, I would use a hand held weapon before black powder. a single shot in a hallway could completely cloud your view. what if the BG shoots back?

A short spear, 36" inches max, would be ideal. 2.5 ' handle and a 6" point.

after that, a light mace, or a cut down baseball bat that can be used with one hand.

 

[Rachen]

If you have to defend your home without a firearm, I would use a hand held weapon before black powder. a single shot in a hallway could completely cloud your view. what if the BG shoots back?

Methinks somebody asked who uses blackpowder as home defense?

I do. All the time. Since I was 10 years old.

I have worked with percussion revolvers for so long as to almost completely understand their workings and mechanisms, as well as their potential misfires if handled improperly.

Black powder weapons are perfectly suitable for home or self defense. A properly loaded weapon will always serve you faithfully when you need it.
True, BP can cloud up your field of view, but there are substitutes out there that produce less or no smoke at all. Like 777 powder.

Usually, the round ball from the revolver is pretty much a decisive factor in any self defense situation. Quoting Elmer Keith, he said that the roundball is the most effective weapon on large game, and it is true too. It is basically a round with terminal performance capabilities. It would put down an assailant and effectively put him/her out of the fight quickly.

 

[craftsman]

0.625 cal. 1-piece 6 ft. long barrel blowgun

Baba Louie -

I just got one (Boar Hog) - see blowgunsnw website - $30 with darts. I used a 12 in. x 1/4 in. diameter bamboo skewer for a dart - from 33 ft. - put it through a 1/4 in. thick plywood backstop (2 in. of ethelyne foam in front of that for target shooting practice with the 0.50 cal. wire target darts - I'm a competitive shooter) - by three inches - photo posted on their MSN forum.

Although I don't keep it by my bedside.

 

[Everman]

I guess it could work if you have a good defensible position.

 

[Timthinker]

Let me add a caveat here that has not been addressed. Some self-defense websites offer crossbows and pistol crossbows as home defense weapons. SHAME! While crossbows and bows can injure or kill, they are far from ideal weapons for the reasons discussed so far. Furthermore, these weapons would prove difficult for untrained individuals to use under the stress of a home invasion. This last point is something that applies to many weapons and not just bows. I believe this posting keeps our topic grounded in reality.


Timthinker

 

[Baba Louie]

I believe this posting keeps our topic grounded in reality.

My reality is simply this... if that's all you've got to defend house and home, get real good with it.

I was obviously doing the tongue in cheek thing in my earlier post, altho', as craftsman points out, even blowguns can be mastered and while they 'could' be utilized, I think most everyone here would far prefer something a bit more substantial and technologically advanced for home defense.

The weapon being the trained mind, the tool... can be one or more of any number of things.