RE: War club

[IronBull]

Ok now that I got my tent question out of the way, I was thinkin about a war club, ball type. Maybe makin myself, quite handy with wood, what part of a tree would this be best made from, and what type oak,maple, etc etc.

[sse]

Several people here have made those.  I hope they answer...

[Loyalist Dave]

I am currently making one from a piece of an oak tree root that has been drying for five years.  Roots are supposed to be denser, and a similar African war club is made from the root of the Bayobab tree.

LD

[Wilawane]

Ok now that I got my tent question out of the way, I was thinkin about a war club, ball type. Maybe makin myself, quite handy with wood, what part of a tree would this be best made from, and what type oak,maple, etc etc.

Mainly maple and the ball part is root part. Go for example on this site http://www.splendidheritage.com/
Pick from gategory / club and hit display. Get some idea.
Here is one that I made (maple) few years back along with the original

original


my version

[Eric S Campbell]

A war club was traditional made from the root ball of a treethat grew on say a cliff side. But as long as it is made from the root ball tou will ge doing it the PC way. But I just made mine out of the branch part since cliffs are not around my area to much. As long as it is made of wood you will be ok.

[Pichou]

Maple, iron oxide, bone black.
The curve is the curve of the log.


Some originals

Iroquois


Iroquios


Ojibwe


Ojibwe


Menominee


Menominee


Delaware


Sioux


"Eastern"

[IronBull]

Thanks, This will help, I have a big wild cherry that will be coming down in the spring, not sure if that type of wood will work!!

[Longhunter]

This one is an original war club... rawhide wrapped stone

[Eric S Campbell]

Cherry will work great for a wooden ball headed war club!

[Loyalist Dave]

It's very interesting about the ball club btw.

Of all the folks who claim to practice minimalism in camping, Indians have to be the masters.  They carried very little compared to longhunters or other frontiersmen, and what they carried had multiple uses.  Metal tomahawks for example could be used for wood, butchering, and if they had a bowl they were used for smoking, or a poll and they were a hammer.

A ball war-club has but one use, and it's bulky, and one would also need to carry a 'hawk if one wanted to chop wood or butcher or hammer.  Why carry it?

IT'S VERY GOOD at bashing in the head of an opponent!  It is best used when swung in the direction intended, but it will work being swung in any direction without worry of which way the edge is oriented as it is edgeless.  It doesn't get stuck in the skull bones of an enemy like a 'hawk might, when a delay of a mere second to extract it might mean the death of a user, AND it could be fashioned from wild materials at no cost to the maker.

A very good piece of gear.  

LD

[sse]

Of all the folks who claim to practice minimalism in camping, Indians have to be the masters. They carried very little compared to longhunters or other frontiersmen

I'm under the same impression about mountain men, too

[Eric S Campbell]

But they would ot ave carried a ball headed war club all the time. It would be carried for ( wait for it, it is in it's name) WAR. Despite what most people would like to think, mst of the times when indians went to war the traveled in groups.

   When going to war one would most likely not want to be seen. Alot of cold camps ect. If they need a fire why chop down a tree? There are plenty of branches ect. on the ground already dried out. If you chop don  tree it would leave a trail for people to follow. A war club in my opinion would only be used in war. There are sure to be others in that grop who would have a plain hatchet over a tomahawk to be used for camp use.

   There are soo soo many war clubs in museums today that they must have been very common. And if one is reenacting, alot of parks will not allow you to reenact a battle with a bladed weapon. So a war club is a great idea. A better option is to have both to be on the safe side.

[IronBull]

I already have a hawk, now I am not going into battle, but when I camp at rendezvous, If I am going native which I seriously am considering(in my blood) I would like native items,regalia, etc etc. And a war club would be a nice addition, esp. if made by myself. And would keep the hawk as we do hawk and knife competition.

[attheedgeoftheworld]

Maple, iron oxide, bone black.
The curve is the curve of the log.

Pichou- you would have an extra one of these?

IronBull- did you finish you ball club?

[macNnc]

I don;t have one and I think that for me in my persona...as well as for most of us here...it would be about as useless a piece of equpment as you could find...

but as i said here once..in a different, but simliar thread..I wouldn't mind having one..just in case I run into the ex-wife...