Spear hunting is a traditional method of hunting involving…you guessed it…a spear. The making of the spear is the first step to putting meat on the table. Whether you are making your own spear for a survival situation or you just feel like making a spear this weekend there are two trusted ways you can use. Both techniques are very simple to follow and both are effective methods of creating a survival weapon.
Regardless of which method you go with, choosing a good branch to transform into your spear is the place to start. Look for a straight, preferably straight, branch. Straight branches can be hard to find, so you may have to do some whittling to straighten out the branch.
The spear shaft should be about 5 feet long. Five feet is long enough to be an effective throwing spear, but small enough to wield in a defensive situation.
Both of the following methods can be tweaked to provide better usability. Creating a leather or rope grip on the shaft is a great option for better spear control.
Method 1: Fire Hardened Spear
This is the most traditional and basic method of creating your own spear. Once you have your spear shaft created, simply whittle one of the ends into a point. The longer the point the sharper it will be, however it will also be more fragile. Too short of a point and the spear may not be sharp enough to penetrate anything. Finding somewhere in the middle is a good plan.
Once you have the point carved, set the tip near a fire. Slowly roll the spear near the fire watching carefully not to catch the spear on fire. The goal here is to create a slight charred look that actually hardens the spear. Too long in the fire and the tip will simply break.
Think of this like cooking a marshmallow over a fire. You don’t want it to catch on fire, but you want that golden brown look to the outside. This is shown in the following video of an atlatl:
Method 2: Knife Tipped Spear
There are sharper spear options than the pencil-like sharpened spear. The best is to attach your knife to the top of the spear. Once you have your perfect spear shaft ready for knife attachment, take a notch out of the spear end of the shaft. Cut down the middle of the spear around 3-5 inches (depending on your knife length) and cut in from the side so that you create a “shelf” on the tip of your handle.
Place the butt of your knife on this shelf and lash the knife onto the spear. A clove hitch started a few inches lower on the spear shaft works best.
The advantage of this method is that the sharpness of the knife allows for better penetration and durability. The shelf on the spear allows the shock of the knife hitting its target to transfer to the whole spear and not just the knife. If you simply lash the knife to the side of the spear then the knife is likely just to slide back on the spear and be almost completely ineffective.
There is a major issue with this method that must be discussed…
If you plan on using this spear as a throwing or hunting spear, you better have another knife available. There is no nightmare worse in a survival situation than you spearing a pig and the pig running off with your knife stuck in its side. Say goodbye to the bacon and your most important survival tool.
The alternative is to use a sharp piece of metal or rock that can be attached to the spear in the same way you attached the knife.