Stone Age or Montagnard Style Crossbow

Hello Friends.

While I have never tried to make a longbow or arrow as an adult, I had a very long string of failures making anything remotely usable as a boy and later as an adolescent.

I think that if I was ever lost in the woods, I'd do better to stick to Sling or Spear-Thrower {What has come to be universally called an "Atal-Atal" to my great disgust—since that is just ONE Indigenous people's word for the Gadget...}

Be all that as it may.

Hypothetically lost; with a Knife or two (in my case, more likely a half a dozen...); Perhaps a Small Handsaw—or at least a Sawzall blade and maybe a Tomahawken sized hand axe...

I've often thought that my best long-term bet for a game harvestor might be a simple Crossbow.

My Reasoning is that Prods, String, and "Arrows"—Quarrels or Bolts on the Crossbow—could all be made much more robust (and hence take a bit less fine work) on the Crossbow than with the Longbow.

{And wood vanes can stand in for feathers...}

I've seen pictures of Montagnard Crossbows from Vietnam. Reportedly, at least one on the tiny devices brought down a Helicopter when it hit a fuel line...

I'm not sure that the Montagnard Crossbow uses a Trigger. I think that it may be "pull and release".

Be that as it may.

What type design would you recommend for the fellow lost and with enough time to at least begin work on a Crossbow?


I mean, if he's still there when it's done—that's cool that he didn't delay. If he's rescued with it half done, at least it kept him from worse mischief.

Figure Wood Prods and Bone Arrowheads, along with little or no metal to put into the design. Wooden (or perhaps bone/antler/horn tumbler).

Paracord for String if Lucky.

Even a small game only version might feed one. Deer harvesting capability is better. Is protection against dangerous game even possible without moving up to flint arrowheads (or even then?).

{Flint or Obsidian isn't universally available and Flint-Knapping is another skill that I never seemed able to master.}

So what would be a good design to practice building?


Saxon Violence

Montagnard crossbows.  I have seen several, and indeed I have one collecting dust in my shop.  They do have triggers... usually a bit of bone or ivory, that fits in the bottom of a string notch. The trigger, has a flat "T" top which levers the string out of the notch, given a pull.  The Montagnard bows I have seen varied in power from perhaps 60 pounds to over 100... not particularly powerful, but enough to take small game or larger stuff with poisoned bolts.  Stock tends to be thin and rather short, with a substantially longer prod made of some springy wood.  Maybe we've got somebody in the group who can tell us more?  Geezer

I've got one, and also shot one 'back in the day' when I was a combat photog documenting a Special Forces unit up in the hills.  As Geezer sez, they have a trigger, albeit a simple one.  The string is made from crushed bamboo I'd guess - crushed to be like old fashioned binder twine.  The folks who live and use them all the time are accurate, and more than one VC bought the farm to a bolt made from a length of fire-hardened split bamboo with a piece folded banana leaf fletching.

Personally, if I were going for a "survival projectile weapon", I'd utilize Nerd Flintstone's Paleo-legal Compound crossbow concept.  A much more effective, easier to build and use crossbow with much greater potential power.  Check out the thread here:
https://thearbalistguild.forumotion.com/t689-paleo-legal-compound?highlight=paleo

In my kit I alread carry paracord.  I would make a simple Skane style pinlock action to carry in my kit, would attach to the prod.  For just a bit more bulk I could pre-make the bows and tiller and add them to my kit.