How to Make a Blowgun

I like weapons. Knives. Swords. Blowguns. Etc.

I like to make weapons. Knives. Swords. Blowguns. Etc.

And consequently, we have a lot of weapons. Knives. Swords. Blowguns. Etc.

We have swords on the walls, under the bed, above the door, and in the closet. Blowguns, wooden swords, plastic swords, staffs, bows, guns, and Nerf guns are hidden away in the closets. Why? Because we like weapons. Knives. Swords. Blowguns. Etc. 

As I am writing this, I have my modified Star Wars style Nerf gun beside me on my desk, with which to shoot Zack (Brother No. 1) when he enters the room. Sam (Brother No. 3), has a plastic screwdriver stuck in his belt, with which to stab Zack (Brother No. 1) when he enters the room. Ben (Brother No. 2) is holding a loaded diaper and blowgun, with which to fully stinkify and shoot Zack (Brother No. 1) when he enters the room.

Zack (Brother No. 1) enters the room....with a fully loaded and cocked Nerf gun in his hand. The battle is on.

All this while doing our writing. Don't you just love homeschooling?

Get a hard math problem? Shoot your brother for a change. Don't like vocabulary? Go kill Darth Vader.

The cool thing is that we make most of our own weapons. (Knives. Swords. Blowguns. Etc.) Swords are usually made out of tree branches, but I have made a few out of pieces of wood in the shop. (I made one that looked like the sword of Fili the Dwarf from the Hobbit trilogy one time, although now it looks more like an orc's broken dagger.)

We have made slingshots, shields, catapults, forts, and just about anything else. PVC pipe, however, is what revolutionized Mena warfare. PVC pipe, and blowguns. It started when I discovered that 1/2" PVC pipe is the perfect size to fire Nerf darts. In fact, I'll just show you how we make our blowguns.

There are two different materials that we use, PVC pipe and electrical conduit. PVC works best for Nerf darts, but the conduit works also. For shooting sharp nail-tipped darts however, the conduit works best. Why? Because the darts go through the metal pipe faster than the PVC. And because the conduit is sturdier and not flexible.

Materials:
PVC pipe
Electrical conduit
PVC couplings for the mouthpiece
Duct tape
Spray paint

Tools:
Hand saw
Sandpaper

You start by determining the size of your blowgun. The longer it is, the more accurate, but also more unwieldy. Figure out the size that would fit you best. For the more accurate conduit blowgun, I usually do five feet or more. For the Nerf blowgun it is good to do a smaller size because it will be used in battles, and it isn't easy to run around the house dodging bullets with a five foot plastic pipe to your mouth. (and yes, I have personal experience)

Cut the pipe to size with the saw. Sand the ends smooth, and fit the couplings for the mouthpiece. There are several different kinds of couplings that you can use, just make sure that they fit the pipe and your mouth.

 Now to make it look awesome. You can spray paint it camo, or simply cover it in duct tape. Most of ours are spray painted, because it looks really cool. We also wrap black electrical tape around the middle to make a cool handle.

Conduit blowguns

Sharp darts

Here is a video:

Sorry for the poor quality, it was taken with a phone camera. Oh, and yes that was the man cave. If you look closely you can see the swords and weapons hanging on the walls.


Wow! Are those things awesome or what?

I even made one that breaks apart in the middle. That one is really cool in the battles, because you get both the long range accuracy and ultimate maneuverability. If you get into a tight spot, pull the blowgun apart, creating two small blowguns. Then, when the enemy turns tail and runs, put the two together and drop em' dead from afar.