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Blowguns, invented over 40,000 years ago, were used by indigenous tribes in South America and Asia for hunting small game and larger animals with poisoned darts. Modern blowguns are precision manufactured and used for target shooting, paintball games, and tranquilizing animals. Expert blowgun enthusiasts can fire darts at a velocity of 300 feet per second.
A blowgun is one of the oldest weapons on earth and quite possibly the first capable of firing a small projectile at prey. The first blowguns are estimated to have originated over 40,000 years ago, possibly in China, and consisted largely of a hollow reed and carved dart. The hunter simply put a dart into one end of the gun, put his muzzle on the opposite end, took aim, and blew. A strong puff of air propelled the dart through the tube, hopefully in the direction of a small bird or animal. The speed of the dart depended on the length of the tube and lung capacity.
Indigenous tribes in South America and parts of Asia were especially skilled at using the blowgun, and to a much lesser extent they still use them today. Blowpipes lack the killing power of a rifle or bow, but their extremely sharp darts can easily pierce skin. Thus, blowguns were typically a tool for hunting small game. To catch bigger game, many tribes coated their darts with poisons. Through this technique the blowgun was effective against larger animals and even humans during times of battle and warfare.
Modern blowguns have progressed light years from the hollow reed and hand-carved dart of ancient peoples. A state-of-the-art blowgun can be made from wood, plastic, or aircraft-grade aluminum tubing. The weapon is generally sold in sizes ranging from 18 to 72 inches long (45.7 centimeters to 1.8 meters) and is precision manufactured. The same goes for blowgun darts, which are factory-made and consistent in both quality and aerodynamic properties.
The modern blowgun is often seen as a sporting instrument for target shooting and paintball games. It is sometimes used as a tool by vets and zoo staff and loaded with a tranquilizer dart. Far less powerful than a tranquilizer gun, and therefore less likely to cause injury, a tranquilizer dart fired from a blowgun can pacify agitated or dangerous animals that require medical attention.
An experienced blowgun enthusiast can fire darts that travel at a velocity of 300 feet (91.4 meters) per second. Expert accuracy is usually limited to about 60 feet (18.3 meters), but the dart can travel up to 250 feet (76.2 meters). Specialty mouthpieces that concentrate air pressure generally aid such speed and accuracy, but a great deal of practice is still required to gain such experience.
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