Customer Reviews

Blowguns: The Breath Of Death

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4 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This amazing little book tells everything a layman wish to know about one of the most fascinating, efficient, and seldom-know of the weapons of the World: the Blowgun. Blowguns history, construction, and usage; conventional projectiles making and usage; advanced projectiles making (such as stun-type, mace-type, target, hunting, broadheaded, incendiary, explosive, even poisoned ones). A chapter on poisons, but from a modern, urban-household point-of-view: how to use common products as deadly poisons; how to prepare true chemical-warfare-type poison from common inseticides. This book is a must for any weapons buff, collector, hunter, or survivalist. Afterall, wich makes a good weapon? It must be cheap (so cheap you can put it into the garbage anytime you want - or need!), precise, silent, easy-to-use, easy-to-conceal, easy-to-destroy, and, most of all, deadly. And, the Blowgun is such a weapon! Today, South-American Indians still kill animals and men alike with theyr primitive Blowguns, using poisoned-coated darts. No survivalist can skip such a weapon!

Professionally, I'm an attorney, journalist, and published writer of 3 books & 26 booklets. I have hunted with every conceavable weapon, from British double .577 rifles, to .44 Magnum revolvers; from primitive bows & arrows, to advanced compound crossbows; from Argentine bolas, to ancient atlatls; and hear me: hunting with a Blowgun is fascinating! Go and buy this book NOW! You'll wonder how you lived without it! Good look with this unique work!

Author Janich writes on a subject shrouded in mystery-even to a primitive weapon enthusiast-here in Europe the blowgun as a real hunting weapon is almost totally unknown.It's hard to comprehend the force your own breath transfers to a razor sharp dart(as the name of the book implies).Janich's work is pretty well rounded,although I was somewhat disappointed about the lack of actual hunting experiences and the effect of a hunting dart on a real life situation.Janich has a slight twist towards an anarchist point of view(slashing tires,harassing people with special shots etc.),but for me that was just an amusing flavor within the informative context.An important,if not the ultimate book on blowguns.

Michael Janich is perhaps best known for his impressive knowledge of knives, knife fighting, and the martial arts, but this informative book also clearly demonstrates that his knowledge of blowguns is unsurpassed. Janich shows how practical blowguns can be under a variety of circumstances and lays it on the line as to what they can and can not do. Whether you are a collector, hunter, or survivalist, this book will help you out.

Blowguns are unique and interesting weapons, enjoyable for sport and capable of killing small game in hunting or survival situations.

In "Blowguns: The Breath of Death" Michael Janich discusses the history of blowguns, their advantages and capabilities, and provides instructions on how to make your own blowgun at home.

The accuracy of blowguns is explained. The average shooter can quickly learn to consistently hit a `grapefruit' size target at 40 yards. And the power of a blowgun is shown where darts are capable of easily penetrating a 3/8 inch piece of plywood.

Michael Janich also shows how to make special projectiles for your blowgun, such as injector darts to inject poison into large game being hunted and broad-head darts using `X-acto' knife blades for hunting small game. There is also a brief introduction to using making and using poisons on your blowgun darts.

I first read "Blowguns: The Breath of Death" about 10 years ago, and after re-reading it again today I found it just as interesting and informative as when I first read it.

Enjoyable and highly recommended.

The book arrived on time. It seems to be infomative in that it provides ideas, suggestions, pictures and how-to.
I wish that the pictures were in color.

Good, solid info in the book. I enjoyed it... Would have liked to see (read) more on the history of blowguns, but that info is easy enough to find in other books or on the internet.

Book is 17 yrs old so the information on commercial products is obsolete. Zero information on construction of Japanese paper darts. No information on construction of mylar cones. No mention of US or international blowgun associations. No mention of sports competition rules. Photographs are poor quality. Construction projects lack adequate detail. Better information available for free on the net. I've pre-ordered a copy of Blowgun Techniques: The Definitive Guide to Modern and Traditional Blowgun Techniques by Amante P. Marinas Sr. and Hironori Higuchi Ph.D... Hopefully it will provide better detail and current information. Will post a review when received in June. In the interim, don't waste your money on this book; use Google instead.