Blowguns are fun and good for your lungs!

With new COVID variants causing all kinds of disruption, I have devoted my two most recent podcasts to antiviral herbs, herbs for the lungs and some on antibiotic herbs. But, COVID kills primarily in two ways blood clots (for which aspirin is very helpful) and by attacking the lungs. We have to try our best to expand lung capacity and to rid our lungs of congestion. Along with expectorants, several strategies are good for this - breathing exercises, swimming, running (etc), playing a wind instrument... all good. But, I like shooting a blow gun!

Blowguns are ancient weapons, consisting of merely a tube through which you propel a dart with the force of your breath. Many cultures have used them at some point. The Cherokee here in my neck of the woods were said to be able to kill a man or a hummingbird at over 100 yards with a single blown dart! Other cultures used darts dipped in a variety of plant-based poisons. It is a fascinating history, and I will include a link to a book on the subject that also describes how to make your own blowguns.

Blowguns for hunting are generally in the 7 foot range. 1/2 inch aluminum conduit is the easiest material for making one of these. Darts can be made from nails, bicycle spokes, music wire, etc., with a small cone fixed to the blunt end. You can broaden the pointed end like a small arrow. These will go deeply, even through a pine board - very ethical for small game with practice, and very stealthy where silence may matter.

For indoor target practice, I have a (purchased) 3 ft blowgun made from 1/4 inch aluminum tube that breaks down into 3 sections, joined with plastic coupling. It is a nifty little blowgun that fits into a small pouch. It came with darts and a mouthpiece for easy use. I set up a cardboard box filled with smaller boxes about 20 yards away, at the end of the hall and every now and then shoot 12-16 darts at it while listening to a podcast or watching the news. My grouping is improving - about a 3 inch diameter on average.

I think this is the most fun way to increase lung capacity an loosen congestion. If you have a family, a target board could be set up, with different colored cones on the darts to make a competitive game.

ENJOY... but be safe!

https://archive.org/details/Blowguns_The_Breath_of_Death_Michael_Janich_Paladin_Press

My son went through a "blowgun stage", but only for fun, not for hunting. He had a target set up in the hallway which was fairly safe.

My husband seems to have a recurring cough, but I don't know that I'd convince him to try this for lung health.

There's a guy on youtube that hunts with primitive weapons, a blowgun being a common one.  

He has a video of a blowgun supposedly bringing down a black bear.  It seems believable.  The cone on the rear is designed to fall off the small razor sharp broad head dart.  He's within a few feet of the bear when he shoots at it.  It's not an overly graphic video, but it might upset some.  The shot occurs at around 6:40 into the video.  

 

Needless to say, I went out and bought one of his commercially available blowguns, and a bunch of the different darts.  It also doubles as a walking stick with a rubber cap that goes on the end.  
It's pretty fun.  I can't hit anything very accurately, but I don't practice enough to be good at it.