"Blunt-force trauma" darts

These throwable, blowable, "blunt-force trauma" darts are great for LARPing ("Lightning bolt!"), blow gunnery, or any other form of projectile fun which should not include potential puncture wounds, but in which bruising and denting would be okay.

Step 1 What you'll need

For supplies, you'll need to following:
- Rope (see notes below)
- Weights - I recommend steel ball bearings, but rocks and such would work.
- Duct tape (huzzah!)

For tools, I recommend:
- Scissors
- A Nice Sharp Knife (no, really, the sharper the knife the easier it will be to cut the rope later). I highly suggest something with a Wharncliffe (a.k.a. Sheepsfoot) blade for cutting rope, but any sharp blade is better than any dull blade, so use what you've got.
- A hot glue gun (not included in the picture. If you're not sure what this is, leave a comment)
- Optional: a flame-emitting device such as a candle or Bunsen burner


About the rope:
 For the purposes of this instructable, I would recommend a homogenous, nylon rope. Nylon rope will be "fluffier", and is also more susceptible to melting, which is a beneficial factor when preventing fraying. The rope should have a similar diameter to the weights. Some cheaper rope will have some sort of alternative fiber running down the core (see image 01b, comparing the ropes).

Comments

[ilpug]

this is awesome... you have inspired me to make a bunch of these and have paintball-like wars with my friends in the woods with blowguns. by the way, it was slightly strange to read this instructable, becasue your writing style is so much like mine that it was much like reading my own work.

[freeza36]

Same here. Maybe we are all brothers seperated at birth..... but probablly not

[ilpug]

heres an update. i used crappy magnets and used them for the weights. then me and some friends went around by his house, sticking them to the bottoms of electric transformers hanging off of power poles, all along his street. to my knowledge, they are still there.

[Llama Nerds]

I am currently experimenting with making Oogoo heads for these. They don't straighten out as quickly as I'd like because of the decreased weight, but they also don't do quite as much blunt force trauma on impact, which is nice (especially for kids).

[rimar2000]

Thanks for sharing! This is very clever.