Amazon Caiman Spear II

© 2009, 2010 Albert A Rasch and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
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Hunting Caiman, Amazon Style

Image Credit: Primitive Point
My friend and fellow Blogger, Todd Hill over at Primitive Point, is an accomplished smith, who turns out some pretty field-worthy blades in his spare time. He also lived and grew up in the Amazon. He and his father visit the basin on a regular basis, and Todd hand forged a set of spear points for his friends in Brazil some time ago.  So for those of you interested in forging and bladesmithing his site is good places to start.

SBW over at the Suburban Bushwacker reminded me that we have to get together and skewer a gator, and that we need Todd to forge us a couple of harpoon heads for that adventure. Not only that, but I could definitely use a good boar spear, and while I am at it, and SBW will certainly be game, we will need a couple of shark spears too. We haven't settled on a design yet, but we will have to hash that out sooner or later. Should make an interesting story.



Coincidently, I received this caiman spear years ago as a gift from a gentleman who runs a local gunshop. He traveled frequently to the Amazon basin also, and had adopted a small village. Perhaps they had adopted him, I not too sure of the initial start of his relationship with them, though I seem to remember that his father first brought him there a couple of decades ago. We spent several hours in conversation that day, and he graciously offered me this caiman spear as a parting gift.

The design is such that the wrapped cord holds the barb and the head in place against the foreshaft. When a fish or caiman was speared, the cord unfurled and the shaft floats to the surface allowing the hunters a better chance at retrieval.

The wood of the foreshaft and head is a dark, heavy, hard, and oily wood. The foreshaft is cylindrical with both ends tapered; sort of a long narrow barrel. The shaft, I was told, is from a flowering stalk of a tropical flower.

The barb or spear point is made from a 3/16" bar or nail that has been hammered out by hand on a simple charcoal forge.

Here are the dimensions:

OAL 7’ 7”
Barb 6”
Head 4.75”
Foreshaft 11.5”
Shaft 6’ 3”
Cord 6’
Depth of socket hole in head ¾”


If you take a look at the very first picture at the top, you can see how the spear is set up. The line is tightly coiled around the shaft, and the head locks in place by tension from the line.

If I can get a few moments to spare, I will try to make a new spear out of local materials. Orange or persimmon tree shoots which tend to grow very straight would make a good shaft. Live oak which is quite heavy and element proof, would make great material for the foreshaft and head. I have an anvil and enough hammers for twenty people, so I should be able to hammer a serviceable spear out of a big spike or rod.

There are several lakes with huge carp in them that might be a tempting target for a well made spear. It would give me an excuse to load the Pirogue we built last winter, and head on out as the weather warms and the fish swarm the shallows.

That might make another interesting story!

Related Posts:

Follow the rest of the Pirogue building series!

Part I: Getting Started
Part II: Butt the Plywood
Part III: Measuring Up
Part IV: Cutting and Building the Ribs
Part V: Attaching the Ribs
Part VI: Attaching the Internal Chines
Part VII: Attaching the Bottom and Finishing Up

Pipes and Iron

© By Albert A Rasch

Just a small catch-up post for some of my friends that are outside of the Outdoor Bloggers Summit. As I sit here and think about it, it strikes me that many of my fellow Bloggers who aren't yet members of OBS, think that they don't actually belong in the "Outdoor" category. Well I am going to invite each and every one of you personally. If I think you belong, then by golly, you probably do! You just haven't realized it yet! Or you just don't know about OBS. So expect an email from me soon!

My Argentine friend Pablo Gonzalez, El Aprendiz Herrero is not only an accomplished bladesmith, but a pipe smoking aficionado too. He has wanted to know which were some of my favorite pipes. I thought I would share my favorites, not only with him, but with you also.

For those of you who don't know too much about pipes, the long stemmed one is a church warden. Also known as a "reading pipe," because the long stem allowed one to view a book without the bowl in the way. This one was made by Tim West. Tim West is an American pipe carver who makes many unique freehand pipes. This one is a pretty conservative though. It is the pipe I most frequently use at home.

The other two are Danish Stanwell pipes. The dark one is a #30 "Barok," and the lighter one is a #62 "Legend." I consider these my traveling pipes. Relatively lightweight, they're great when you're driving down the road.


Now, this calabash is probably my show off piece. Filled with a mild, sweet, blend, nothing says, "Country Gentleman," or "Squire," like a calabash. I find that when you really have nothing intelligent to say, or perhaps some boorish company is troubling you, the mere use of the calabash will immediately stop anyone from actually hearing what you are saying. You can say pretty much whatever you want. Make fun of their kids, insult their intelligence, anything. When you are done you put the calabash behind your back, rock back and forth on your heels, and profoundly expostulate, "And that, my dear, simple, friends is why the Theory of Relativity is being superseded by Quantum String Theory." Trust me, it works.



I also have a really nice Randy Wiley pipe. Wiley has been carving pipes for well over thirty years here in the USA. I got this one many years ago but truth be told, I haven't smoked it yet. I got it because I liked the shape! The bowl is humongous, but the pipe fits very well in the hand.

I have another dozen or so pipes that I have picked up over the years, but they are smoked when the mood for that particular pipe strikes me!

I've got one more thing to share with everyone. I've mentioned it a few times, that I'm somewhat of an amateur metal worker. I do a little on the lathe, a bit on the milling machine, and a little at the forge and on the anvil.

My favorite in terms of taking something and really working to get it to be something, is forge and anvil work. With the mill and lathe, you usually know what the results should be, down to the thousandth of an inch. Not the forge, no sir. The metal and fire tell you what they will or won't do. At least they do with me. On the other hand, my buddy Todd Hill at Primitive Point not only makes the metal dance, but it will whistle a tune simultaneously.

This is the one and only utensil I ever made that actually came out! Not pretty, but I really like the way it came out. I made a nice set of tent pegs once, the recipient thought they were the best thing ever. Made out of #3 rebar, I cut it to 14 inch lengths, squared it on the anvil, folded the last inch and a half over, beat that until it was round, and levered 3/4 of an inch from the folded over end up a bit for the rope to hook onto. I also forged a point on it and quenched it in oil. Came out pretty good.

Well another weekend is now half over, hopefully tomorrow we'll have some fishing tales to tell!

Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Hunt Continues...

Pablo J Gonzalez : Argentine Bladesmith

© By Albert A Rasch


"Compartan mi aprendizaje del arte de hierro, que al igual que el alma, se moldea a los golpes..."

"Share in my apprenticeship in the art of iron, as it is the same as the soul, molded through strong blows..."

Pablo J Gonzalez

As I am somewhat of an amateur smith, I regularly check out the blogs and web sites of many bladesmiths. One of my favorites is Todd's Primitive Point. Todd's Blog Roll has a very good selection of both professional and amateur Bladesmiths, plus several other outdoor enthusiast's sites.

A few days ago, I bumped into Pablo Gonzalez's blog, the Apprentice Smith.

At least I'm pretty sure that is the correct translation. I could try that Babblefish thing, but I'm supposed to be fluent in Spanish. He hails from Haedo-Bsas, Argentina. Argentina is the home of the gaucho, bolas, huge hogs, red stag, and arguably some of the best bird shooting in the hemisphere.

Whenever I stop at a new Blog, I leave a note with the referring blog that brought me to them, or how I happened to bump into them. (When a new person drops by to mine, I try to leave a welcome note too.) Pablo left me such a gracious note in reply to mine, that I feel that it would be a crime not to share his blog with everyone.

If y'all don't mind, and in the name of international cooperation and friendship, drop in take a look at his work, and leave him a short note. I know that Pablo looks at many of our blogs, and is familiar with the English language.

Well, on another note, Bubby, the Mrs, and I are going bass fishing with a new local guide. Young, intelligent, personable and very handsome, he's an up and coming fishing guide.

All right, y'all got me, it's actually Bubby who's taking us. He has been diligently fishing all the local ponds and lakes, and claims to have seen bass as big as the carp he brought in a few months ago. I'll be very interested in seeing these monster bass, and you can be sure that a report will be following if they are as big as Bubby sys they are. As Sten, the highly esteemed SBW blog author would say, we will be looking at the cracks in the sidewalks, for any other adventures that we might find.

Speaking of SBW check out his latest post on survival. Where he finds this priceless stuff is a mystery to me!

Fondest Regards to All!
Albert A Rasch
The Hunt Continues...