Ballista Spears

[Hugh Niewoehner]

I have used Javlins constructed of  1" PVC approx.  Both seemed to 
work well.  The shafts were mostly about 4' in length.  The shafts 
were wrapped  with fiberglass tape and then 
electrical tape run lengthwise down the shaft.   Both ends were 
capped.  A thruster of  slightly greater than standard one hand size  
was built on the end and a 18-24" leather or canvas streamer attached 
to the butt.  The streamer and it's length was arrived at by 
experimentation.   Lengthening the shaft or streamer gave more 
stabilized flight but became unweildy and difficult to throw far.  
Less than about 3.5' of shaft length was easy to throw but the javlin 
tended to tumble or strike with insufficient force due to light 
weight. 

Tschuess,
    Damon