For many years, I’ve been teaching junglecraft and survival skills in the Malaysian jungles. In turn, I learned these skills and knowledge from close Orang Asli friends. For stealth hunting, their primary weapon is the blowpipe, but they also place…

Borneo blowpipe darts are very similar to those of the Orang Asli people on the Peninsula. The main difference is that they also use strings as tail-end material, sometimes use fletches for higher accuracy at longer distances, and use tiny…

The first part of this article concentrated on the production of the rough blowpipe. The second part describes how to finish it and the design elements of the Borneo blowpipes, including their use. Finishing the barrel The metal rod used…

Borneo blowpipes were for generations the primary hunting weapon in the Bornean interior. If we say ‘Borneo’, we mean the whole island, consisting of the two Malaysian provinces of Sabah and Sarawak, the Indonesian province of Kalimantan, and the Sultanate…

When hunting with a pack of dogs for deer, wild boars, or monkeys, three types of weapons can be used to finish off the cornered game. One is a bow and arrow, which, however, is not safe for dogs during…

If rattan is the skeleton of Orang Asli junglecraft, bamboo is the toolkit. From riverbanks to misty hill slopes, clusters of bamboo mark places where people have worked, cooked, travelled, and sheltered for countless generations. To an untrained eye, most…

Deep in the lowland dipterocarp forests of Peninsular Malaysia, long before you see rattan, you feel it. Hooks catch on shirt sleeves, flagella tug gently at your backpack, and the forest floor is littered with the thorny sheaths of climbing…

Improvised firearms are the new hunting weapon of choice for the wild living Orang Rimba people in Jambi province, Indonesia. In one of the following articles, I will present their traditional hunting techniques and typical hunting weapons. Here, I will…

Mentawai people use five types of carrying baskets, which they call Opa, Tuku, Jarakjak, O’orek, and Bolokbok. Opa – the standard-sized carrying baskets. Opa are the most popular type of carrying baskets. They are entirely woven from Calamus javensis rattan vines collected from…

The cutting- and chopping tools used by forest dwellers include adzes, axes, machetes, and a specialized knife. All of these tools have a strong historical background and are still in use today. Axes People primarily use axes (Oggut) to fell…

Rattan leaf stalks have been, since immortal times, the tools with which Mentawai people have been grating coconuts. These long-lasting tools grate the coconuts into the required size of flakes. When worn out or broken, a new one will be…

The Mentawai people use poison on their arrows to hunt game. In previous articles on this website, we discussed the Mentawai people’s hunting methods. Then, we presented an actual hunt for Flying foxes. We then discussed the longbows used on…

Bows and arrows are the primary hunting weapons used by the Mentawai people. Their bows were already described here. This article will explain the different types of arrows used for these bows and give an insight into the quivers used….

Hunting bows are the primary hunting weapon for the Mentawai people and are very personal items for a hunter. They have excellent skills in using them and practice shooting from childhood onwards. During my stay with the Mentawais, I looked…

Learning the craft of bamboo fish trap weaving The correct English wording for a ‘Lop’ in Thai would be ‘Horizontal cylinder trap with entry cone’. It is used to catch various freshwater fish and crustaceans, including small snakeheads, catfish, shrimp,…

Grass trees (Xanthorrhoea sp.) and grass tree stalks are endemic to Australia. They are locally called ‘Black Boys’ due to their appearance after bushfires. They need a certain number of regular fires for their survival and are well protected against…