Build Weapons Out Of Common Materials

There’s a common saying that says “necessity is the mother of invention”.  Looking at the things we have now, it’s easy to see why we all believe that saying.  The same thing applies with weapons.  Firearms were invented for peace-keeping and self-defense purposes.  But nowadays, we’re seeing more and more homemade weapons done by bored individuals.  I guess you can say that boredom is the aunt of invention.

It helps a lot that you can easily build weapons out of common materials.  With a little free time, you can look around your home for certain materials and you can make weapons out of them.  Although it’s not a good idea to “wing it” because you can easily harm yourself since you’re dealing with weapons.  It’s also important to note that building them can be very dangerous in general not to mention the fact that it’s illegal in some areas.  So if you plan on making them, check local laws and do it at your own risk.


Pencil Crossbow

A lot of people are fascinated with this medieval weapon and this is the reason why a lot of people make it.  There are a lot of versions that you can do, with options for more power or accuracy.  However, this is the easiest one because it only needs common school supplies.

Materials needed:

  • 4 unsharpened pencils (same brand and size)
  • Pen
  • Rubber bands
  • Tape
  • Skewers


  1. Attach 2 pencils together tightly using rubber bands.  Tie the rubber bands an inch away from the end.  Make sure that the pencils are aligned.  You should have 2 sets of attached pencils.
  2. Find the exact middle of one of the sets.  Imagine a letter “t” and that will be the horizontal line.  Place the other set as the vertical line making sure that it’s exactly at the marked middle.  This set should protrude at about an inch to form some sort of letter “t”.  Tie together tightly with rubber bands.
  3. Disassemble a pen and save the hollowed out body.  Attach it to the vertical line using rubber bands.  Use the grooves made by joining the 2 pencils together as guide to make sure that it’s in the middle.
  4. Attach rubber bands on each end of the horizontal line.  You may need use a lever like a scissor to separate the 2 pencils just enough for you to squeeze in the rubber band.  Use more rubber bands for more power.
  5. Attach the rubber bands together using tape.
  6. Arm the crossbow with skewers inserted in the hollowed out pen.

“Semi-Automatic” Blow Dart

A blow dart is another ancient weapon often used by tribes in the jungle.  Some of them even use poisoned tips to make this weapon deadly.

But here’s a more recent version using common materials.

Semi Auto Blowdart


  • 9 regular drinking straws
  • 3 milkshake straws
  • 5 Q tips
  • 9 needles
  • Glue gun
  • Tape


  1. Cut all the Q tips right in the middle.  Apply some glue gun in the little hole where you cut it and insert a needle in the hole.  Make sure that the point of the needle is out of the hole since this will serve as your dart.  Do the same thing for all Q tips.
  2. Check the length of the drinking and milkshake straws.  Make sure that the milkshake straws are an inch shorter than the drinking straws so you may need to cut it.
  3. Insert 3 drinking straws inside each milkshake straw.  Attach the 3 milkshake straws together using tape.  Make sure that they’re tight just enough so that it doesn’t move around but the tapes should not squeeze the straws.  You should have 3 milkshake straws with 3 drinking straws inside each one.
  4. Arm each drinking straw with 1 Q tip dart at the end where no drinking straw is protruding.  In order to shoot a dart, press down a drinking straw at the front of your blow dart so that the straw with the dart will protrude at the back.  Blow on the blow dart to shoot the darts.  You can also choose to press multiple straws to shoot multiple darts.

Prison Shank

Prison Shank

A shank is a homemade knife that is the weapon of choice in prisons mainly because inmates can easily make it with just about anything they can get their hands on.  So you can just imagine how easy it would be to make one using common materials in your home.


  • An old toothbrush
  • Box cutter
  • Rubber bands


  1. Cut off the head of the toothbrush using a box cutter.
  2. Use the box cutter to sharpen the edge.
  3. Wrap a lot of rubber bands on the other end.  This can serve as the handle.

These are just 3 of the easiest weapons you can make.  Now you can probably see how you can easily build weapons out of common materials.

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