Watch: Top 5 Survival Weapons

Survival Lilly knows her stuff and has spent quite a lot of time “alone in the woods” (her tagline). So she knows her way around a survival weapon and can build a bow or spear or whatever. In this video, she outlines her favorite 5 field-made weapons that can be used to hunt game in a survival situation.

5: The Sling

Strings and a pouch for throwing stones or similar projectiles. We all know how a little shepherd boy used one against a giant and later became a king. But how easy is it to use?

4: The Bola (or Bolo)

Weights connected by cordage. This can be used to entangle or to simply clobber a critter.

3: The Throwing Stick (or Club)

Throwing a heavy object at an animal can certainly kill it or whack it well enough that you can rush in to finish the job with a knife or spear. Throwing something like this can be done more accurately than you might think. I once bagged a cottontail rabbit with a Philips head screwdriver and zero practice.

2: The Atlatl

This spear-throwing device, which many of us have seen in action on Top Shot (to our dismay), has been around for one heck of a long time and adds a surprising amount of force to a spear.

1: The Bow & Arrow

This is number one for obvious reasons. It’s almost as easy to use as a club but can be used more precisely and at longer range. She also mentioned a “bundle bow,” which looks like it could be made more quickly than a proper bow.

Check out the video to learn more and to find out why she ranks them as she does.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.