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- Small round stones in rawhide pockets
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- Soaking rawhide lacing
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- soaked lacing ready to weave
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- Bola strings finished and knotted together
From the Spanish for “ball”, bolas were used for catching small game like birds and squirrels. Three weights were attached to long strings and given momentum by swinging and releasing. They would entangle the animal’s legs.
I made my bolas ten years ago, with three small stones encased in rawhide pockets that were attached to three reverse-wrap rawhide strings of equal length. Reverse-wrap is a method of twisting cordage to make a two-ply rope.The bolas worked pretty well, but it was hard to learn at first. Never throw your bolas near trees, lol!
One of the cords eventually broke. Thankfully, I found the stone that went flying into the grass. I am making new strings and will make them longer this time for more momentum. The lacing comes from a deer hide I processed. I cut a round piece out of the rawhide and cut in a concentric circle (like a spiral) to get a long stand of equal width.
Stay tuned as I show you how they fly!
