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Encyclopedia > Bolas
Gaucho Bolas
Gaucho Bolas

Bolas (from Spanish bola, "ball", also known as boleadoras) are a throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of interconnected cords, designed to capture animals by entangling their legs. They are most famously used by the South American gauchos. Image File history File links Bola. ... Image File history File links Bola. ... A Bola can be one of a number of things: Bolas, a hunting weapon. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... Gauchos fight dramatization A gaucho is a South American cattle herder — the equivalent to the North American cowboy — on the pampas, chacos or Patagonian grasslands found in parts of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, southern Chile and southern Brazil (spelt gaúcho in Portuguese). ...


Use

Gauchos use bolas to capture running cattle or game. Depending on the exact design, the thrower grasps the bolas either in one of the weights or in the nexus of the cords. He gives the balls momentum by swinging them and then releases the bolas. The weapon is usually used to entangle the animal's legs, but thrown with enough force have been known to break the bone. Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle (called cows in vernacular usage, or kine [archaic]) are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ...


Design

There is no uniform design; most bolas have two or three balls, but there are versions of up to 8 balls. Some bolas have balls of equal weight, others vary the knot and cord. Gauchos use bolas made of braided leather cords with wooden balls or small leather sacks full of stones in the ends of the cords. A braid Step by step creation of a basic braid using three strings To braid is to interweave or twine three or more separate strands of one or more materials in a diagonally overlapping pattern. ... Modern leather-working tools Leather is a material created through the tanning of hides, pelts and skins of animals, primarily cows. ... A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood derives from woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. ...


Bolas can be named depending on the amount of weights used:

  • Perdida (1 weight)
  • Avestrucera o ñanducera (2 weights)
  • Boleadora (3 weights)
  • Ka-Lum-Ik-Toun (Eskimo name for bolas with 4 or more weights)

Bolas of three weights are usually designed with two shorter cord with heavier weights, and one longer cord with a light weight. The heavier weights flying at the front parallel to each other, hit either side of the legs, and the lighter weight going around, wrapping up the legs.


Other unrelated versions include qilumitautit, the bolas of the Eskimos, made of sinew and bone weights and used to capture water birds. Eskimos, or Esquimaux, are terms used to refer to people who inhabit the circumpolar region (excluding Scandinavia and most of Russia, but including the easternmost portions of Siberia). ... A tendon or sinew is a tough band of fibrous connective tissue, attached on one end to a muscle and on the other to a bone. ...


External links


  Results from FactBites:
 
Bolas - Slinging.org Wiki (2926 words)
Bola's are a throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of interconnected cords, It consisted of three weights made of stone, iron or other material.
The Bola is a weapon that mostly consists of two or three weights connected by a cord and thrown by hand.
If the bola is used for catching rather than killing an animal one has to aim to the legs of the game, so that the cords by the rotation of the bowls are wrapped around the legs.
Bolas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (313 words)
Bolas (from Spanish bola, "ball", also known as boleadoras) are a throwing weapon similar to the surujin made of weights on the ends of interconnected cords, designed to capture animals by entangling their legs.
Gauchos use bolas made of braided leather cords with wooden balls or small leather sacks full of stones in the ends of the cords.
Bolas of three weights are usually designed with two shorter cords with heavier weights, and one longer cord with a light weight.
  More results at FactBites »

 

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