Making a spear

[otghand]

What skills would a TL-0 PC use to create a spear?

The easy answer is Armoury (Melee Weapons), but consider a TL-0 PC from a hunter gatherer society.

Lands out of time has these new skills:

Bone Carving
Defaults: DX-2, Armoury (TL0)-2
DX/Average
This is the ability to shape and carve bone into weapons, tools, and artifacts. Bone fishhooks, jewelry, and simple carved figures can all be made with this skill. To use the skill for artistry instead of functionality, make an IQ-based roll.
Modifiers: Equipment modifiers (p. B345); +1 per level of High Manual Dexterity (p. B59); -3 per level of Ham-Fisted (p. B138).

and

Defaults:DX-2, Armoury(TL0)-1, Anthropology-4
This is the ability to chip flint into simple and useful tools, such as hand axes, arrowheads, spear tips, and so on. Nearly all natives of the World of Banded Night (p. 38) will have this skill at DX, with the exception of the folk of Tarn. Timelost often have it as well, as a suddenly-useful relic of their boy scout days or their time spent among various indigenous peo- ples back in the Peace Corps.
Modifiers: Equipment modifiers (p. B345); +1 per level of High Manual Dexterity (p. B59); -3 per level of Ham-Fisted (p. B138).

So it would seem that either of these DX based skills would suffice to create a spear head, which suggests that Armoury alone might not.

Consider a typical spear will have a head (of bone, stone, or at TL1 and above metal), a shaft of wood, and leather or gut to attach the head and possibly as a grip. That is three different materials.

GURPS Low Tech Companion 3 suggests the IQ skill Machinist for bone and stone, Professional Skill (Forester) to get the wood, and Professional Skill (Tanner) or Leatherworking -3 to get the leather from a carcass (however obtained).

It seems that there would be at least 4 skills involved to make a simple spear out in the wild, and if you don't have a high IQ and a lot of points in the skills you won't be making a spear without a lot of time. This is probably realistic but not sure how I would handle this as a GM.

I also find it interesting that Survival skill addresses none of these needs.