Tips and Tricks Arrows

Making flight arrow sets

Name: Neil Harrington
Suggestion: Make you flight arrows in sets of two. Several sets of two will mean you are able to cover most weather conditions with appropriate flight arrows.

Arrow material

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Name: Mike Clark
Suggestion: Forget pine – use Port Orford Cedar whenever possible.
It is lighter, retains its spine better, is straighter and has a far better memory for straightening up if out of kilter.
If extra mass is wanted, then go a size larger rather than revert to the heavier pine shafts.

Protecting fletchings from the rain (2)

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Name: Roger Simpson
Suggestion: Difficult as no solution is perfect.
One solution is to get a can of good quality Ignition Sealer from a car parts shop; spray one side of feather, let dry, and shoot.
This works reasonably well.

Name: Ettrick Forest Doug
Suggestion: As a fly fisherman of too many years I have found that GINK a propriatory fly flotant works well on arrow fletcings in heavily wet conditions.

Fletchings that get wet

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Brian Mooyaart:
Rained on fletchings soon look horrible – will they ever recover ?
The answer is “yes”; completely – provided . . .
You never touch the fletchings while they are wet
Once in the dry, take your arrows out of the quiver; hold the arrow by the pile and bang the shaft against your thigh.
The sudden stop of the arrow “sprays” the water out of the fletchings.
You then store your arrows pile upwards/fletching downwards to dry.
Only when fully dry do you run your fletchings through the fingers to “re-hook” then and – wonderful to behold – good as new !

What is the optimum arrow weight?(2)

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Name: Pip Bickerstaffe
Suggestion: Many people use far too light an arrow with their longbow and struggle to reach a long shot with any degree of accuracy or consistency. A heavier arrow will fly almost as fast but will carry more energy and momentum and will typically fly further and more consistently. With any bow of 45lbs and above you should be using 11/32" (9mm) shafts and at least 100 grain piles (125 grain once you are over 50lbs).
The heavier arrow will also tend to be tougher and less easily broken.

Name: James Reeves
Suggestion: Arrow-weight / Bow-weight
A very light arrow out of a heavy longbow comes close to a “dry loose”.
A very heavy arrow out of a very light bow will “tire the spring”; i.e. repetition will cause the longbow to lose its cast to some extent.
Ergo – arrows should be matched to the bow, not just in spine, but also in weight.

Would you use bamboo ?

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Name: James T. Rose
Suggestion: Would I use them, yes BUT, only if they came from a good Kydo supplier and I do not believe we have one in the UK. DO NOT go down to the local hardware store and buy garden canes. Well you can if you want a broken bow and interesting damage to your arm. Bamboo for use in archery is heat treated first and no I do not know the procedure or temp. involved. If you do please let me know so I can get the camera ready and stand well away when you shoot.

Are goose feathers best ?

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Name: Neil Harrington
For cutting-edge Flight archery performance, always us goose-feathers.
Goose-feathers are thinner and stronger. Thinness means less drag. Strength means less prone to vibration and therefore less friction.
Goose-feathers have more natural oils in them, which means they stand up better to damp conditions and keep their performance.

Flight arrows; point of balance

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Name: Neil Harrington
Point of balance is vital.
By al means try to match the barrelled profile of each arrow-set.
However, the key to performance is a forward point of balance.
Make sure that the barrelled, fully fletched, pointed and varnished arrow has its point of balance 1 to 1 and a quarter inch forward of the middle.

Fletching and Clout shooting

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Name: John Powell
Suggestion: Archers who try out Clout-shooting are sometimes disappointed as to the distances they achieve.
Some Gents struggle to make the 180 yards and likewise many Ladies think 140 yards is a near impossibility.
One look at their fletchings tells you why. A fletching length of over 3 inches just will not do for Gents longbows up to 55 lbs and ladies bows up to 40 lbs. For heavy longbows it is a different matter of course; they can shoot with 6 to 7 inch fletching without any difficulty. For most ordinary mortals a well trained loose and fletchings of 3 inches or less is the answer.

Which wood is to be avoided ?