Tag Archives: “carbon arrows”

Oct 5 2012

Equipment part 4 – Failure and damage – Arrows

Damage can occur

No matter how careful you are equipment will get damaged over time and it is very important that you take the time to check your archery equipment to ensure you can spot issues before they become dangerous.

I’m going to concentrate on arrows in this section and write another one on bows in a week or so.

If you are a coach it is worth showing students and other archers the type of damage that can occur to their equipment.

One piece of valuable advice I’ve seen on a couple of sites is never assume an arrow is safe, even if it is brand new. Likewise expensive arrows can also be damaged in transit or manufacture, so always check them each time you shoot or retrieve them.

Here is a close up of an unusual style of arrow break.

arrow damage

split shaft close up

Another photo of  the same arrow shaft, you can see how it has split down its length.

split shaft full length

split shaft full length

Below image shows what happens when a wooden arrow impacts a wall  and the pile is flattened. Notice how the wooden shaft has snapped and then been forced into itself.

Arrow Damage

Compression break of wooden arrow

Sometime you can spot damage before it becomes a critical failure, below is a close up shot of a wooden arrow shaft that is showing signs of failure. You can see vertical crack lines across the arrow shaft. This will eventually result in the arrow bending or breaking.

damage to wooden arrow

Damage to wooden arrow

It’s not just wooden arrows that can fail and become damaged.

The photograph below shows what can happen to aluminium arrows . The archer had managed to hit their own nock with another arrow (great grouping in the target). The nock has shattered and the metal arrow has peeled back like a banana. This is sometimes called a Robin Hood Shot.

A Robin Hood shot

A Robin Hood shot

Obviously this arrow is no longer usable, but there are times when you will not have such a critical failure or damage. When your aluminium arrow might be only slightly bent and it can be possible to straighten them but it takes time, a level or expertise and correct straightening jig. Below shows a “slightly” bent arrow, following contact with a tree.

Bent arrows

Bent arrows

Carbon arrows also need checking regularly as they can split or worse still shatter. I’ve seen a compound shooter at a championships, release their arrow and it shatter into a million pieces, showering her and those around with carbon splinters. Fortunately no one was hurt and even more amazingly the bow was undamaged!

I know some archers now wear a Kevlar glove on their bow arm to protect them from any possible arrow failures.

It is not only at the bow end problems can occur, there are times when you are drawing arrows that the arrow may break, so it’s always worth either wearing a glove or using an arrow puller to give a cleaner and stronger grip. I’ve had to patch up a few people over the years who have cut themselves when drawing arrows that have split.

Also be aware of carbon splinters in targets. this often happens when the arrow pile has been forced into the shaft following a hard impact and resulting in the carbon shards breaking off.

A good way to test you carbon arrows is to flex the arrow, if you hear cracking or see splintering then dispose of  them. Also be aware that if you use arrow wraps, cracks can appear under these and are not always noticed.

Here are a couple of good sites and articles on testing arrows, be warned though there are a couple of graphic scenes of what can happen when an arrow fails.

http://www.huntersfriend.com/arrow-safety-warning.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6nIbvrMTbE

Tip – if you have a carbon arrow splinter on a shoot or when practising, don’t drop it into your quiver as it will leave splinters in the quiver. Take some tape and tape over the splintered section, this will stop loose pieces breaking off and fulling your quiver with razor-sharp splinters ( I always carry a roll of micropore tape in my first aid kit that is ideal for this.) You can then drop it into your quiver and dispose of it when you get home.

As always thanks for reading and I hope you’ve found this of use.

Sep 8 2012

Buying equipment – more bits and pieces part 2

Ok so this is the second part to buying equipment etc

Hopefully you or your students have bought the basic bits mentioned in the previous posting and now you want to get yourself a bow.

 What kind of bow should I buy?

Hopefully you’ve had the chance to try a few different bows at your club and this might influence your choice. I’m not going to tell you to go out and buy “x” or manufacturer “y” as the choice should be yours based on your feelings. All I will do is give my views and thoughts. Hopefully it will help

I would always recommend a simple 3 part take down recurve to start with. My first bow was a Samick Polaris 3 part take down which was about 30lb in draw weight. After a few months I bought some new limbs and settled for 37lbs at my draw length.

sharon - old bow

Sharon – shooting her first bow

Why this bow? Well mainly for these reasons (many I have mentioned in previous post)

  • Relative cheap
  • Easy to maintain
  • I shoot field archery as do my students, so I’m not looking for a hunting bow. A simple recurve can work for target or field.
  • Can shoot it instinctive with wood or metal arrows for HT BB (sorry Hunting Tackle or Bare bow) or you can add sights.
  • Lots of people have experience of this type of bow so lots of advice out there.
  • Good to gain confidence with and return to potentially.

A friend (Adrian) from my old club Black Arrow shot one of these for years and got just outside the top 15 in the NFAS national championships. So don’t think that because they are entry level they aren’t any good.

It is also good to go back to if you develop bad habits or have an injury. I had a car accident a few years back and went back to light recurve to rebuild strength back.

 Comfort

 Hand grip – Bows will have different size hand grips and some you will like others you won’t. Some archers like a plastic grip others prefer the feel of wood (I’m a wood fan and have a wooden grip on the metal riser of my recurve)

When will you be shooting? Remember in winter months you may be wearing gloves, so you need to find the one that feels right in your hand.

Draw weight – don’t overdo things at this stage or over-bow yourself, go for something that is comfortable to draw and shoot. You can easily pick up some new limbs a few months down the line. (Over-bowing is when an archer has a bow of too high a draw weight and struggles to shoot it, developing bad habits or worse an injury)

Partly due to our sedentary life style these days too much tv and not enough exercise, many of the muscles you need to use in archer are under developed, so over bowing is a serious problem. In young archers it can have a negative effect as their bones are still growing and developing.

Also remember you might take a break from archery for a couple of weeks due to work commitments, holidays etc and it doesn’t take long to lose muscle tone.

Risers – Metal risers are heavier than wood, carbon are lighter than both. Problem is Carbon risers are very expensive (several hundred pounds for riser alone) and not ideal for a beginner, so give some thought to the physical weight of the bow assembled not just the draw weight.

Me shooting my Samick Vision 1

Me shooting my Samick Vision 1 in the rain

Off the rest or the shelf – For a first bow you really want to shoot off an arrow rest. Don’t go for expensive one. Plastic Hoyt super rest works fine (in fact Sharon uses one on her competition bow.)

Hoyt rest

Hoyt rest Sharon’s old bow

 What I need to know?

Draw length is very important; in fact it’s vital as this will possibly restrict your choice of bows. If you have a long draw then short bows will not feel comfortable.

If draw over 28″ look at 64-66 at least in my view.

Budget – set yourself a budget you can afford and stick to it. It is very easy to spend more. (Another downside of ebay and getting caught up in excitement of bidding)

Club restrictions – may sound strange but some clubs don’t allow carbon arrows, or are longbow only for example. Some target clubs that share their shooting ground with sports clubs have a policy on using carbon arrows

What limbs to get?

Between manufacturers limbs will feel different even if they are the same draw weight, and will release energy differently depending on what they are made from.

Don’t go for the first ones offered try a couple of different lengths and weights

Don’t go for heavy draw weight limbs initially, you can always upgrade later.

Also get the limbs and bow weight checked when you buy it. Just because the limbs say 28lbs doesn’t mean they are 28lbs with that riser, so its worth checking (A few years back I bought a Solo flatbow, rated at 40lbs at 28 inches, when weighed it came in at 46lbs at 28 inches!!)

Ask for advice from the archery community – (Jordan Sequillion blog has run some very good blog entries on bows and poundage, also check out Charles’ Archery blog )

Couple of final points.

Bow length and stacking (stacking is the feeling of increased resistance in the smooth draw past a certain point)

Short bows tend to work for people with shorter draw lengths, Sharon loves small bows but her draw is only 26 inches. She shoots a custom made bow (Blackbrook bows by Andy Soars) this comes in at 38lbs at 26 inches.

Though the norm is to have bows rated at 28” draw, shorter bows often have a 26” rating too

If I were to try to draw Sharon’s I struggle to get past 26 inches as it stacks past 26” because it has been designed and built for the best performance at 26” My draw is just past 29 inches and all my bows are set so I can draw smoothly up to my full draw, with an even increase in draw weight.

Never draw a bow that has been designed for another archer without their permission.

If you have a long draw length then go for a longer bow 64 inches plus.

People will have had experience of bows, shops etc so its worth talking to others in your club. I tend to offer to go with any new student when they go to buy a bow.

I’ll try to put one last posting on what to consider after you have got your bow, maintenance or bow and string, bracing height and soemthing on arrows.

As always, thanks for reading.

Aug 23 2012

Pulling Arrows a few tips and thoughts

Ok so it sounds easy, grab hold of the end not in the target and pull.

Well yes you can do that but you run the risk of bending the arrow or worse snapping it, resulting in a broken arrow and possible injury to yourself. I must admit to cringing sometimes when I see archers pull arrows from a boss or 3D target.

I’ve seen carbon arrows snap resulting in the archer slicing his finger open. (I’ve had to patch them up too when this has happened) or wooden arrows bending into a banana as someone is a little over zealous when drawing them.

So I thought I would write an entry on what I see is a safer ways of drawing arrows. It was something that was stressed at the NFAS coaching course I did, but it still amazes me that not everyone does it safely.

Please remember these are my views and personal advice.

Before I go any further I would say it is worth investing in an arrow puller or grip as this gives you greater grip on to the arrow. In the case of carbon arrows it also reduces the risk of getting carbon splinters.

Drawing the arrow – dos and don’ts explained

First off its important that all archers get to  see where their shots have landed in the target. In a competition you shouldn’t touch any arrows until the scores have been taken and agreed.

Always ask if its ok to draw other archers arrows, some people will want to draw their own arrows.

Always check behind you before you draw. Never stand directly in front of boss or target,  as the person drawing may not see you and poke you with arrow they are drawing.

As with everything there is a right way and several wrong ways to do things, this is the same as with pulling arrows.

Drawing arrows badly

Drawing arrows badly

Never grab from the end as this will result in bending or snapping the arrow. The method shown in the picture above will result in bent or broken arrow. Always hold at base of arrow never the end

Never use your thumb on top as this can lead to bending arrow

The method shown in the picture below with the thumb on top of arrow will result in force being applied downwards and this can cause it to bend.

gripping arrow

Gripping arrow using your thumb

Always put palm on the boss and pull with other hand

The method shown in the picture below is what I advise as the correct way, grasping arrow with fingers (not using the thumb)  and other hand on target. By holding the target with the other hand you can judge how stable it is.

I’ve seen archers pull and arrow and the boss or 3D target fall on them as it wasn’t well secured or stable.

Drawing arrows

Drawing arrows with one hand on the boss to steady it

Last piece of advice would be to put your bow down somewhere safe before you start drawing arrows. Avoiding putting them on top of the target as they can easily fall and become damaged.

Hope  you find this of use, and please add any comments or feedback.

As always thanks for reading.