image of Poster tube with arrows

Cost saving – arrow tubes

As I said in my last article , when I talked about options for cheap fletching tape . I am trying to offer some thoughts on cost savings for archery clubs and archers out there. 

In this one I am going to look at an option for storing and transporting arrows. This is something we all have to do and normally done in purpose made arrow tubes or quivers. I’m also going to make a suggestion on how you might be able to get discount vouchers. 

For a few years I’ve been using poster tubes I buy from the local Hobbycraft store

(https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/expandable-storage-tube-23-to-41-inches/6314101000.html)

image of a lockable poster tube
Lockable poster tube

I’ve posted about this before (https://offthearrowshelf.com/2017/09/21/money-saving-tip/) They work pretty well for transporting arrows, but there are a couple of things to consider. They are designed to transport paper not sharp pointy arrows, so consider this when loading them up.

Second thing is the plastic is not very thick so its a good idea to reinforce the inside of the cap and bottom with something.

image of Poster tube cap needs protection
Poster tube cap needs protection

I use some foam off cuts from a camping roll or the like of about 1 cm thick. 

image of the poster tube cap with foam
Poster tube cap with foam

A good tip that can save you  money is to sign up to their loyalty card. By doing this you often receive discount codes or £5 vouchers for you next shop. Since the arrow tubes are only £11, effectively you are getting it for almost half price, in fact they used to be £10 (details can be  found here for the loyalty card (https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/)

If you have any money saving tips then please let me know here.

Thanks for reading

Cost saving tips – alternative fletching tape

I’m going to run a couple of cost saving ideas out there for the next few weeks, for archers and archery clubs. Let’s face it with fuel and living costs rises every penny counts.

In this one I’m offering an alternative to using fletching tape or glue.

I’ve started using this double-sided sticky tape to fletch club arrows a few months ago. It’s available from Hobbycraft stores and is a lot less than tape sold at archery shops. It’s only a couple of pounds for the long roll, which is able to do a load of arrows.

image of fletching tape

It’s proved to work well on club arrows and not had any fletching come off in the 6 months I’ve been using it. I’ve found the 6mm wide tape works best for plastic vanes. This covers the base of the fletching well and you can trim off any excess. There is also a 3mm wide version that I use on feather fletchings.

Importantly I have found it bounds onto aluminium arrows well, can’t testify on carbons as all our club arrows are aluminium. I have tested it on a few wooded arrows and works on those too.

As I said I am hoping to run a few money saving articles so if you have any cost saving ideas let me know or share them.
Thanks for reading, stay safe.

Scoring in NFAS paper faces

I’ve recorded this brief video following a few discussions on how scoring for NFAS (National Field Archery Society) Big Game round works. Along with what the different scoring lines are.
I know the audios not perfect and if I do others in the future it will be something I need to look at in more detail, but in the meantime let me know what you think.
Thanks for listening