Combat Arrows and Bolts - DIY

[NigelT]

Hi all,

Given the number of people out there wanting combat arrows or bolts and the apparent lack of people wanting to make them for sale (myself included), I'm going to post my material sources so you can all go out into the world and buy your own components and make yourselves all the arrows and bolts you need.

Arrow Shafts
This is the cheapest place i've found to buy these, and even with the postage it's cheaper than anywhere in NZ that I've found. Please note that these are seconds, and are not suitable for making target arrows. They are generally straight enough for combat arrows though. It doesn't take much imperfection to render a Port Orford Cedar shaft a second:

http://nativeway.safewebshop.com/cedar_arrow_shafts.html

This is a small US site, but they're good to deal with and answer their emails. When you order online the postage amount shown in the shopping cart will NOT be correct and they acknowledge this is a problem. I suggest you email them either immediately after or immediately before ordering and get the actual price for shipping - it will be a lot less. Orders usually arrive in two to three weeks. Don't be tempted to order any animal products from this site, no matter how appealing, they will get held up in customs. All prices are obviously in USD$.


Bolt Shafts
If you're making crossbow bolts, you can make quite light bolts using the shafts above, but you can also make heavier bolts using pine dowel, perhaps around 10mm in diameter. This is readily available from any timber or hardware store.


Blunts
There are a number of blunts that will be acceptable for Combat use, but the ones we recommend are Riverhaven Blunts. These are the blunts made by the SCA, for the SCA. They're not designed to kill rabbits, like most of the others out there, and they're a similar price.

You can get these directly from the SCA group in Australia that makes them by emailing Katrina on danota@bigpond.com and telling her exactly what you want and how many you need. She will email you back a PayPal order so you can pay the account online. Then she'll post out your order. Not too difficult but she doesn't always respond to her emails, so stay with it if everything goes quiet.


Feathers
There are plenty of places to get feathers. If you're a masichist or cost is a factor, you can buy feathers in bulk off Trademe. You want large flight feathers, not small downy ones. A good person to trade with is TrouserTrout - http://www.trademe.co.nz/Members/Listings.aspx?member=143079. I've used Pea hen features before and they work well, but Goose is also good. Preparing your own feathers is a bit of a pain though.

If you want someone else to have done half the work for you, you can buy propper full-length archery feathers and cut them to size for your own needs. I use NZAP, but there are other places that will sell them in NZ - http://www.nzap.co.nz/comp_fletching.php#full-length. To make a four-feather combat arrow you'll need two full-length feathers. Don't buy shaped feathers for combat arrows - they're not NAAMA legal because the feathers have to be oversized or flu-flu. If you're into spiral fletching, the full-length feathers are also the way to go. You can also buy fletching glue from here, although it is possible to use regular Super-Glue with some practice and much swearing and gluing of fingers. I've heard that Uh-hu glue also works, but it doesn't set as quickly.

Incidentally, incase you're wondering why four feathers and not three - it's so you don't need to check which way around you're nocking them in battle and the extra feather drag is actually desirable.


Shaft Protective Tape
Before you ask - yes, this is MANDATORY. If you're going to Taupo this year, you WILL NOT be allowed onto a battlefield with untaped arrows.

The ideal tape for this is fibre-reinforced tape. It's sold as book binding tape and is available from Office Max. You may be able to get it from other places, but it's not easy to find. If you live out in the sticks, either get someone in the city to get some for you or try phoning your nearest branch of Office Max and see if they'll post it to you.

The point of the tape is two fold - if an arrow shatters against your shield (unusual, but it happens), the shattered fragments will be contained within the tape and won't end up in your eyes. After the battle, you'll be able to retrieve all of the parts of your arrow and recycle the blunts and perhaps feathers. Without tape I've seen blunts come off and people try to shoot the arrows without them because they haven't noticed, and the tape also helps keep the feathers attached and prevent them slicing through your fingers if you tape them correctly.


All the other bits and pieces you need
All the other bits and pieces that are useful for making arrows can be purchases at most archery stores, either online or in person.


So, how do you actually make arrows?
If you know someone who makes good arrows, learn from them. Otherwise, have a read of this article and follow along with it - http://www.gatheringdarkness.co.nz/wiki/index.php?pagename=MakeYourOwnArrows

If you get stuck, post a question here and we'll give you a hand.

And remember - if you're just trying to make target arrows, it's basically the same, except you'll want good quality shafts and your feathers should be smaller and shaped, and probably only three of them.

I hope that's been useful. And good luck.

Nigel

[Gregor]

Nigel
The arrow shafts at the native ways link above appear to be 9mm or so.Naama missle rules says 8mm is the size to use for combat arrows. Do we have a problem here?

Thanks
Gregor

[NigelT]

Hi Gregor,

9mm is fine. I need to update the regs to specify this. 8mm to 9mm is a good diameter.

Nigel

[Gregor]

Well thats a relief, they arrived yesterday.