Rütger's SCA Combat Archery Folio

Miscellaneous Comments And Observations

V1.1, 1 August 2005

This is a page to hold whatever did not seem to fit on the other pages in the folio.

Contents


Care And Feeding Of Arrows
Bow Rest

Care And Feeding Of Arrows

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Combat archery arrows and bolts are generally a fairly tough type of equipment. Most of the problems for these items will be damage from practice or battle usage. There are, however, a few things to consider.

General Storage.

• Siloflex and golf tube arrows.
    These are best stored in conditions where people live.
• Store arrows on their sides.
    In addition to reducing bending, it extends the useful life of arrow heads with closed cell foam.

On The Field.

• Shaft bending in sunlight.
    Some discussions of siloflex and golf tube arrows suggest that the shafts may deteriorate in strong sunlight. There doesn't seem to be any evidence to support this. However, these shafts will deform if left in the sun. Anecdotal evidence indicates that even a moderate morning sun is able to harm the material
• Glue softening in sunlight.
    Discussions on the archery mailing lists indicated that exposure to the head of strong sunlight could cause the glue in the tape on arrows to soften and become unsafe.
  - The author tested this at A Simple Day in the Country in mid 2005. An arrow was left out in the sun most of the afternoon (it was a near cloudless day with temperatures in the upper 80s). Inspecting the arrow at about 4 PM showed that indeed the tape was loose and the glue soft. Had this arrow been inspected at that time, it should have been failed. That evening, when the arrow had been taken out of the sun and allowed to cool, it returned to an apparently safe condition.
• Keep away from water.
    The foam in arrow heads is able to absorb water (confirmed by the author at Baron Wars 2005, when it poured during the bridge battles). That doesn't seem like a very safe situation. Tennis ball equipped arrows will also have a problem around water, as the water could get inside the balls.

Bow Rest

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The diameter of a Siloflex tube does not allow an arrow to sit properly on the arrow rest of many bows. Arrow rests are often quite narrow (less than 1/2"). This means that a Siloflex arrow will end up resting on the archer's bow hand, and may cause problems with the fletching passing over the hand. One answer to this problem is to add a new arrow rest to the bow. An "L" shaped piece of plastic or metal will be needed. An easy and cheap source for this is the corner of a plastic electrical box. The long side of the "L" should be about 2" long, and the bottom of the "L" should be no more than 1/2" long. It should be about 1/2" wide. Use duct tape to mount the new rest about 1/4" above the original arrow rest. Cut a piece of closed cell foam into a rectangle 1/2" by 3/8". If the foam is more than 1/4" thick, cut it in half. Duct tape this to the top of the rest.		Electrical box marked for cutting
Foam and rest		New rest taped to bow

Bow Rest Postscript: This rest was tried for a while. It worked, up to a point. It required regular maintenance. The tape on the end of the rest wore noticeably, and had to be replaced after about every two hundred uses. The rest itself also had some problems, tending to want to pull away from the bow due to the leverage from the weight of the arrows on the rest; and it snapped off once at the corner of the "L". In the end it seemed to be easier not to use the rest. Instead, the bow is canted over at about a 30° angle, and the arrow touches on the regular arrow rest and the side of the bow.