Trad Gang

Hey guys I'm building a range in our basement. The basement isn't finished so there are bare concrete walls.  I'm looking for ideas for a backstop.

Backstop??? You don't need no stinkin' backstop!  Firing a few into the concrete wall will sharpen your aim!  :readit:    :p  (Might also give you a serious case of the yips!)
Seriously, I'll be watching for suggestions here.  I've got a range in my shop that could use a little insurance against arrows that refuse to go where I want them to.  

Find an old conveyor belt,works great.

afew old blankets........
or do what bonales archery does and stack a bunch of burlap sacks filled with junk or dirt...or mesh

There used to be a shop in Acton, California; Moose Mountain Archery.  The entire wall of the shooting range was phone books stacked up with the bound edge toward the wall.  They were somehow compressed from the top a bit to hold them in place.  They really stopped an arrow nicely and held up for a long time.  There were no other targets used, just pin paper to the phone books.

The owner said the phone company gave the old books away for free; he has hundreds stacked up.

It wouold be a lot of work but you would not need any targets.

The phone books sound like a fire hazard for sure.

I would have a couple layers of carpet from the rafters.

Used to use mine belt, haven't been able to find any lately. Now I just use the ames bag targets.

Great ideas guys

I was thinking about hanging carpet too but wanted to hear some other ideas.

cardboard & a old rug. hard for a wheelie bow to shoot through it.

How about an old mattress?  I have one that needs to be thrown anyway - think I might try standing it up and shooting it a few times.

old carpet works real good just hang it up away from the wall and just behind ya target it will stop any thing  even from a wheel bow i have seen it in use at a mates place  :thumbsup:

hey whip dont shoot the mattress it will just go through it like a wet bag  :eek:

"hey whip dont shoot the mattress it will just go through it like a wet bag "

Whip didn't say it was a waterbed!!!!  :smileystooges:

I once accidentally shot an old couch I had in my apartment...and the arrow just sort of bounced off. As long as the material is of a tough, tight weave and it is hung at least a foot away from the back wall, even a large bath towel should work as a "decent" backstop.

A mattress or two/three layers of carpeting should stop just about anything. But I wouldn't prop the mattress against the wall -- I would hang it from the rafters.

Old carpet is easy to get and works well. Suspend it behind your target and it will absorb the shock.

I use coffee bean burlap bags filled with Plastic grocery bags. Stuff them in tight and it will stop any arrow with a target tip. The best part is that arrows pull out very easy. Sometimes they fall out from the shock of subsequent arrows. The target is very light and can be moved around easily. I just had to replace one of my targets after 3 years of daily practice. I simply transfered the grocery bags from the old burlap bag to a new one. If you are worried about pass throughs, I've modified by placing a piece of carpet inside the bag and to the back of the burlap bag, but it's not really necessary. No broadheads. Good luck.

I was thinking hanging the mattress from the rafters would be the way to go.  (And no, it's not a waterbed!)  I do have plywood behind where it would hang, so even if an arrow goes part way through hopefully the mattress would at least slow it down enough not to stick in the plywood.

I have to agree, old carpet draped  over a cable or rope. It is doubled that way and ya cannot shoot thru it, unless ya use a BH. Shawn

Or maybe a Canvas Tarp, set away from the Wall?