How did old cultures tune arrows?

FrankM · April 26, 2011, 07:53:00 PM

Did Native Americans, Europeans, whomever tune arrows back in the day? How'd they do it?

Drummer@Home · April 26, 2011, 08:10:00 PM

Common sense tells me that making arrows is tough right? So you make em, and if they don't shoot well out of your bow. Then one of your buddy's tries em. After a while you learn how the flex of a shaft shoots out of your bow and you look for shoots, bamboo, or other shafting that flexes the way you need it to. Then your bow breaks and you start over, Oh how nice it must have been to have that kind of time!

April 26, 2011, 08:17:00 PM

i would think the same way we do today tial and error. :rolleyes:

Pat B · April 26, 2011, 09:57:00 PM

Primitive shafting was generally hardwood shoots or cane. The natural taper of these shafts make them less spine sensative. Also as long as the point and the nock line up the arrow will fly so the shafts don't have to be perfectly straight to fly well. Tapered shafts are front heavy also. All these things, plus the eyes and hands of the primitive maker produced an arrow that he could depend on for food or security. For him it was a necessity; life or death!
Most of the arrows I make and shoot are "primitive" arrows. I do use some modern tools but my arrows are cane or hardwood shoots with self nocks, hafted stone or trade points set in pitch glue and tied with sinew. Fletching(different styles) is tied on with sinew and the shafts and sinew wraps are sealed with pitch varnish.
At 25 yards or less these arrows are plenty accurate enough for hunting any game. IMO

Stumpkiller · April 26, 2011, 10:32:00 PM

You do wonder. They never weighed shafts, and matched spine is thought to be a pretty recent concern. Probably just took what you were handed in the military and might have noted some flew better than others and selected one of those for your hunting shot.

Native Americans likely selected natural shoots that would be more consistant to spine for size than spit lumber.

Dick in Seattle · April 26, 2011, 10:44:00 PM

I think another factor was that the hunting was a bit different. I believe they commonly got pretty close, due to a combination of better skills (developed from outright necessity) and the somewhat limiting nature of their equipment. I remember seeing a film of a Bushman hunting. He had a very tiny bow and arrow (with poison) and got probably 5 yards from the animal. I suspect a lot of native hunters worked on this basis, i.e. the closeness, not the toxins.

FrankM · April 26, 2011, 10:49:00 PM

I would imagine an Indian finding a certain stick, that bends just right, feels heavy enough, and hits what he's looking at. I imagine he would want to make all his sticks the same. I wonder if tribes tried to make their bows the same or if it was more of a family thing, you shot a bow your dad made.

Arwin · April 26, 2011, 11:40:00 PM

Interesting topic as I keep eyeballing the maple shoots growing along the fence!!

I also have a mulberry tree with a couple very nice staves hidden in the trunk. Waiting for the knowledge before I cut them down!!

bucksbuouy · April 27, 2011, 12:35:00 AM

They would select arrow shafts from plants of the same species, age and size. They would simply select for uniformity. Any arrows that flew differently would have still been used,they just would have adapted their shooting to them. I regularly shoot arrows of varying spine and mass and its surprising how they still shoot with some consistency, especially in the 10 - 20 yard range.

bsoper · April 27, 2011, 12:50:00 AM

I've always wondered this myself. They seemed to do just fine and yet we spend hours tuning :p

Bjorn · April 27, 2011, 01:06:00 AM

It has been known for a very long time that strong bows need stiff arrows. When it comes to archery we really are not that much ahead of where folks were a couple of thousand years ago........sure they did not have carbon fiberglass or aluminum but they had a strong grasp of the essentials.

Hopewell Tom · April 27, 2011, 07:23:00 AM

They HAD to start learning from a young age. With a village full of knowledge and each helping the other out (I suspect) many "secrets" were readily available.
They also didn't have to get to the Mall before it closes...

Swamp Yankee · April 27, 2011, 07:36:00 AM

Same way we did it as kids. Arrows that flew well were kept for serious shots, "okay" arrows used for practice and bad for checking out just how cool it was to see it explode shooting rocks or stone walls. While we obsess over .001" straightness and +/- 5 gr weight tolerances, the fact of the matter is it doesn't matter for a 10 yard bunny shot.

Red Beastmaster · April 27, 2011, 08:25:00 AM

I believe I read in one of the Howard Hill books that before a safari trip Howard would shoot each one of the many dozens of arrows. He seperated the ones that shot to the right, the left, and down the middle.

This was only a few decades ago, certainly not primitive times. I could see native cultures sorting arrows by a similar method.

Every one of us have our "shooters" and our "stumpers". If it doesn't fly right it gets a blunt put on the end of it.

Don Stokes · April 27, 2011, 08:39:00 AM

It always amazes me when folks talk about using their "bad" arrows for practice. How can you learn to hit with arrows that don't go where you aim them? No offense meant to anyone, but my practice arrows shoot the same as my hunting arrows. I can't imagine doing it any other way.

The early archers weren't stupid. They knew how to get the job done. Their lives depended on getting the game they shot at. With practice, a person can judge the stiffness of shafts just by flexing them in his/her hands. Remember, these hunters lived and breathed and survived by bow hunting, not like us who do it for sport.

deaddoc4444 · April 27, 2011, 09:13:00 AM

IM sure the ancients paper tuned their equipment . IM sure that parchement and velum were invented so they could wring the max velocity and alignment out of their shafts .'
But that is why they were not sucessful and the human race died out, due to the lack of PERFECTNESS in thier eqwuipment .
What a shame that rocks at the end of sticks with some different feathers from different birds at the other end could not kill any thing and starvation set in.

Jeff Strubberg · April 27, 2011, 09:32:00 AM

They didn't. They also weren't trying to split one arrow with another. One in the side of somethign for dinner or above the opposing army was good enough.

Blueridge · April 27, 2011, 09:38:00 AM

I've been doing mission work with the Maasai tribe for the last 5 years. On one trip we went to a Maasai market , where they all get together and trade and sell. I was watching an old man, "The Weapons Maker" making bows and arrows. He was trimming and sizing arrow shafts. I picked up one of the shafts and sighted down it and straightend for him. He stopped what he was doing and watched very intently as I worked getting the shaft straight. When I got it straight I handed it to him and the sighted down the shaft. He gave me a big smile and handed me a dozen more, we both had a good laugh. He could not speak a word of English and I knew how to say "hello" in Maa, but we could speak through archery! It was a great feeling to experience that. I have a bow set;arrows, quiver and bow. It is very old , I would post pic's but not sure how to do that if someone could post I will send them.
These guys are accurate out to 40+ yards and they do use poision, they even have practice tips.

Pon · April 27, 2011, 09:44:00 AM

The following are extracts from Saxton Pope's "Yahi Archery" about Ishi's arrows

"He always made arrows in groups of five. Thus
he would select the best of his sticks, and collecting them in groups,
bind them together securely with a cord.The first process in manufacture was that of straightening his
shafts."......

......"When a group of five arrows had been brought to this stage of
completion, he painted them. His favorite colors were green and red.
At first he insisted that these were the only colors to use, since they
had the effect of making the arrows fly straight"

......."The arrow in the condition just described was now accurately cut
to a certain length. His method of measurement was to hold the butt
against his own sternal notch and then, reaching along the shaft with
his left hand, almost in his shooting position (as described below), he
cut the shaft off at the end of his left forefinger. This gave a length
of about twenty-nine inches. The cutting of the shaft was done with
a filing motion of an obsidian knife."

moththerlode · April 27, 2011, 09:53:00 AM

The beauty is flaming arrows don't need to fly straight