I am a college student residing in Corpus Christi, Texas.  Being forced to be thrifty, I have noticed along many of the roads there is abundant river cane and bamboo, the only problem is I don't have the slightest idea of how to select arrow worthy pieces.

A second question is in regard to straightening. I have obtained bamboo stakes from lowes and produced serviceable arrows, however when straightening, I haven't had much luck. I have broken more than i have made. I've been using steam from a pot of boiling water. Just wandering if there was a better way.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

This will get you going in the right direction:
http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000128

Guy

Here's another one:
http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000071

Guy

For what it's worth I've spent a lot of time using HD garden bamboo stakes to make arrows - found on average that while the price was right it was very difficult & very time consuming to make up arrows that spined similarly & were close in weight - they all ended up as stumpers - I have no river cane experience but there are threads that make it sound like you'd have a similar experience to mine with the garden stakes - one option, if you have someone else to share costs with is to go to E--Y & check out oulay bamboo - I got 50 straightened varnished spine grouped 33" tonkin bamboo arrow shafts within a 24-28 range for $90 shipping included - I posted about it a while back - might spend a little more than the free stuff but you'll have more time to shoot - M

Thanks a million for the help fellas!

If I were you I would go ahead and harvest as much river cane as you can handle and get busy working with it.  Chances are you'd get good at it pretty quick and have an almost endless supply of free shafts nearby.  You could probably even make a few bucks here and there selling shafts to poor suckers like me who can't find river cane nearby.

Good call gringol!

Is there a seasoning time for bamboo? I'm sure it probably can't be harvested and turned directly into shafting.

Check out Jaap Koppedrayer - there's also a book available at KKing that covers the topic - M

The book is in the mail. Hopefully I can have some pictures of bamboo arrows soon.

Good luck with it - theres some kind of natural forgiveness in bamboo shafts that I haven't noticed with anything else yet - of course that's when they're matched & tuned ... M

I just finnished some of the first of the bamboo arrows after buying the bamboo arrow making book.  They don't look like much, but they fly really well! So I am happy.  Here are some pics, any feedback is always appreciated.

Go ahead and harvest the river cane. I have been struggling for a while to learn the secrets to staightening it but am still not there yet. However, even though I have not made any masterpieces I sure am having a blast. Just think of it as a skill that will be accomplished over time.

Hey Sam, I have managed to make a few river cane arrows, but the only problem was that they were very thin walled. One even managed to blow up in my face. I guest I am wandering if there is a better way to select them.