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Is this river cane I've found?

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longdog:
I discovered a patch of what I thought was river cane but it seems thin and of week spine.The shoots I cut were old and dry,should I cut some of the green ones and cure them somehow,or look deeper in the patch for thicker ones?Any help would be greatly appreciated as I've collected some goose feathers and would love to make some arrows!

Pat B:
Without a pic it's hard to tell. You want to cut green culms(canes) and not ones that are already dead. Cut only culms that the paper sheath at the nodes has deteriorated completely or or comes off easily. Cut them long, bundle them together and give them a month or so to cure out before making arrows.

longdog:
Thanks for the reply,I don't have pictures but it looks exactly like all the pictures I've seen,I straightened one out,fletched it and shot it from a low poundage bow,it shot great until I hit the wood on my home target and it exploded!

Pat B:
Any culms that are already dead will be very dangerous to shoot. If it explodes on release you may be spending some time in the emergency room or worse. I have never had a well made cane arrow break no matter if it hit the target, tree or a rock. If it broke that easily it isn't worth dealing with as an arrow.
  Cut some good, live culms and allow them to dry. In the mean time get all the info on preparing them for arrows as you can find. A search here on PA will give you lots of info for doing so. You can also straighten them a little each day without using heat and in the time it takes them to dry most of the straightening will be done.
   Where do you live?

longdog:
I live in northwestern Mo.I"ve done some research and now I realize I cut the wrong culms(?) !

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