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WHAT IS A "WAR ARROW"

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Lloyd:
here are some pics of some of my war arrows, which in spite of everything I said in my previous post happen to meet ratty's definitions almost precisely, except I used peacock feathers and silk thread. Otherwise it's right down the line wit his specs.

these shafts were bob tailed form the head to the nock. They were turned by a friend of mine on a lathe.


These are hand tapered for the last 12" to the nock. These shafts were made from some Czech ash I got from Jaroslav. This is some of the heaviest stiffest ash I've ever seen. The two on the left weigh a little over 100 grams each. All the rest are about 75-80 grams. The one on the right is poplar

Yeomanbowman:

--- Quote from: Lloyd on June 06, 2007, 12:50:06 am ---
Ascham also mentions peacock and duck although the seems to dislike everything except goose.

I think one other true medieval arrow in a cathedral somewhere in England, and Toxophilus for primary sources. The rest of it is all guess work, supposition, and practical experimentation. Which is where the fun begins.

well, that was little more the $.02. Sorry to go for so long.

--- End quote ---

The arrow is in Westiminster Abbey.  Have a look at this site.
http://huntingsociety.org/Fletchers.html
I'm not sure he mentions duck for war arrows.
Very interesting reply.
J

Lloyd:
Correct, Ascham mentions duck feathers as only useful for flight shooting. He also mentions eagle feathers at one point but then says there are too difficult to obtain.

outcaste:
Whilst we are discusing war arrows do any of you guys have any thoughts on the weight. There is an opinon at the moment that war arrows were over 75grams. I have no doubt of this when it comes to heavy plate cutting designs but if we look to the MR which many of us site when debating all thing ELB the majority of shafts are made of Pop and are bobtailed. From experience it is hard to make the weight (75grams+) with a that design unless you have a very heavy head! Also would these archers need a heavy head? given the nature of sea warfare compared to land based fighting.

Any thoughts

Outcaste

SimonUK:

--- Quote from: Loki on June 05, 2007, 08:30:24 pm ---This Dandy's got some interesting arrows,i can see the red binding at the start of the feather but cant see any whipping,maybe the artist couldnt be bothered (i know how he feels i hate whipping arrows  :D),the Nocks allso look too large,can you splice the bone to the end of your arrow instead of inserting a piece?
Like his glove  8).



--- End quote ---

Someone on the old warbow forum showed a picture of what these nocks probably are. It was similar to the way a hardwood footing is placed in the front of an arrow, but in this case a wedge of horn was inserted into a V shaped slit at the string end. So the last few cm of the arrow was made purely of horn with a nock cut into it for the string.

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