The State of Archery.

Making Weapons and Shields

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The State of Archery.

Postby Rhys » Sun Apr 14, 2013 9:57 pm

Hello all. Sorry for the length of this post, this has been an issue for years.

Many of you who come to Illinois events probably know of me. I've run many Wolfpack Openers and Spring Wars, and help at least a little bit at quite a few Geddons and Chaos Wars over the past few years. I have somehow picked up a nasty habit of being head arrow checker at these events (I blame Davit, he stopped doing it). Over the past couple of years, I've noticed a couple disturbing trends with Archery Equipment. Archery is the most dangerous aspect of this sport. I've heard horror stories of field tips being left on and lodging themselves into a fighter's shield. This is what is going to get our sport into trouble.

Sadly, I could not make it to Wolfpack opener this year. Today, I went to practice for the first time in three months, and hung out afterwards with good friends. My knight, Sir Morpheus (Sorry to drag you into this bud) showed me an arrow that went to opener. It was modular, which I am not a fan of, but even more so, it was only secured by grip tape. It is at this point that I would like to bring to the attention of the moderators that the section on archery in the BoW on the site is not up to date, but it is on the wiki.

Let us look at these rules again, since a lot of them have seemed to have been forgotten on the years.

First: No compound bows or compound-crossbows. I have not seen any issues here.

Second: The maximum poundage allowed on a bow is 35 lbs pull at 28 inches of draw. No big issues here, though I cannot impress enough that if you unstring your bow, you must bring it to a herald so that they can re-verify the poundage. One twist in the string can change the pull of a bow from passing to failing.

Third: The maximum poundage allowed on a crossbow is 15 lbs at its loaded draw. Reasoning: You cannot half-draw a crossbow. It sucks, yes, but crossbows are deadly weapons. Safety must always win-out over realism. It sucks, but crossbows are not good for this sport, tough.

Fourth: A draw stop is required to prevent an arrow from being drawn more than 28 inches. If the draw stop does not prevent the arrow from being pulled farther then 28" I will fail it. This is a really stupid thing to have all of your arrows fail for. I've seen it multiple times. Real example: One wrap of grip tape IS NOT A DRAW STOP. If I can put it on my bow, and pull it past your stop, it is gone. Make sure you draw stop is not slipping making it a curve. Seriously, pet peeve.

Fifth: Arrow striking surfaces may not easily pass more than 0.5 inches through a 2.5 inch diameter hole. No part of the arrow’s striking surface may be less than 2.5 inches in any direction. I've seen a lot of nice arrows that have failed due to this rule. Yes, the circular arrows look nice, but I have seen two major issues here. One, eyeballs. Two, bounce-back. The rounded shape seems to not disburse energy as well and they fly back towards the archer. If I can catch your arrow after I shoot it, it is not a good sign generally.

Sixth: All arrows must contain a penny, or solid metal blunt of an equivalent gauge and circumference, perpendicularly secured at the end of the shaft. I heard that someone brought arrows without these to Wolfpack opener. This is so the arrow shaft does not break though the foam and hurt someone. Just make it so.

Six.First: All arrows using modular technology must create a semi-permanent connection point through the means of threaded screws, epoxy, glue, or strapping tape; the head must be secondarily secured at the end of the shaft with tape. This is where my little story comes back. I will be trying to see if your arrow is not secured by two means. If you just have a shaft friction fit inside of your head, I will ask you to take all of your archery equipment off site. Not just to your car, I want it off site. This is how people are going to get hurt. This is why I do not feel this is an extra risk this sport needs, but this is not a thread for that conversation.

Six.Second: All arrows that are altered in any way during a day of combat will be treated as new arrows and must be rechecked as such before being put back into use. Same as a bow. If it is modified, we cannot verify that is is safe. Just do not just that arrow for the day.

Seventh: The arrow’s striking surface must be constructed of open-cell foam. This is to protect people. Not just who is being shot but again with this problem of bounce-back. Arrows flying backwards leads to shafts in the eyes.

Eighth: All arrows must have at least two full fletchings. Another thing I fail a lot of arrows for. It is really easy, make sure it has two FULL fletchings. If it does not, do not bring it up. It is a problem with real feather fletchings, but again, safety > realism. Arrows with good fletchings fly straighter.

Ninth: The striking surface of an arrow must be tape free. No tape, easy as that. I have not seen a lot of issues with this, but with melee weapons I've been seeing more and more tape, especially packing tape, and this bothers me greatly. If it starts getting into archery, we are going to really hurt someone.

Tenth: The arrowhead should not have excess axial or lateral movement and must be secured at the end of the shaft in such a way that they will not come off if firmly twisted or firmly pulled. If your glue is breaking down, your arrows will fail. Keep an eye on your own equipment. If something is breaking down, fix it. I've seen whole batches of arrows fail on this because they are all the same age.

Here is another thing I am going to add on, even though it is not in the BoW. Take care of your bows. Do not leave the strung overnight. Do not leave them out overnight, or in the rain. I am going to be impounding bows for being left out, and you will not get them back until the event is over. I have seen bows give out and the limbs come apart because someone left it out over night in a heavy dew. Take care of your equipment (same can be said for melee weapons). We do not want to hurt anyone.

If you have any questions about archery construction or checking, please feel free to PM me. I will answer any questions. To be warned though, I am not the best archer, so I would not ask me about non-safety related archery questions :P

Again; Sorry about the length.
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Re: The State of Archery.

Postby Sir Anastasia » Sun Apr 14, 2013 10:07 pm

Rhys wrote:
Six.First: All arrows using modular technology must create a semi-permanent connection point through the means of threaded screws, epoxy, glue, or strapping tape; the head must be secondarily secured at the end of the shaft with tape. This is where my little story comes back. I will be trying to see if your arrow is not secured by two means. If you just have a shaft friction fit inside of your head, I will ask you to take all of your archery equipment off site. Not just to your car, I want it off site. This is how people are going to get hurt. This is why I do not feel this is an extra risk this sport needs, but this is not a thread for that conversation.



Good stuff, but maybe a reasonable compromise to moving the equipment off-site would be to allow the event staff to impound it to an area that they deem safe until the event ends. Making someone leave an event because they don't have something double secured sounds like a great way to create bad blood. The safety concern can be addressed without forcing someone to leave the event. Lastly, I believe it was an old tradition that if someone believed a quiver was not made with blunts, a random arrow from it could be tested by destroying it to the shaft to determine its construction. This may not be a bad tool for staff to have.
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Re: The State of Archery.

Postby Caleidah » Sun Apr 14, 2013 10:46 pm

Well written, Rhys.

One thing that I know will be implemented at Geddon, and hope to see at other events, is having a measured and marked 15' distance at bow pickup to refresh archers on what that distance looks like. I have seen/heard of too many instances since Oktoberfest last year of archers firing a full draw from well within that range, and that is just as unsafe as any of the other things.
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