(no subject)

[gone_byebye]

For the sake of those pups who might be archers, or pursuing archery for the first time, I thought I might provide the following:

Basic things to remember about traditional archery for RPers. Sorry, would've posted this in the 'this is what I can help with' post, but I didn't get to tag that before it got huge.

Comments

[pheliskougra]

Well, the link tells a lot about the bows. let me add a bit of info about the arrow ;)

Arrows are made from light materials. In old times, they were made of wood, bamboo, or even reeds. Modern arrows are made of aluminium or carbon polymers.

An arrow is composed of a shaft, with a head in one tip, and fletchings and a nock on the other.

The Arrowhead: Arrows need heads, or some kind of 'finishing' on the striking tip. The head is what really determines the function of the arrow

- Broadhead arrows are used for hunting. As the name implies, they are broad, usually leaf-shaped, and the objective of such head is to cut, making a wide wound that promotes bleeding, instead of an instant kill. Of course, you CAN cause an instant kill with a well-placed broadhead, but the idea is the assured kill. The size of the broadhead makes it lose energy quickly on impact, so broadheads cause (comparatively) shallower wounds.

- Bodkin heads are rigid, short, with a small cross-section, often a pyramid or tethraedron-shaped profile. They were popular on the late middle ages, as a weapon against armored soldiers. There are claims that a bodkin shot from an english longbow can punch thru two inches of oak, or a quater inch of steel plate.

Both of those points have a characteristic in common: they are relatively expensive, so they are not used for practice.

- Unsharpened or 'bulb' arrows are just that, an arrow with no special point, at most having the end rounded. Cheaper than the previous two, those are the ones used for training, but also work to stun enemies (even without a point, being hit in the chest with 40 pounds of force HURTS...). They also work very well on small game, fowl, rabbits and such. If something more serious is needed, an unsharpened arrow can usually be sharpened and have its tip hardened by fire, but wood-tip arrows have no real chance against armor.

Arrowheads can be made of fire-hardened wood (sharpen and harden), bone, stone, or metal. Cost goes up in that order too.

The fletching, at the other end of the arrow shaft, provides stability. It makes the arrow spin, and the spinning movement makes the arrow fly more straight. Past the fletching, there is the nock, a groove cut on the back of the shaft to fit against the string.

Arrows were made thru history with lenghts from 18 inches to five feet, both extremes needing special bows to be fired. The most common size varies between 2-and-a-half and 3 feet long.