An arrow is a
fin
A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...
-stabilized
projectile
A projectile is an object that is propelled by the application of an external force and then moves freely under the influence of gravity and air resistance. Although any objects in motion through space are projectiles, they are commonly found in ...
launched by a
bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed)
arrowhead
An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, as well as to fulfill some special purposes such as sign ...
attached to the front end, multiple fin-like
stabilizers called
fletching
Fletching is the fin-shaped aerodynamic stabilization device attached on arrows, bolts, darts, or javelins, and are typically made from light semi-flexible materials such as feathers or bark. Each piece of such fin is a fletch, also known as a ...
s mounted near the rear, and a slot at the rear end called a
nock
Nock may refer to:
Archery
* In a bow and arrow, two notches near the bow's respective ends, for attaching the bowstring
* Nock (arrow), in an arrow, the notch in the fletched (feathered) end of the arrow, for engaging the bowstring
People
*H ...
for engaging the
bowstring
A bowstring joins the two ends of the bow stave and launches the arrow. Desirable properties include light weight, strength, resistance to abrasion, and resistance to water. Mass has most effect at the center of the string; of extra mass in th ...
. A container or bag carrying additional arrows for convenient reloading is called a
quiver
A quiver is a container for holding arrows, bolts, ammo, projectiles, darts, or javelins. It can be carried on an archer's body, the bow, or the ground, depending on the type of shooting and the archer's personal preference. Quivers were trad ...
.
The use of bows and arrows by humans predates
recorded history
Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world hist ...
and is common to most
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
s. A craftsman who makes arrows is a
fletcher
Fletcher may refer to:
People
* Fletcher (occupation), a person who fletches arrows, the origin of the surname
* Fletcher (singer) (born 1994), American actress and singer-songwriter
* Fletcher (surname)
* Fletcher (given name)
Places
United ...
, and one that makes arrowheads is an arrowsmith.
[Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 56]
History
![Bow and Arrow](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Bow_and_arrow.jpg)
The oldest evidence of likely arrowheads, dating to c. 64,000 years ago, were found in
Sibudu Cave
Sibudu Cave is a rock shelter in a sandstone cliff in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is an important Middle Stone Age site occupied, with some gaps, from years ago to years ago.
Evidence of some of the earliest examples of moder ...
, current
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
.
[Backwell L, d'Errico F, Wadley L.(2008). Middle Stone Age bone tools from the Howiesons Poort layers, Sibudu Cave, South Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science, 35:1566–1580. ][Backwell L, Bradfield J, Carlson KJ, Jashashvili T, Wadley L, d'Errico F.(2018). The antiquity of bow-and-arrow technology: evidence from Middle Stone Age layers at Sibudu Cave. Journal of Archaeological Science, 92:289–303. ] Likely arrowheads made from animal bones have been discovered in the
Fa Hien Cave
Fa Hien Cave, also Pahiyangala Cave, is situated in the district of Kalutara, Western Province, Sri Lanka and according to a rural legend, named after an alleged resident during historical times, namely Buddhist monk Faxian (also Fa-Hien, or Fa ...
in
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
which are also the oldest evidence for the use of arrows outside of Africa dating to c. 48,000 years ago. The oldest evidence of the use of bows to shoot arrows dates to about 10,000 years ago; it is based on
pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...
wood arrows found in the
Ahrensburg valley north of
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
. They had shallow grooves on the base, indicating that they were shot from a bow. The oldest bow so far recovered is about 8,000 years old, found in the
Holmegård
Until 1 January 2007, Holmegaard was a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in Storstrøm County in the southern part of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in south Denmark. The municipality covered an area of 66 km2, and had a total pop ...
swamp in Denmark. Archery seems to have arrived in the Americas with the
Arctic small tool tradition The Arctic Small Tool tradition (ASTt) was a broad cultural entity that developed along the Alaska Peninsula, around Bristol Bay, and on the eastern shores of the Bering Strait around 2500 BC. ASTt groups were the first human occupants of Arctic ...
, about 4,500 years ago.
Size
Arrow sizes vary greatly across cultures, ranging from eighteen inches to six feet (45 cm to 150 cm).
[ Stone, George Cameron (1934). '''', Mineola: Dover Publications. ] However, most modern arrows are to in length. Arrows recovered from the ''
Mary Rose
The ''Mary Rose'' (launched 1511) is a carrack-type warship of the English Tudor navy of King Henry VIII. She served for 33 years in several wars against France, Scotland, and Brittany. After being substantially rebuilt in 1536, she saw her l ...
'', an English warship that sank in 1545 whose remains were raised in 1982, were mostly long. Very short arrows have been used, shot through a guide attached either to the bow (an "overdraw") or to the archer's wrist (the Turkish "siper"). These may fly farther than heavier arrows, and an enemy without suitable equipment may find himself unable to return them.
Shaft
The shaft is the primary structural element of the arrow, to which the other components are attached. Traditional arrow shafts are made from strong, lightweight
wood
Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...
,
bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...
, or
reeds, while modern shafts may be made from
aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
,
carbon fibre reinforced plastic
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
, or a combination of materials. Such shafts are typically made from an
aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
core wrapped with a
carbon fibre
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
outer. A traditional premium material is
Port Orford Cedar
''Chamaecyparis lawsoniana'', known as Port Orford cedar or Lawson cypress, is a species of conifer in the genus '' Chamaecyparis'', family Cupressaceae. It is native to Oregon and northwestern California, and grows from sea level up to in th ...
.
Spine
The
stiffness
Stiffness is the extent to which an object resists deformation in response to an applied force.
The complementary concept is flexibility or pliability: the more flexible an object is, the less stiff it is.
Calculations
The stiffness, k, of a b ...
of the shaft is known as its ''spine'', referring to how little the shaft bends when compressed, hence an arrow which bends less is said to have more spine. In order to strike consistently, a group of arrows must be similarly spined. "Center-shot" bows, in which the arrow passes through the central vertical axis of the bow riser, may obtain consistent results from arrows with a wide range of spines. However, most traditional bows are not center-shot and the arrow has to deflect around the handle in the
archer's paradox
The archer's paradox is the phenomenon of an arrow traveling in the direction it is pointed at full Bow draw, draw, when it seems that the arrow would have to pass through the starting position it was in before being drawn, where it was pointe ...
; such bows tend to give most consistent results with a narrower range of arrow spine that allows the arrow to deflect correctly around the bow. Bows with higher draw weight will generally require stiffer arrows, with more spine (less flexibility) to give the correct amount of flex when shot.
GPI rating
The weight of an arrow shaft can be expressed in GPI (
grains
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legume ...
per
inch
Measuring tape with inches
The inch (symbol: in or ″) is a unit of length in the British imperial and the United States customary systems of measurement. It is equal to yard or of a foot. Derived from the Roman uncia ("twelfth") ...
). The length of a shaft in
inch
Measuring tape with inches
The inch (symbol: in or ″) is a unit of length in the British imperial and the United States customary systems of measurement. It is equal to yard or of a foot. Derived from the Roman uncia ("twelfth") ...
es multiplied by its GPI rating gives the weight of the shaft in grains. For example, a shaft that is long and has a GPI of 9.5 weighs . This does not include the other elements of a finished arrow, so a complete arrow will be heavier than the shaft alone.
Footed arrows
Sometimes a shaft will be made of two different types of wood fastened together, resulting in what is known as a footed arrow. Known by some as the finest of wood arrows,
footed arrows were used both by early Europeans and
Native Americans. Footed arrows will typically consist of a short length of
hardwood
Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...
near the head of the arrow, with the remainder of the shaft consisting of
softwood
file:Pinus sylvestris wood ray section 1 beentree.jpg, Scots Pine, a typical and well-known softwood
Softwood is wood from gymnosperm trees such as conifers. The term is opposed to hardwood, which is the wood from angiosperm trees. The main diff ...
. By reinforcing the area most likely to break, the arrow is more likely to survive impact, while maintaining overall flexibility and lighter weight.
Barreled arrow shafts
A barreled arrow shaft is one that tapers in diameter bi-directionally. This allows for an arrow that has an optimum weight yet retains enough strength to resist flex. A Qing dynasty arrow shaft was examined by archery enthusiast Peter Dekker and found to exhibit the following qualities:
* Total shaft length:
* Thickness at waist line:
* Thickness at end of feather:
* Thickness from end:
* Thickness from end:
* Thickness from end:
* Thickness from end:
* Thickness at end:
The resultant point-of-balance of the arrow shaft was thus 38.5% of the length of the arrow from the tip. Barreled arrow shafts are considered the zenith of pre-industrial archery technology, reaching their peak design among the
Ottomans
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
.
Arrowhead
![Arrow Head 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Arrow_Head_01.jpg)
The arrowhead or
projectile point
In North American archaeological terminology, a projectile point is an object that was hafted to a weapon that was capable of being thrown or projected, such as a javelin, dart, or arrow. They are thus different from weapons presumed to have be ...
is the primary functional part of the arrow, and plays the largest role in determining its purpose. Some arrows may simply use a sharpened tip of the solid shaft, but it is far more common for separate arrowheads to be made, usually from metal, horn, or some other hard material. Arrowheads are usually separated by function:
*
Bodkin point
A bodkin point is a type of arrowhead. In its simplest form it is an uncomplicated squared metal spike, and was used extensively during the Middle Ages. The typical bodkin was a square-section arrowhead, generally up to long and thick at its wid ...
s are short, rigid points with a small cross-section. They were made of unhardened iron and may have been used for better or longer flight, or for cheaper production. It has been mistakenly suggested that the bodkin came into its own as a means of penetrating armour, but research
has found no hardened bodkin points, so it is likely that it was first designed either to extend range or as a cheaper and simpler alternative to the broadhead. In a modern test, a direct hit from a hard steel bodkin point penetrated
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
chain armour. However, archery was not effective against
plate armour
Plate armour is a historical type of personal body armour made from bronze, iron, or steel plates, culminating in the iconic suit of armour entirely encasing the wearer. Full plate steel armour developed in Europe during the Late Middle Ages, es ...
, which became available to knights of fairly modest means by the late 14th century.
* Blunts are unsharpened arrowheads occasionally used for types of target shooting, for shooting at stumps or other targets of opportunity, or hunting small game when the goal is to concuss the target without penetration. Blunts are commonly made of metal or hard rubber. They may stun, and occasionally, the arrow shaft may penetrate the head and the target; safety is still important with blunt arrows.
* Judo points have spring wires extending sideways from the tip. These catch on grass and debris to prevent the arrow from being lost in the vegetation. Used for practice and for small game.
* Broadheads were used for war and are still used for hunting. Medieval broadheads could be made from steel,
sometimes with hardened edges. They usually have two to four sharp blades that cause massive
bleeding
Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, vag ...
in the victim. Their function is to deliver a wide cutting edge so as to kill as quickly as possible by cleanly cutting major blood vessels, and cause further trauma on removal. They are expensive, damage most targets, and are usually not used for practice.
:There are two main types of broadheads used by hunters: the fixed-blade and the mechanical types. While the fixed-blade broadhead keeps its blades rigid and unmovable on the broadhead at all times, the mechanical broadhead deploys its blades upon contact with the target, its blades swinging out to wound the target. The mechanical head flies better because it is more streamlined, but has less penetration as it uses some of the kinetic energy in the arrow to deploy its blades. Preferences for fixed or mechanical broadheads vary widely in the hunting community, typically varying by species. In general, both types are widely used on game up to the size of
white-tailed deer
The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...
; as game size increases, fixed blades become more common. Broadheads used for hunting dangerous game such as
African buffalo are almost always fixed-blade.
* Field tips or field points are similar to target points and have a distinct shoulder, so that missed outdoor shots do not become as stuck in obstacles such as tree stumps. They are also used for shooting practice by hunters, by offering similar flight characteristics and weights as broadheads, without getting lodged in target materials and causing excessive damage upon removal.
* Target points are bullet-shaped with a conical point, designed to penetrate
target butts easily without causing excessive damage to them.
* Safety arrows are designed to be used in various forms of reenactment combat, to reduce the risk when shot at people. These arrows may have heads that are very wide or padded, such as the large foam ball tip used in
archery tag
Combat archery, sometimes known as battle archery, is a sport similar to dodgeball, paintball or Nerf war played with bows and arrows tipped with foam.
History
The Archery Tag equipment brand was invented by John Jackson of Waterloo, Indiana ...
. In combination with bows of restricted draw weight and draw length, these heads may reduce to acceptable levels the risks of shooting arrows at suitably armoured people. The parameters will vary depending on the specific rules being used and on the levels of risk felt acceptable to the participants. For instance,
SCA
SCA may refer to:
Biology and health
* Sickle cell disease, also known as sickle cell anaemia
* Spinocerebellar ataxia, a neurological condition
* Statistical coupling analysis, a method to identify covarying pairs of amino acids in protein mult ...
combat rules require a padded head at least in diameter, with bows not exceeding and of draw for use against well-armoured individuals.
Arrowheads may be attached to the shaft with a cap, a socketed
tang
Tang or TANG most often refers to:
* Tang dynasty
* Tang (drink mix)
Tang or TANG may also refer to:
Chinese states and dynasties
* Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...
, or inserted into a split in the shaft and held by a process called
hafting
Hafting is a process by which an artifact, often bone, stone, or metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appeara ...
.
Points attached with caps are simply slid snugly over the end of the shaft, or may be held on with
hot glue
Hot-melt adhesive (HMA), also known as hot glue, is a form of thermoplastic adhesive that is commonly sold as solid cylindrical sticks of various diameters designed to be applied using a hot glue gun. The gun uses a continuous-duty heating eleme ...
. Split-shaft construction involves splitting the arrow shaft lengthwise, inserting the arrowhead, and securing it using a
ferrule
A ferrule (a corruption of Latin ' "small bracelet", under the influence of ' "iron") is any of a number of types of objects, generally used for fastening, joining, sealing, or reinforcement. They are often narrow circular rings made from me ...
, sinew, or wire.
Fletchings
Fletchings are found at the back of the arrow and act as
airfoil
An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is the cross-sectional shape of an object whose motion through a gas is capable of generating significant lift, such as a wing, a sail, or the blades of propeller, rotor, or turbine.
...
s to provide a small amount of force used to stabilize the flight of the arrow. They are designed to keep the arrow pointed in the direction of travel by strongly damping down any tendency to
pitch or yaw. Some cultures, for example most in
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
, did not use fletching on their arrows. Also, arrows without fletching (called bare shaft) are used for training purposes, because they make certain errors by the archer more visible.
Fletchings are traditionally made from
feather
Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and a premier ...
s (often from a
goose
A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the ...
or
turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
) bound to the arrow's shaft, but are now often made of
plastic
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...
(known as "vanes"). Historically, some arrows used for the
proofing of armour
The proofing of armour is testing armour for its defensive ability, most commonly the historical testing of plate armour and mail (armour). In the early Middle Ages, armour would be classified by the blows it could withstand, being certified as pro ...
used
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
vanes. Flight archers may use razor blades for fletching, in order to reduce air resistance. With conventional three-feather fletching, one feather, called the "cock" feather, is at a right angle to the nock, and is normally nocked so that it will not contact the bow when the arrow is shot. Four-feather fletching is usually symmetrical and there is no preferred orientation for the nock; this makes nocking the arrow slightly easier.
Natural feathers are usually prepared by splitting and sanding the quill before gluing. Further, the feather may be trimmed to shape, die-cut or burned by a hot electrically heated wire. It is crucial that all the feathers of an arrow have the same drag, so manual trimming is rarely used by modern fletchers. The burning-wire method is popular because different shapes are possible by bending the wire, and the fletching can be symmetrically trimmed after gluing by rotating the arrow on a fixture.
Some fletchings are dyed. Two-toned fletchings usually make each fletching from two feathers knit together. The front fletching is often camouflaged, and the rear fletching bright so that the archer can easily track the arrow.
Artisans who make arrows by hand are known as "fletchers," a word related to the French word for arrow, ''flèche.'' This is the same derivation as the verb "fletch," meaning to provide an arrow with its feathers. Glue and thread are the traditional methods of attaching fletchings. A "fletching jig" is often used in modern times, to hold the fletchings in exactly the right orientation on the shaft while the glue hardens.
Whenever natural fletching is used, the feathers on any one arrow must come from the same wing of the bird. The most common being the right-wing flight feathers of turkeys. The slight cupping of natural feathers requires them to be fletched with a right-twist for right wing, a left-twist for left wing. This rotation, through a combination of gyroscopic stabilization and increased drag on the rear of the arrow, helps the arrow to fly straight away. Artificial ''helical'' fletchings have the same effect. Most arrows will have three fletches, but some have four or even more. Fletchings generally range from in length; flight arrows intended to travel the maximum possible distance typically have very low fletching, while hunting arrows with broadheads require long and high fletching to stabilize them against the aerodynamic effect of the head. Fletchings may also be cut in different ways, the two most common being ''parabolic'' (i.e. a smooth curved shape) and ''shield'' (i.e. shaped as one-half of a very narrow shield) cut.
In modern archery with screw-in points, right-hand rotation is generally preferred as it makes the points self-tighten. In traditional archery, some archers prefer a left rotation because it gets the hard (and sharp) quill of the feather farther away from the arrow-shelf and the shooter's hand.
A
flu-flu is a form of fletching, normally made by using long sections of full length feathers taken from a turkey, in most cases six or more sections are used rather than the traditional three. Alternatively two long feathers can be spiraled around the end of the arrow shaft. The extra fletching generates more drag and slows the arrow down rapidly after a short distance, about or so. Flu-flu arrows are often used for hunting birds, or for children's archery, and can also be used to play
Flu-Flu Golf
A flu-flu arrow is a type of arrow specifically designed to travel a short distance. Such arrows are particularly useful when shooting at aerial targets or for certain types of recreational archery where the arrow must not travel too far. One of ...
.
Wraps
Wraps are thin pre-cut sheets of material, often vinyl or plastic, used to wrap the nock end of an arrow, primarily as an aid in bonding vanes and feather fletchings to the shaft. Wraps can also make the eventual removal of vanes and vane-glue easier. Additionally, they add a decorative aspect to arrow building, which can provide archers an opportunity to personalize their arrows. Brightly colored wraps can also make arrows much easier to find in the brush, and to see in downrange targets.
Nocks
In English it is common to say "nock an arrow" when one readies a shot. A nock is a notch in the rearmost end of an arrow. It helps keep the arrow correctly rotated, keeps the arrow from slipping sideways during the draw or after the release, and helps maximize the arrow's energy (i.e. its range and lethality) by helping an archer place the arrow at the fastest-moving place on the bowstring. Some archers mark the nock position with beads, knots or wrappings of thread. Most compound bow shooters use a D-loop, a length of string material (or sometimes a metal bracket) attached to the string above and below the nocking point. A release aid is typically attached to the D-loop in preparation for a shot.
The main purpose of a nock is to control the rotation of the arrow. Arrows bend when released. If the bend hits the bowstave, the arrow's aim will be thrown off. Wooden arrows have a preferred bending-plane. Synthetic arrows have a designed bending plane. Usually this plane is determined by the grain of the wood of the arrow, or the structure of a synthetic arrow. The nock's slot should be rotated at an angle chosen so that when the arrow bends, it avoids or slides on the bowstave. Almost always this means that the slot of the nock must be perpendicular to the wood's grain, viewed from behind.
''Self nocks'' are slots cut in the back of the arrow. These are simple, but can break at the base of the slot. Self nocks are often reinforced with glued servings of fiber near the base of the slot. The sturdiest nocks are separate pieces made from wood, plastic, or horn that are then attached to the end of the arrow.
[Massey, Jay(1992). "Self Arrows" in ''The Traditional Bowyer's Bible - Volume One'', Guilford: The Lyons Press. ]
Modern nocks, and traditional Turkish nocks, are often constructed so as to curve around the string or even pinch it slightly, so that the arrow is unlikely to slip off.
[ Stone, G.C. ""]
Ancient Arab archery sometimes used "nockless arrows". In shooting at enemies, Arabs saw them pick up Arab arrows and shoot them back. So Arabs developed bowstrings with a small ring tied where the nock would normally be placed. The rear end of the arrow would be sharpened to a point, rather than slit for a nock. The rear end of the arrow would slip into the ring. The arrow could be drawn and released as usual. Then the enemy could collect the arrows, yet not shoot them back with a conventional bow. Also, since there was no nock, the nock could not break, and the arrow was less expensive. A piece of battle advice was to have several rings tied to the bowstring in case one broke. A practical disadvantage compared to a nock would be preserving the optimal rotation of the arrow, so that when it flexes, it does not hit the bowstave. The bend direction of the arrow might have been indicated by its fletching.
"Some arrow materials like hollow cane/bamboo/reed shafting lend themselves to nock inserts. Softer woods like pine or cedar also required some sort of reinforcement of hardwood, bone or horn which kept the string from splitting their shaft upon release. Hardwood such as oak and ash did not need additional reinforcement. To reinforce a nock, most often a slit was cut into the end of the shaft, and a sliver of harder material, the same width as the shaft, was glued into the slot. The arrow was then rotated 90 degrees, and a shallower slot was cut for the string. When made in this manner, the string actually pushed the wood or bone insert rather than the soft wood itself, preventing the shaft from splitting. Another method of preventing nocks from splitting was to bind the arrow between the nock and the back of the fletch with sinew and hide glue or a rough cord such as silk attached with adhesive, whether it be fish glue or birch tar."
Finishes and cresting
Arrows are usually finished so that they are not softened by rain, fog or condensation. Traditional finishes are
varnish
Varnish is a clear transparent hard protective coating or film. It is not a stain. It usually has a yellowish shade from the manufacturing process and materials used, but it may also be pigmented as desired, and is sold commercially in various ...
es or
lacquer
Lacquer is a type of hard and usually shiny coating or finish applied to materials such as wood or metal. It is most often made from resin extracted from trees and waxes and has been in use since antiquity.
Asian lacquerware, which may be ca ...
s. Arrows sometimes need to be repaired, so it's important that the paints be compatible with glues used to attach arrowheads, fletchings, and nocks. For this reason, arrows are rarely protected by waxing.
Crests are rings or bands of paint, often brightly colored, applied to arrows on a lathe-like tool called a cresting machine, usually for the purpose of personalization. Like wraps, cresting may also be done to make arrows easier to see.
See also
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Archery
Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...
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Arrow poison
Arrow poisons are used to poison arrow heads or darts for the purposes of hunting and warfare. They have been used by indigenous peoples worldwide and are still in use in areas of South America, Africa and Asia. Notable examples are the poisons se ...
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Bowfishing
Bowfishing is a method of hunting fish that uses specialized archery equipment to lethally shoot and retrieve the animal. Fish are shot with a barbed arrow that is attached with a special line to a reel mounted on a bow or crossbow. Historically, ...
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Crossbow bolt
A bolt or quarrel is a dart-like projectile used by crossbows. The name "quarrel" is derived from the French word ''carré'', meaning square, referring to their typically square heads. Although their lengths vary, bolts are typically shorter an ...
, also known as a "quarrel"
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Early thermal weapons
Early thermal weapons, which used heat or burning action to destroy or damage enemy personnel, fortifications or territories, were employed in warfare during the classical and medieval periods (approximately the 8th century BC until the mid-16th ...
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Fire arrow
Fire arrows were one of the earliest forms of weaponized gunpowder, being used from the 9th century onward. Not to be confused with earlier incendiary arrow projectiles, the fire arrow was a gunpowder weapon which receives its name from the tra ...
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Flechette
A flechette ( ) is a pointed steel projectile with a vaned tail for stable flight. The name comes from French , "little arrow" or "dart", and sometimes retains the acute accent in English: fléchette. They have been used as ballistic weapons sinc ...
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Flu-flu arrow
A flu-flu arrow is a type of arrow specifically designed to travel a short distance. Such arrows are particularly useful when shooting at aerial targets or for certain types of recreational archery where the arrow must not travel too far. One of t ...
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Signal arrow
is a type of Japanese arrow used by the samurai class of feudal Japan. Kabura-ya were arrows which whistled when shot and were used in ritual archery exchanges before formal medieval battles.
Like a Wind instrument, the sound was created by ...
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Swiss arrow
A Swiss arrow (also known as a Yorkshire arrow, Dutch arrow, Scotch arrow, or Gypsy arrow) is a weapon similar to an arrow, but thrown with a lanyard, retained via a small notch close to the fletching. It is very similar to an amentum and uses t ...
Notes
External links
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What's the Point?: Identifying Flint Artifacts (OPLIN)Dr. Ashby's reports on broadhead penetration
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Lithics
Archaeological artefact types
Archery
Projectiles
Projectile weapons
Hunting equipment
Arrow types