Arrows

The making of arrows is a tedious, but rewarding, endeavor. The old expression “straight as an arrow” is easier to say than to do. Nevertheless, straight is what we try to do when making arrows. I make arrows from pine, hickory, cedar and river cane. I sometimes use arrow shafts that are factory made and available at a few places on the internet. I also have a device that can make arrows of any thickness out of a square length of wood. The most fun, however, comes from making arrows from river cane.

River cane is a type of plant similar to bamboo that grows in low, wet areas such as creek and river banks–thus the name “river cane.” The stalks of this plant are fairly straight, light, and extremely strong. They are very hard to straighten though. I use an alcohol lamp as a heat source to straighten my cane shafts, and it works quite well. Primitive man would have used a wood fire, of course, but the smoke from this kind of fire darkens the arrow with soot.

I use natural feathers–mostly wild turkey–to fletch my arrows. I use hide glue and sinew to affix the feathers to the shaft. I strengthen both the nock end and point end with several inches of hardwood twig that I trim until I can fill the natural hole in the middle of the cane. I knap the stone points and use pine pitch and sinew to anchor them in the notch at the front of the arrow.

Here are some primitive arrows that a friend of mine made.