Re: Suspension of Certain Combat Arrows

[Gorm of Berra <gormofberra@mindspring.com>]

Poster: Gorm of Berra <gormofberra@mindspring.com>

Lewis, Don wrote:
> 
> Poster: "Lewis, Don" <don@infodata.com>
> 
> Hello everyone.   There were allot and I mean allot of the baldar blunted
> arrows used at Kingdom Crusades this year and I saw no problem with these
> arrows.  What has happened that would stop the use of these combat arrows?

At Kingdom's Crusades this year there were two injuries caused by
"bounceback" of baldar blunted arrows.  

For those who may not be familiar with the term, "bounceback" is when an
arrow richocets straight back when it hits a target.  Unlike the front
end of an arrow, which is padded up to at least 1 1/4 inches by padding,
blunts, or other means, the back end is no bigger than the nocking
point.

Also, nocking points are rather pointy in and of themselves.  This may
not be necessary, but it seems to be true.

So, when these arrows are travelling backwards, it is very easy for the
nock to slip into an area of a fighter's armor that the head wouldn't. 
And then cause injury, including the possibility of putting someone's
eye out literally.

Because our arrows are not sharp and pointy on the tip, there will
always be some minimal bounceback, but some independant tests have
demonstrated bouncebacks in excess of 10 feet.  This is dangerous.

However, I would think the solution lies not in the tip end, but in the
nock end of the arrow.  Making the nock less dangerous would seem to be
the best solution.  There is a web page created by the Society Archer
Marshall (I am not certain if he is the current AM, or a past AM) where
he describes a device that appears, on initial testing at least, to
reduce the likelihood of injury significantly.

The URL is:  http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/articles/anti_bounce.html

I would encourage everyone involved in CA activities, and everyone
interested in them, to peruse this article and consider.  Even if this
is not the best solution, it would seem to be at least a springboard for
constructive leaps forward.

Gorm of Berra
gormofberra@mindspring.com
I'm not a combat archer, but my lady is...her arrows aren't affected, as
she uses Markland Style blunts, but the problem is bigger than just
that.
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