Bamboo Arrows in Competitions

mongolianarcher · Post by **mongolianarcher** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 12:12 am

Does anyone know the legality of shooting bamboo arrows in field/target/3D competitions? In America, at least?

And what about using thumbrings?

Lukas Novotny once told me to tell the people to go to hell if they don't let me use a thumbring, because it is as legitimate as any other traditional leather glove, and while it is advantageous in my opinion, it always depends on the shooter.

Please do respond, I can't find any rules about these things online.

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 3:17 am

Many people in modern archery look on thumb rings like they are some kind of mechanical arrow release. This comes from the common misinterpretations of their use starting with Payne-Gallway. It is best to refer to them by the general term "thumb guards" and explain that they just work like a tab, protecting the thumb.
Some competitions have overly precise rules and you wonder if they would even let people shoot with two fingers instead of three, but in general officials are reasonable if what you are doing is explained to them.

lurz · Post by **lurz** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 9:48 pm

World Archery (previously FITA) rules for field and 3d archery here;

http://www.worldarchery.org/Portals/1/D ... -Book4.pdf

Thumbrings seems to be out.
Bamboo arrows probably ok in "Instinctive Division".
Rules for "Longbow Division" says "wooden arrows". As bamboo is tecnicaly a grass, who knows. (Or who cares

)
Other organizations other rules.....

mongolianarcher · Post by **mongolianarcher** » Sun Apr 06, 2014 1:16 am

It seems thumbdraw is only kept alive via mounted archery.

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Tue Apr 08, 2014 1:08 am

Thumb rings are permitted in flight archery (they are mandatory in the Turkish class) and bamboo arrows are also permitted. I have discussed the question of bamboo being a grass with officials and while they were aware of this distinction they treated it as wood.

mongolianarcher · Post by **mongolianarcher** » Tue Apr 08, 2014 1:59 am

That's interesting. But I don't know as to whether bamboo would pose as an advantage in flight archery, since such different arrows are used.

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Tue Apr 08, 2014 7:18 am

The composite arrows that Alan Case makes are very successful. Since they are assembled from individual sections of bamboo, the resulting diameter of the arrow is very small for the spine.
In broadhead categories where there is a minimum weight, bamboo arrows can be used with foreshafts and nock inserts which modify the balance of the arrows for more efficient flight. This is easier to do than make perfectly balanced barrelled wooden arrows for use with broadheads.
We are also looking into using lightweight long bamboo shafts with traditional Korean bows which perform very well at long drawlengths.