History of barreled shafts

Rik

Supporter
Supporter
Well, the last time someone appeared to challenge Easton's dominance, they were bought out and turned into a budget brand (bye bye Beman)....
I'm sure someone will say that's not how it was, but it certainly looked that way from the stands.
 

Whitehart

Well-known member
If it ain't broke don't fix it
ILF is not perfect, and it has stifled some radical bow designs, the geometry leaves little scope for development.

Putting the skills of the bowyer in the hands of the inexperienced and some experienced archers and coaches (even more so with the latest Hoyt riser) has also stifled progression in the sport due to a lack of understanding of how a bow and arrow work.

Most technical questions on here are about the confusions and misunderstandings of bow set up. Time that is better spent on practicing shooting form than being and expert in the use of an allen key.

On the flip side it is a good sales and marketing story and has helped to bring the entry level costs into the sport down.
 
D

Deleted member 7654

Guest
"Yet the facts remain - only one manufacturer produces barreled shafts"
Simply not true.
There are plenty of people making and selling barrelled shafts in the warbow community, the shafts being made of a material that has held sway for making arrows for millennia.
Archery is not just Olympic recurve target archery.
There is field, roving, flight, clout, hunting and other forms of archery.
Del
 

geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
So, are barrelled shafts better than ordinary ones? Or is it a coincidence that that best arrows happen to be barrelled? Could a better arrow be made that is parallel sided?
 

LionOfNarnia

Supporter
Supporter
My laymans' understanding of aerodynamics suggests that a well-shaped shaft will always have a smoother passage through the atmosphere than a tube.

Perhaps materials technology will gift us with a viable process for the mass(ish!) production of even more aerodynamically 'perfect' profiles in the not-too-distant?

Or have we already reached the zenith of development in terms of 'the limiting factor in archery is the archer'?

- That there is literally no point in trying to improve because the equipment is already far more accurate/consistent than any human is capable of fully utilising?
 
I suspect plenty of people who actually made arrows by hand from the raw had all this figured out a long, long time ago. To think that nobody had thought about and understood the 'archers paradox' before the high speed camera is pretty daft ;)
After all you just need to go and shoot some weak arrows and then some stiff ones...….
I would suggest it doesn't take a genius to realize that when shaft is not pointing in the exact same line as the push of the string that it will flex..... the next step to realize that once the shaft has flexed in one direction if it isn't interfered with it will then rebound and flex in the other direction doesn't take too much imagination ;)

Barrelled shafts will always be 'better' if your goals are target related. All things being equal other than the barrelling the barrelled shaft will straighten quicker, be lighter and thus a little faster. Useful traits for a target arrow.
 
D

Deleted member 7654

Guest
I saw some interesting Youtube video of a good golfer testing old Hickory shafted clubs vs modern ones. The modern ones hit 5 maybe 10 yards further, but he actually got a tighter groups/better accuracy with the old clubs.
If the new clubs they bring out every year gave the extra yardage they promised every club golfer would be driving 1/4 of a mile.

I suspect it's the same with much archery equipment. Commercial manufacturers are in it for the profit which means either reducing costs or increasing price.
It is interesting to note that in many fields the very best craftsmanship is actually produced by amateurs who do not put a true cost onto their time.
There is a balance between the "chequebook hobyists" and those who recognise good value for money
Del
PS. Nice to see you are still about Mike ... (in Keswick still 🤔:))
 

LionOfNarnia

Supporter
Supporter
As someone whos' riser-and-limbs cost less than £175, someone who is forced by circumstance to ensure that 'value for money' remains the primary consideration for any purchase, someone who looks at TFT-G & NS-G as 'oh, if I ever win the lottery', and someone who in general is resistant to the pressures of unfettered 'free-market capitalism'...

I am conflicted!

I'm glad enough higher-income people have invested enough in archery to make great products available to more people with a mouse-click but troubled by the fact that there is still a 'my kit is better than yours' attitude - even if unspoken - on many a firing line.

But compared to the lunacy of 'people & smartphones' (for example), it's not really so bad.
 

4d4m

Active member
I suspect plenty of people who actually made arrows by hand from the raw had all this figured out a long, long time ago. To think that nobody had thought about and understood the 'archers paradox' before the high speed camera is pretty daft ;)
After all you just need to go and shoot some weak arrows and then some stiff ones...….
I would suggest it doesn't take a genius to realize that when shaft is not pointing in the exact same line as the push of the string that it will flex..... the next step to realize that once the shaft has flexed in one direction if it isn't interfered with it will then rebound and flex in the other direction doesn't take too much imagination ;)

Barrelled shafts will always be 'better' if your goals are target related. All things being equal other than the barrelling the barrelled shaft will straighten quicker, be lighter and thus a little faster. Useful traits for a target arrow.
Yes, you don't need the scientific method and high tech measurement devices to observe what happens in the physical world and draw conclusions.

Sometimes you can even see the arrow flex just after release. I think it would be pretty obvious to them what was happening when weak spined shafts snapped when shot from powerful bows. They would soon notice that when the weak arrows broke they always did it on the same side. Arrows which broke but didn't snap in two would show a bend, and the fracture would be on the outside.
 
D

Deleted member 7654

Guest
What is this "firing line" of which you speak? ;)
Yeah, there are all sorts of people who will try to criticise your kit... my fave was when some bloke told me "you don't string a bow like that!"
I gave him the stare and said "You do if you made it... " 😄
(It was a primitive with wide tips so the string wouldn't slide up the limb. I had one tip on the ground, my knee in the middle, one hand pulling back the upper tip and the other hand fitting the string onto the nock)
Del
 

Whitehart

Well-known member
Barrelled shafts will always be 'better' if your goals are target related. All things being equal other than the barrelling the barrelled shaft will straighten quicker, be lighter and thus a little faster. Useful traits for a target arrow.
Strange these are the same claims made by Carbon Express and sponsored shooters for their parallel shaft Nano Pro's and X-Treme, unlike an aluminium tube do not over time take a set, are stronger and you can buy replacements in singles...

So why do we shoot Easton A/C shafts in the UK - because most of us have no choice.
 

AndyW

Well-known member
Unchallenged supremacy ... in a very narrow sector of the archery world...
I don't s'pose that arrow has made much meat in the regions of the globe where archery is a way of putting food on the table. Or in field shooting in ELB or primitive classes?
Del
Or in NFAS field shooting at all, I've never seen one on a field course, they are (AFAIK) universally avoided.
 

LAC Mark

Active member
As someone whos' riser-and-limbs cost less than £175, someone who is forced by circumstance to ensure that 'value for money' remains the primary consideration for any purchase, someone who looks at TFT-G & NS-G as 'oh, if I ever win the lottery', and someone who in general is resistant to the pressures of unfettered 'free-market capitalism'...

I am conflicted!

I'm glad enough higher-income people have invested enough in archery to make great products available to more people with a mouse-click but troubled by the fact that there is still a 'my kit is better than yours' attitude - even if unspoken - on many a firing line.

But compared to the lunacy of 'people & smartphones' (for example), it's not really so bad.
I too have to keep a close eye on budget, almost all my equipment is second hand, I'm just glad that someone has shelled out for good kit and then decided to sell it on (probably due to buying the next "must have"), It's a great feeling when you out shoot the "must have" recurve archers with your second hand Barebow ;)
 
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