My daughters birthday today so a trip to Merlin #Archery for new arrows. She’s using my old #Hoyt G3 limbs. Then lunch at #Warhammer World. She also picked up some extra paints for a new project. Love the fact she shares two of my hobbies. #DaddyDaughterDay
@spacelizard I love hearing that rewarding 'thunk' at 80-100 yards when I cannot see the arrow and can barely see the target. #longbow #archery is my passion.
First time shooting at SOPA, first time shooting our new bows, and first time using sights. It went well!
It's possible that the kid's bow is cooler than mine. I do like the blue, but the red anodised finish looks really good.
Right. That is, I think, one bow set up tolerably well for a beginner like me to start shooting with it. Just for fun I then put all the included accessories on it, but I don't think I'll be using the clicker or stabiliser for a while, and probably not the sight either.
Brace height 8¾”, tiller +⅛”, limb alignment checked, arrow rest set, plunger tension dialled down, plunger set for centre shot, and temporary dental floss nock point tied with the bottom of the nock ⅛” above the arrow rest.
Tomorrow I need to set up the kid's bow, and glue the points into all our arrows.
Problems solved. I now have hot melt glue to attach our arrow points, and some different bow strings. These WNS strings are a *much* better fit for the nocks on our Pandarus Alpha XT arrows. The diameter at the centre serving is about 0.1" instead of the 0.12” diameter of the fat strings that came with our bows.
I ended up having to go to both of Sydney's archery stores for this, because the first one I went to was sold out of hot melt glue.
We have our new member induction and first OzBow coaching session scheduled at SOPA on Sunday morning so tomorrow I need to glue in our arrow points and set up our bows. I've got to install the arrow rests and plunger buttons, check the limb alignment, adjust the brace height & tiller, set the nock points, and adjust the centre shot.
Here's a bunch of slow-mo archery footage that shows how much the arrow flexes, even with a modern recurve bow. The sight window cutout allows the arrow to be lined up directly in front of the string, but it still ends up flexing because the string gets a sideways kick as it's released by the fingers.
There are nice real world illustrations of the 1 cycle/1¼ cycle thing mention in the bow tuning theory video I shared recently. The arrow bends one way, then the other, then back to straight, just in time to cleanly release from the string. Then it bends again as the flights pass the arrow rest, ensuring the arrow doesn't re-contact it.
I have a stick* with a string! And a dozen pointy sticks*! For poking holes in things that are far away!
The kid has the same kit, but they have lighter draw weight limbs, higher spine arrows and, most importantly, a red riser instead of a blue one.
Unfortunately no time to do more than check the contents of the kit right now, but with a bit of luck I can get the bows set up later in the week so we can go to the archery club on Sunday.
*Sticks contain no wood.
Grüße vom #Bildungsurlaub zu Resilienz und Achtsamkeit mit #Bogenschießen .
Me: Doing archery would be good, it'll help me clear my mind.
Also me: *enthusiatically fills brain with bow tuning theory*
This video explains it all pretty well (just skip the "maths bit", it's just uninteresting trigonometry). There are all these adjustments with jargon-y names (arrow spine, point weight, arrow length, draw weight, brace height, bow tiller, centre shot, plunger stiffness, nocking point) but what you're actually trying to achieve is things like having the arrow flex through 1 complete cycle of bending from the moment you release the string to the time the arrow separates from the string, and through 1¼ cycles from release to the time it clears the bow riser.
Help, I've fallen down an arrow spine rabbit hole and I can't get out!
The kid and I have ordered Nika recurve bow packages similar to the one a few posts up thread, and they include a dozen cheap carbon fibre arrows (Pandarus Infinity), available in spine (stiffness) ratings of 400 to 1300. We'll be getting these uncut, but expect to get them cut down to a sensible length once we've got them.
I"ll have 24 lb limbs and estimate my draw length at around 28", so expect to cut the arrows down to about 29-30" long. I looked at a few spine charts and they all seem to say 700 should be OK for me.
The kid will have 18 lb limbs, and I think their draw length is very roughly 25", which would leave their arrows around 26-27" long. I looked a 3 different spine charts and got recommendations ranging from 800 to 1450!
Meanwhile the guy that runs the shop reckons we should both have arrows around 1000 spine.
It's a conundrum.
Ich hab' heute mein Jahresziel erreicht und 3 Pfeile in (unter) 3 Sekunden geschossen. 
