Has this ever been tried?

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Mick Smith
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Has this ever been tried?

#1 Post by Mick Smith » Sat Nov 22, 2014 9:02 am

Just recently I had my first foray into the world of very thin shafts. I bought myself some 500 spine Easton Full Metal Jacket shafts. These shafts are basically aluminium shafts, with a carbon inner.

Yeah, yeah, I know they're not everyone's idea of the sort of arrow we use on this site, but I do like to experiment with new ideas.

As far as I can see, there might be some advantages to be gained from using very thin shafts. The central mass of the arrow will lie closer to the centre of the bow. I can explain this by extrapolating what would happen if you happened to try using a very fat shaft. Imagine trying to shoot a suitably stiff pool noodle from your bow. Imagine where the centre of the mass of the pool noodle would be. It would be inches from the centre line of the bow. Whereas a very thin shaft, on the contrary, would be very close to the centre line of the bow. This means the arrow will have to bend less to achieve clearance through the site window, thereby allowing the use of more heavily spined shafts and possibly a cleaner flight.

Anyway, all of this aside, I noticed that I was able to shoot consistently tighter groups with my very thin FMJ arrows. They flew beautifully, but not more so than many of my other arrows. The only reason I could come up with for the tighter groups was because of the thinner shafts.

I think we all believe that all bare bow archers, even instinctive shooters, like me, will and do subconsciously look at the arrow in relation to the target prior to shooting. I don't actually look at it, but I know its there. To me, it stands to reason that if the view of the arrow is important to our sight picture then a refinement of this picture could easily deliver better results. A thinner shaft could be viewed as being a refinement. It's thin outline could allow us to better align the arrow with the target, in the same manner that it's easier to line up a thin length of dowel to a target than what it is to line up a piece of flat board to a target.

To get to the crux of the question. If this concept has any validity at all, then it could be taken even further. It wouldn't necessarily mean that you would have to exclusively use very thin shafts to achieve this result. The same result could be achieved by simply painting a very thin line along the top of the full length of the arrow. If this line was painted in a highly contrasting colour, such as a fluoro colour, it could be the ultimate application of the concept. The bright, very thin line would be obvious in your peripheral vision, allowing you to perfectly align your arrow precisely with the target.

I haven't actually tried it, but I'm tempted to do so, as I need all the help I can get. I know there's very little in the way of new concepts in an activity as ancient as archery, so I realise that if this concept as any validity at all, then it has probably been tried before. Does anyone know if it has been tried before? What do you think of the validity of this concept yourself?
There is no use focusing on aiming if you don't execute the shot well enough to hit what your are aiming at.

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Mick Smith
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Re: Has this ever been tried?

#2 Post by Mick Smith » Sun Nov 23, 2014 6:42 pm

Well just in case you were wondering, it has now been tried by myself, and no, unfortunately it doesn't seem to work for 'instinctive' shooters. It might work for gap shooters though.

The painted stripe on my arrow was barely visible in my peripheral vision. Only the basic outline of the arrow was visible. I still believe that a narrow diameter shaft does offer some advantages.
There is no use focusing on aiming if you don't execute the shot well enough to hit what your are aiming at.

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CraigH
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Re: Has this ever been tried?

#3 Post by CraigH » Sat Nov 29, 2014 7:44 am

Interesting idea, I haven't heard about a thin strip along the whole arrow, but have heard of gappers putting a bit of white out or white paint just on the tip of the shaft to help in low light or make it stand out more for hunting conditions.

I did try the bit of white out on the tip and although I am a gapper it didn't really work for me. I only tried it at close distances. Might try it again one day though.

matt61
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Location: melbourne

Re: Has this ever been tried?

#4 Post by matt61 » Sat Nov 29, 2014 10:29 am

Hi Mick
I gap shoot but do it damned fast, I look at a target decide how much gap I need before I draw back.
And because of the way I shoot, I always set my two blade broadheads in the horizontal position so that
I don't gap my shot wrong by using the top edge of the blade.
Maybe some color just behind the tip might help me, a bit like painting the front sight on a rifle white.
matt

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Mick Smith
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Re: Has this ever been tried?

#5 Post by Mick Smith » Sat Nov 29, 2014 10:58 am

Mmmmmmm .... maybe there might be a market for durably finished, fluoro points for some enterprising go getter. :biggrin:

Thanks for the replies guys.
There is no use focusing on aiming if you don't execute the shot well enough to hit what your are aiming at.

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Axefanatic
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Re: Has this ever been tried?

#6 Post by Axefanatic » Wed Dec 03, 2014 10:02 pm

For those with too much time on their hands.
Maybe make a laminated arrow with pale outer lams and a very thin centre lam?

Anyone with a rough idea on spine calculations for this?
Give a man fire, he'll be warm for a few hours. Set a man on fire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life!

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