[Ansteorra] Combat Arrow making Workshop at Weisenfeuer

[Eadric Anstapa]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Catron" <meggiddo at netzero.net>
> Some of mine have been replaced after going through 8 battles of Gulf
> Wars XI. Others are still in service even after Gulf Wars XI, Gothic
> Wars and now 3 Kings this year. Plus practice time on them.
>
> Michael of the Fray
> Unit Combat Archer for the Condottieri
>

As I have said before YOUR Golf Tube APD equipped arrows are exceptional.

After inspecting thousands of APD equipped arrows at Gulf War last year and
then more at 3Kings and Bordermarch this year my opinion remains that the
routed channel 160 PSI design is the best.

As Master Pug mentioned they do a good job of helping balance the shafts.
The relatively heavy combat blunts don't make for well balanced arrows and
bolts.  This is particularly true of crossbow bolts which are so much sorter
and have so much smaller percentage of their weight in the shaft.  The APD
actually seems to improve the flight of the combat bolts.  If the SEM
decided tomorrow that APDs were not necessary I would still put them on my
combat bolts anyway.

The 160 PSI siloflex is thick enough that you can route a fairly deep
channel in it for shaft placement.  Glue the shaft into this routed channel
(hot glue seems to work best) and then tape it well and you have VERY secure
APD.  They are more securely attached than 90 percent of the Golf Tube APDs
out there and because they are so much more rigid they don't deform and they
retain their shape.

Golf Tube APDs are cheap and they don't require any special tools which is a
big bonus. However to do them well it takes as long to do them as it does
the other APD designs and from what I have seen so far they aren't going to
last as long.

I think APD designs will likely forever remain somewhat a matter of
preference. Some people like crossbows, others longbows or recurves.  Some
fighters use a sword, others a glaive.  Some will use a round shield, others
a sqaured shield, a kite, or a heater.  It's a matter of personal preference
as long as you can get the marshals to pass it at inspection.

Regards,

Lord Eadric Anstapa
Kingdom Archery Marshal, Ansteorra
eadric at scabrewer.com