Is this river cane I've found?

[longdog]

I discovered a patch of what I thought was river cane but it seems thin and of week spine.The shoots I cut were old and dry,should I cut some of the green ones and cure them somehow,or look deeper in the patch for thicker ones?Any help would be greatly appreciated as I've collected some goose feathers and would love to make some arrows!

[Pat B]

Without a pic it's hard to tell. You want to cut green culms(canes) and not ones that are already dead. Cut only culms that the paper sheath at the nodes has deteriorated completely or or comes off easily. Cut them long, bundle them together and give them a month or so to cure out before making arrows.

[longdog]

Thanks for the reply,I don't have pictures but it looks exactly like all the pictures I've seen,I straightened one out,fletched it and shot it from a low poundage bow,it shot great until I hit the wood on my home target and it exploded!

[Pat B]

Any culms that are already dead will be very dangerous to shoot. If it explodes on release you may be spending some time in the emergency room or worse. I have never had a well made cane arrow break no matter if it hit the target, tree or a rock. If it broke that easily it isn't worth dealing with as an arrow.
  Cut some good, live culms and allow them to dry. In the mean time get all the info on preparing them for arrows as you can find. A search here on PA will give you lots of info for doing so. You can also straighten them a little each day without using heat and in the time it takes them to dry most of the straightening will be done.
   Where do you live?

[longdog]

I live in northwestern Mo.I"ve done some research and now I realize I cut the wrong culms(?) !

[KenH]

Ideally for making an bamboo (and river cane is one of several hundred species of bamboo) products you want last year's growth.  Not the new culms from this year, and not the dead-leafed old dead culms.

[longdog]

Thanks for all the comments they really helped,so how do you tell last years growth from the others?(sorry if that sounds stupid)

[aero86]

make sure you selective when searching through them.  while cane is fairly easy to straighten, its easier if you start with straighter pieces.  also, since its summer, when you cut and bundle them together, put them in your car.  thatll make sure your getting enough heat.

[Pat B]

Longdog, You can tell if the cane is mature enough for arrows by the lack of or the deterriorating paper sheath at the nodes. If the paper sheath is in good shape the culm is immature and not suitable for arrows. Also the color of the newest culms is a bright green and as it ages it turns a more yellow green or olive green color.

[longdog]

Thanks Pat B for your help,I've gone back to the patch and cut about a dozen,bundled them up and put them in the back of my truck w/ black shell covering.It is getting close to triple digits around here so I hope it won't take long.

[aero86]

still want to make sure that they get at least a month.  then set them out in the sun after that time so the green color will fade.