Why?

[jturkey]

i make all my nock in my cane just past a node and wrap very well with linen or thread and cover with super glue. never had one split on me at all. and i shoot from 60 all the way down to 40lb bows like everyone else i know! however the split in your arrow might have come from hundreds of strange  and crazy things but if the nock is mad too far away from a node it is very possible your string nocking point if metal could be wearing away the boo. as well as the string angle and your material you serve your string with could literally be sawing your nocking point to a weak point just thing i have seen in some test arrows i did about 2 years ago.

[hillbilly61]

I've had 1 in the past 2 years (that's all I shoot) and that's because of my stupidity. Did'nt wrap the knock

[CraigMBeckett]

Pearl Drums,

Sorry to hear of your problems but I believe its a possibility with any bamboo shaft as it fully seasons or expands/contracts with changes in weather and season. I have bought 400 bamboo shafts over the last few years, all from the same source in China.  All are seasoned, straightened, ground at the nodes & lacquered.  Did not notice any problems with the first 300, then with the next hundred I had approximately 18 split down their length within a month of arrival. Contacted the supplier, Tiger for those who know him, who asked experts etc about the problem and could only suggest it was due to the difference in temperature and humidity between where the shafts were produced in China where it was the height, or is it depth, of winter, and my home in Australia during the height of out summer.  Tiger refunded the costs of the damaged shafts and suggested I only buy when the relative climates were closer together.
Since then I have occasionally noticed split shafts when going to make another arrow, similarly I have discovered split arrows that were completed the previous season.The later split shafts and some of the split arrows did not come from the last batch, but came from the first 3 batches so it was not a problem with the one batch. I know this because the batches were of different spine and the later splits have been spread across the spines.

So I suggest its a quirk of the material, and is something you will have to put up with if you use bamboo or any natural material.  Would you be doubting your material if you found a longitudinal split in a wooden arrow?

Craig.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Craig its not the split that bothers me, its how many did it that does. I always use natural material be it wood or plant. For the record I forced myself to grab a few more and keep shooting them. I love them, but was scared of picking boo splinters out of my hand/arm.....best case scenario. Artsy my shafts were ordered as 50-55 spine. Without a tester I have to belive that to be true, they feel 50-55 to my hands. They dont smack the side of my bow and they dont act stiff at release. Im thinking Craig may have nailed it down. It could have been poor timing with weather? Either way they get ONE more chance to stay together for the next 4-6 months. If another splits I wont buy another. I would be COMPLETEY ticked if I took a shot at an animal and it happened causing a poor hit, or poor penetration regardless of the animals size. Thanks for all the feedback and responses guys, very cool to get help like this...................except Artsy, he doesnt count.

[artcher1]

Reminds me of that time I shot a cane arrow that had previously split (4 ways) from tip to feathers from bouncing off a tree. Folded up like an accordion, ouch!

But don't let that dissuade you Pearly. Crap happens ! Hey, once you get your hands on some hill cane you won't look at another tonkin..........Art

[PEARL DRUMS]

Do you need my address Artsy?

[artcher1]

If I had some extra I'd be glad to send some your way Pearly. Been out for a while now.  Maybe give Pat B or some of those other southern boys a holler on the trade board. They'll treat you right............Art

[Tom Leemans]

I use tonkin only and I dowel both ends. Overkill maybe, but they hold up to abuse!

[sonny]

to go along with what Craig stated I had three or four tonkin cane shafts split on me this past winter.
It's a fair assumption that they weren't seasoned properly before they were sealed and shipped but
fortunately the fellow that I got them from sent me six shafts as replacements.