General Questions

[JackCrafty]

Many NA quivers were made from braintan.  Braintan is REALLY soft and punctures easily.  What stopped arrowheads from eating holes in the bottom of quivers after a day of riding (or walking)?  I know that some had arrow "cups" of rawhide, some had wads of grass stuffed into the bottom.....but that only delays the inevitable.  And what about the times when you "missed" the bottom and punctured the side as you put the arrows into the quiver?  I see no examples of wear around the bottom of old NA quivers. 

And what about barbed arrows?  Pulling one quickly out of a quiver almost guarantees something bad happening to the arrowhead and/or quiver.  Were they always held in the hand?

And what's the advantage of not gluing down the fletching (other than time savings)?  I don't glue down my fletchings only because it's easier.  Is there medicine in letting the feather be "free" and "uninhibited"? 

Why are the tangs so short on the old trade points?  I would think that they should be 50% as long as the point itself...for good stability.

Could someone post a how-to on preparing fletching with a stone tool?  I've read an account of Ishi using a flake of obsidian.....but I've tried it.....and no amount of scraping, sawing, cutting, soaking in water, pounding with the hammerstone, or spitting-cussing-nashing-of-teeth has made my "primitive" fletching look anything other than butt ugly.  (and don't dare say, "Just peel it" )  It's not long (10 seconds) before I start eyeballing that power sander....

[JackCrafty]

And another thing.....what's up with the arrows in this picture?  Are they real?

 

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[david w.]

who cares

[Kegan]

who cares

Ditto

But back to topic. Braintan is soft- but quite tough. if you don't use force when shoving your arrows in, it won't cut the sides. Sticking rawhide in the bottom with the hair up sorta "catches" the heads. I have yet to sut thorugh a rawhide bottom, even with scalpel sharp points.

The barbs are rarely sharp enough to cut, but most guys who used them (like Jay Massey) would square them off.

Glueing featehrs down primitively is tough. Hide glue had its drawbacks and pitch was tricky. tieing it down tightly was just economical. With modern adhesives, it has become the other way around.

Tangs were short to save metal. That's all I got for this one .

Pound the quill with rock. use flake as an ulu to make initial cut, then stick flake in log and slowly pull feather along it, kinda "unzipping it". Pull the quill along the same flake afterwards to clean it up. Or just use tangential fletch .

At least that's what I think. I might be wrong on some or all of them !

[JackCrafty]

Kegan, thanks for the answers.....what's an ulu?  (never mind - I looked it up) 

Anywho....I need to invest in some braintan (or make it myself.....the choice of two evils) and actually make a quiver with it and experiment.  It doesn't look all that tough, but if you say so.....

And I think the quiver holding those arrows in the picture should be a bit smaller, no?   

[david w.]

who cares

[JackCrafty]

david....you crack me up man...

[Hillbilly]

Jack, like Kegan said, braintan is anything but friagile and easily punctured. It's soft, but really, really, tough. I've got a braintan quiver that I've carried sharp arrows in for about five years, and it doesn't have the first hole or cut. As for the feathers, I've done a few with stone. either just peel it, ( - it actually works well) or pound it to split it along the line that runs down the middle of the quill. Then trim it down with a sharp flake and /or grind it by hand on gritty sandstone. You can trim it either with a razor-sharp flake, or burn it to shape.