The danger of a thin string, an old arrow, and a fast bow...

[Frodolf]

Yesterday, a friend of mine wanted to try out some of my bows. We grabbed a few of them and a bunch of random arrows and headed out onto the lawn. Among the bows we brought was my pride and joy since a few weeks back. A bow made from common hazel pulling 50# to 27". Hazel is surprisingly strong in compression, and despite the sort of narrow design the bow still had 2" of the original 3" of reflex that the character-laden stave had to begin with, and this with no heat treatment. The bow ended up being 2,5 ounces lighter than what Gardner recommends in TBB. Equipped with a thin lightweight FF string, the bow shot crazy fast.

Anyway, I put the bow in the hands of my friend. And he shot it nicely and correctly, by the looks of it. That is, apart from the fact that the bow literally exploded at the exact moment of him releasing the arrow. Shocked, we both stood there staring at the debris for a few seconds. Then some detective work started.

This is what happened. The arrow he shot was an old arrow with a nock that was wider than the string, so the nock didn't fit tightly on the string. My friend, who isn't a very experienced archer, thought afterwards that he may not have had the string firmly at the bottom of the nock of the arrow, but that there was a slight gap. When he then released, the string travelled an eighth of an inch or so before hitting the arrow. This extra force, combined with the fact that the string was unusually thin, split the arrow shaft down the middle. And when the bow then slammed home, it was basically like dry shooting the bow, that is, shooting it with no arrow. The strain from this probably caused some serious vibrations in the bow, and it cracked close to a large knot on the lower limb, shortly followed by a shower of splinters.

This made me feel so very stupid. A few wraps of string around the arrow nock would probably have saved the bow. Or just a normal, safe string.

Have any of you guys done any stupid mistakes that resulted in a broken bow?

[Pat B]

Did your arrow have a plastic nock or self nocks? I have seen quite a few plastic nocks break, whether they be old and brittle or just broke I don't know.
 I use self nocks anymore and have never had one break, they are all wrapped with sinew. I also like the nock to be loose on the string. This has never caused a problem for me or the arrow...or bow.

[Del the cat]

Oh yes... I've done stupid .
Del

[Frodolf]

It was a self nock. I've had 3-4 of them split over the years, but it is very rare. It has always been arrows with no wrapping around the nock (I'm lazy, I know). And I think they've all been cedar 5/16's but I'm not sure.

I also like, or at least don't mind, having the arrow loose on the string. But it takes a spot of technique to do it well, you have to sort of pinch the arrow between your fingers to do it right. It's not hard, but my friend wasn't used to it, and didn't do it correctly. I think the gap between arrow and string added to the catastrophe. But that's just my theory. 

[phyankord]

well that doesent happen everyday. 

[bushboy]

I have had nocks break a few times and even a couple of guys pulling my bow to full draw and releasing when I first started out and had failed to warn them of the perils of doing so to no I'll affect.the bows went on to fail after many arrows later but I think it had more to do with my inexperience.not to say that a dry fire was not the culprit, but not in what I have seen to date.

[joachimM]

There are many ways in which to break a bow by doing stupid things. A few other's I've done not so long time ago: not stopping when you hear a dry tick. Drawing an extra inch to see if you can get a few extra fps, increasing brace height and drawing the bow as far as you normally do. Having string loops too loose on the knocks, and the string slipping off at full draw. Not checking arrow nocks before shooting and finding out after the dry fire that it (must have been) damaged.
Yes, bow autopsy is part of the learning process ...

[bradsmith2010]

I broke my favorite hunting sinew back osage the same way,, I pulled to full draw and the arrow was not on the string securely,, I think I was shooting a tab I was not used too,(thats my excuse), anyway the bow blew into,, I had to stand there along time,, to process what had happened, thats the first and only time I have blown up a bow like that,  a highly stressed 65# sinew bow does not like to be dry fired,,it was the only bow I had at the time, so I was a bit discouraged,,
if you let someone shoot your bow,,, they need to be experienced or you need snap on nocks,,and its a good idea not to let anyone shoot your favorite bow,,just in case

[Pat B]

Always wrap self nocks!     

[Frodolf]

Got it!

[joachimM]

Always wrap self nocks!     

good advice, but I've even had wrapped self nocks broken off sideways above the wrap... Maybe I have a really bad draw technique.

[make-n-break]

I was using self nocks on homemade shafts with a 55# Samick Sage a few years ago before I got bit by the primitive bug... I've always liked loose self nocks and I use the secured-between-the-fingers method too. I was breaking in a new glove, the arrow slipped off the string and full draw without my knowledge and CRACK! Riser split in half.

Hasn't happened since. It was a blessing in disguise because I believe that incident is what led me to start building self bows to replace my damaged FG recurve.

[Badger]

  All of my flight arrows are self nocks. The arrows are less than a 1/4" thick at the back end and the ears on the knocks are paper thin almost, you can break them with a very light pinch. I am always surprised at how few actually break when shooting. I wrap them with silk thread.

[George Tsoukalas]

I've been following this thread. Interesting.

I've shot loose self-nocks. I've had arrows drop off at full draw resulting in a virtual dry fire.

I've had self-nocks break because I forgot to wrap them.

The bows remained intact.

I am wondering if there is another reason inherent in the bow as to why it broke.

I am careful about who I let shoot one of my bows. I always unstring before putting a bow on the bow rack at a shoot.

Jawge

[Parnell]

I'm not a cedar arrow fan.  I know people like them and they are prized and all but in my book they break too easily and never stay straight.  They do smell good, though   Nothing like a good cane arrow with wrapped self nocks.

Interesting post, glad no one was hurt.