Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: PerimitiveHawaiian on March 30, 2015, 04:50:05 pm
-
Hey there u guys, I'm from the island of Oahu Hawaii and as u can tell by my name I'm hawaiian. But I was just wondering if u guys know any type of wood on the island that would be a good bow wood? I don't wanna just chop down any tree. Leave your guys ideas so I can pick off of it haha Mahalo.
-
Guava seems to be mentioned most often.
-
Guava is an excellent bow wood. Nomadic Pirate lives in Hawaii and builds(or used to) beautiful guava bows, some pretty snaky.
-
I have a guava spoon that was given to me by my bro in law, he just got back from Oahu. Im using it for tip overlays.
-
A lot of species of acacia will make a bow...but it twists like mad, so dry it well first. Also, you probably have a lot of invasive Australian pine (Casaurina) growing there. Some subspecies of it will make a good bow if backed. Koa I would imagine to make a bow as well! What the other guys said is true though, guava is a great bow wood. Just take the bark off it and don't violate the sap wood layer and it will kick some serious arse ;-)
-
I looked into it on this list: http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/forestry/trees/little_skolmen.html. There is actually a lot of usable or potentially usable bow wood in Hawaii I think. The types of Acacia you have would look amazing as a bow. There is juniper, loads of fruit trees that likely have potential and even a type of ash...although I would be hesitant to think it is any good on a tropical island. Sky's the limit. Just learn to id them and look for some usable wood, dry it and give it a go. You should also have plenty of usable fish skin, shark and ray skin at your disposal. Sounds like an unique bow adventure.