Phragmites arrows?

[eastcreekarchery]

I have access to a large stand of Phragmites australis. Has anyone had success with this species?

[JackCrafty]

Where are you located? Not all phragmites is created equal.

I've made a lot of arrows from phragmites but I'm on the edge of a desert in west Texas at about 2000 ft elevation. The phragmites we have here has very thick walls.

Phragmites from wet lowlands tends to be very weak and not suitable for arrows, in my opinion.

[eastcreekarchery]

Yea i watched your video where u mentioned that. Im in NY. I think i will give them a try nonetheless and see how they perform.

[JackCrafty]

You should be able to get your hands on Viburnum up there. I grew up in New Hampshire and that's the stuff that makes the best arrows, in my opinion. I've tried all kinds of dogwood, cherry, oak, and lots of other random shoots but Viburnum blows them all away as far as flexibility and durability.

[eastcreekarchery]

Ive used plenty of viburnum for arrows and it works great for me. Im always looking to try new stuff though.

[JackCrafty]

I see.

One wood that I haven't tried for arrows is yew. We had a few trees in the woods back then, but it was too much work for me to cut and split the shafts out of the trunks. I'd be curious what your opinion is of yew for arrows, if you've tried it.

I tried juniper once but the shafts would not stay straight. They reverted back to their original shape no matter what I did.

[eastcreekarchery]

Ive never tried yew but it seems like it would work as its a very resilient wood. However ive found it difficult to straighten arrows cut from seasoned lumber. I find that wood that is straightened when its green stays straighter than wood straightened when its seasoned, even with heat. I like to straighten natural shafts when they are green everyday for week after i cut them. If you look at wood arrows that you can buy from three rivers for instance, youll see that the arrows have some grain runoff, indicating that they aren’t cut along the grain but rather for straightness, the wood just happens to be very straight grained, and thats why you can cut excellent arrows from those boards. This is just my personal experience though.

[eastcreekarchery]

Ive mentioned that bit about wood arrows cut from boards to try and explain why your juniper arrows may not have stayed straight, assuming u cut them from a board. You might try cutting them straighter from a straight grained piece of lumber.