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s پنجابی پښتو português runa simi română русский ikinyarwanda sicilianu scots سنڌي srpskohrvatski српскохрватски simple english slovenščina chishona soomaaliga shqip српски srpski sunda svenska kiswahili తెలుగు ไทย tolışi türkçe татарча tatarça тыва дыл українська اردو vepsän kel tiếng việt 吴语 хальмг ייִדיש vahcuengh 粵語 中文 isizulu edit links article talk english read edit view history tools tools move to sidebar hide actions read edit view history general what links here related changes upload file permanent link page information cite this page get shortened url switch to legacy parser print export download as pdf printable version in other projects wikimedia commons wikidata item appearance move to sidebar hide from wikipedia the free encyclopedia shafted projectile that is shot with a bow this article is about the projectile for the symbol see arrow symbol for other uses see arrow disambiguation traditional target arrow top and replica medieval arrow bottom modern arrow with plastic fletchings and nock an arrow is a fin stabilized projectile launched by a bow a typical arrow usually consists of a long stiff straight shaft with a weighty and usually sharp and pointed arrowhead attached to the front end multiple fin like stabilizers called fletchings mounted near the rear and a slot at the rear end called a nock for engaging the bowstring a container or bag carrying additional arrows for convenient reloading is called a quiver 1 the use of bows and arrows by humans predates recorded history and is common to most cultures a craftsman who makes arrows is a fletcher and one who makes arrowheads is an arrowsmith 2 history edit warring states bronze arrowheads african bow and arrows in a quiver main article history of archery the oldest evidence of likely arrowheads dating to c 64 000 years ago were found in sibudu cave current south africa 3 4 5 6 7 likely arrowheads made from animal bones have been discovered in the fa hien cave in sri lanka which are also the oldest evidence for the use of arrows outside of africa dating to c 48 000 years ago 8 9 the oldest evidence of the use of bows to shoot arrows dates to about 10 000 years ago it is based on pinewood arrows found in the ahrensburg valley north of hamburg they had shallow grooves on the base indicating that they were shot from a bow 10 the oldest bow so far recovered is about 8 000 years old found in the holmegård swamp in denmark archery seems to have arrived in the americas with the arctic small tool tradition about 4 500 years ago size edit schematic of an arrow with many parts arrow sizes vary greatly across cultures ranging from eighteen inches to five feet 45 cm to 152 cm 11 however most modern arrows are 75 cm 30 in to 96 cm 38 in in length arrows recovered from the mary rose an english warship that sank in 1545 whose remains were raised in 1982 were mostly 76 cm 30 in long 12 very short arrows have been used shot through a guide attached either to the bow an overdraw or to the archer s wrist the turkish siper 13 these may fly farther than heavier arrows and an enemy without suitable equipment may find himself unable to return them components edit shaft edit the shaft is the primary structural element of the arrow to which the other components are attached traditional arrow shafts are made from strong lightweight wood bamboo or reeds while modern shafts may be made from aluminium carbon fibre reinforced plastic or a combination of materials such shafts are typically made from an aluminium core wrapped with a carbon fibre outer a traditional premium material is port orford cedar 14 spine edit the stiffness of the shaft is known as its spine referring to how little the shaft bends when compressed hence an arrow which bends less is said to have more spine in order to strike consistently a group of arrows must be similarly spined center shot bows in which the arrow passes through the central vertical axis of the bow riser may obtain consistent results from arrows with a wide range of spines however most traditional bows are not center shot and the arrow has to deflect around the handle in the archer s paradox such bows tend to give most consistent results with a narrower range of arrow spine that allows the arrow to deflect correctly around the bow bows with higher draw weight will generally require stiffer arrows with more spine less flexibility to give the correct amount of flex when shot gpi rating edit the weight of an arrow shaft can be expressed in gpi grains per inch 15 the length of a shaft in inches multiplied by its gpi rating gives the weight of the shaft in grains for example a shaft that is 30 inches 760 mm long and has a gpi of 9 5 weighs 285 grains 18 grams this does not include the other elements of a finished arrow so a complete arrow will be heavier than the shaft alone footed arrows edit sometimes a shaft will be made of two different types of wood fastened together resulting in what is known as a footed arrow known by some as the finest of wood arrows 16 footed arrows were used both by early europeans and native americans footed arrows will typically consist of a short length of hardwood near the head of the arrow with the remainder of the shaft consisting of softwood by reinforcing the area most likely to break the arrow is more likely to survive impact while maintaining overall flexibility and lighter weight barreled arrow shafts edit a barreled arrow shaft is one that tapers in diameter bi directionally this allows for an arrow that has an optimum weight yet retains enough strength to resist flex barreled arrow shafts are considered the zenith of pre industrial archery technology reaching their peak design among the ottomans 17 18 arrowhead edit main article arrowhead african arrowhead obsidian broadhead ancient greek bronze arrowhead 4th century bc from olynthus chalcidice various japanese arrowheads native american arrowheads siberian hunting arrows with blunt heads 20th century field points modern replicas of various medieval european arrowheads the arrowhead or projectile point is the primary functional part of the arrow and plays the largest role in determining its purpose some arrows may simply use a sharpened tip of the solid shaft but it is far more common for separate arrowheads to be made usually from metal horn or some other hard material arrowheads are usually separated by function bodkin points are short rigid points with a small cross section they were made of unhardened iron and may have been used for better or longer flight or for cheaper production it has been mistakenly suggested that the bodkin came into its own as a means of penetrating armour but research 19 has found no hardened bodkin points so it is likely that it was first designed either to extend range or as a cheaper and simpler alternative to the broadhead in a modern test a direct hit from a hard steel bodkin point penetrated damascus chain armour 20 however archery was not effective against plate armour which became available to knights of fairly modest means by the late 14th century 21 blunts are unsharpened arrowheads occasionally used for types of target shooting for shooting at stumps or other targets of opportunity or hunting small game when the goal is to concuss the target without penetration blunts are commonly made of metal or hard rubber they may stun and occasionally the arrow shaft may penetrate the head and the target safety is still important with blunt arrows judo points have spring wires extending sideways from the tip these catch on grass and debris to prevent the arrow from being lost in the vegetation used for practice and for small game broadheads were used for war and are still used for hunting medieval broadheads could be made from steel 19 sometimes with hardened edges they usually have two to four sharp blades that cause massive bleeding in the victim their function is to deliver a wide cutting edge so as to kill as quickly as possible by cleanly cutting major blood vessels and cause further trauma on removal they are expensive damage most targets and are usually not used for practice broadheads are illegal in the uk there are two main types of broadheads used by hunters the fixed blade and the mechanical types while the fixed blade broadhead keeps its blades rigid and unmovable on the broadhead at all times the mechanical broadhead deploys its blades upon contact with the target its blades swinging out to wound the target the mechanical head flies better because it is more streamlined but has less penetration as it uses some of the kinetic energy in the arrow to deploy its blades 22 preferences for fixed or mechanical broadheads vary widely in the hunting community typically varying by species in general both types are widely used on game up to the size of white tailed deer as game size increases fixed blades become more common broadheads used for hunting dangerous game such as african buffalo are almost always fixed blade field tips or field points are similar to target points and have a distinct shoulder so that missed outdoor shots do not become as stuck in obstacles such as tree stumps they are also used for shooting practice by hunters by offering similar flight characteristics and weights as broadheads without getting lodged in target materials and causing excessive damage upon removal target points are bullet shaped with a conical point designed to penetrate target butts easily without causing excessive damage to them safety arrows are designed to be used in various forms of reenactment combat to reduce the risk when shot at people these arrows may have heads that are very wide or padded such as the large foam ball tip used in archery tag in combination with bows of restricted draw weight and draw length these heads may reduce to acceptable levels the risks of shooting arrows at suitably armoured people the parameters will vary depending on the specific rules being used and on the levels of risk felt acceptable to the participants for instance sca combat rules require a padded head at least 1 1 4 in 3 2 cm in diameter with bows not exceeding 28 inches 710 mm and 50 lb 23 kg of draw for use against well armoured individuals 23 arrowheads may be attached to the shaft with a cap a socketed tang or inserted into a split in the shaft and held by a process called hafting 11 points attached with caps are simply slid snugly over the end of the shaft or may be held on with hot glue split shaft construction involves splitting the arrow shaft lengthwise inserting the arrowhead and securing it using a ferrule sinew or wire 24 fletchings edit main article fletching straight parabolic fletchings on an arrow fletchings are found at the back of the arrow and act as airfoils to provide a small amount of force used to stabilize the flight of the arrow they are designed to keep the arrow pointed in the direction of travel by strongly damping down any tendency to pitch or yaw some cultures for example most in new guinea did not use fletching on their arrows 25 also arrows without fletching called bare shaft are used for training purposes because they make certain errors by the archer more visible 26 fletchings are traditionally made from feathers often from a goose or turkey bound to the arrow s shaft but are now often made of plastic known as vanes historically some arrows used for the proofing of armour used copper vanes 27 flight archers may use razor blades for fletching in order to reduce air resistance with conventional three feather fletching one feather called the cock feather is at a right angle to the nock and is normally nocked so that it will not contact the bow when the arrow is shot four feather fletching is usually symmetrical and there is no preferred orientation for the nock this makes nocking the arrow slightly easier natural feathers are usually prepared by splitting and sanding the quill before gluing further the feather may be trimmed to shape die cut or burned by a hot electrically heated wire it is crucial that all the feathers of an arrow have the same drag so manual trimming is rarely used by modern fletchers the burning wire method is popular because different shapes are possible by bending the wire and the fletching can be symmetrically trimmed after gluing by rotating the arrow on a fixture some fletchings are dyed two toned fletchings usually make each fletching from two feathers knit together the front fletching is often camouflaged and the rear fletching bright so that the archer can easily track the arrow artisans who make arrows by hand are known as fletchers a word related to the french word for arrow flèche this is the same derivation as the verb fletch meaning to provide an arrow with its feathers glue and thread are the traditional methods of attaching fletchings a fletching jig is often used in modern times to hold the fletchings in exactly the right orientation on the shaft while the glue hardens whenever natural fletching is used the feathers on any one arrow must come from the same wing of the bird the most common being the right wing flight feathers of turkeys the slight cupping of natural feathers requires them to be fletched with a right twist for right wing a left twist for left wing this rotation through a combination of gyroscopic stabilization and increased drag on the rear of the arrow helps the arrow to fly straight away 28 artificial helical fletchings have the same effect most arrows will have three fletches but some have four or even more fletchings generally range from two to six inches 50 to 150 mm in length flight arrows intended to travel the maximum possible distance typically have very low fletching while hunting arrows with broadheads require long and high fletching to stabilize them against the aerodynamic effect of the head fletchings may also be cut in different ways the two most common being parabolic i e a smooth curved shape and shield i e shaped as one half of a very narrow shield cut in modern archery with screw in points right hand rotation is generally preferred as it makes the points self tighten in traditional archery some archers prefer a left rotation because it gets the hard and sharp quill of the feather farther away from the arrow shelf and the shooter s hand 29 a flu flu is a type of fletching normally made by using long sections of full length feathers taken from a turkey in most cases six or more sections are used rather than the traditional three alternatively two long feathers can be spiraled around the end of the arrow shaft the extra fletching generates more drag and slows the arrow down rapidly after a short distance of about 30 m 98 ft or so flu flu arrows are often used for hunting birds or for children s archery and can also be used to play flu flu golf wraps edit wraps are thin pre cut sheets of material often vinyl or plastic used to wrap the nock end of an arrow primarily as an aid in bonding vanes and feather fletchings to the shaft wraps can also mak...