Tonkin Cane Arrow Shafts - Short Summary

[Ray]

I just wanted to comment on a short personal assessment on tonkin cane arrow shafts..

I picked some "pre straightened" shafts from http://RudderBows.com The price was good and comparably better than http://KustomKingArchery.com. As advertised they were supposedly spined to 55-60 but I never confirmed this was accurate or true. When they arrived I was expecting irregularities around the nodes and even some crookedness despite them being advertised as "pre straightened". The diameter of the shafts I received varied a little but seemed to usually be similar to 5/16 Port Orford cedar. One end could be thicker than another. I used the same nocks and tips as on the cedar arrows which I have. They cut a little more difficult than cedar as expected but getting my taper tool on them I noticed they worked down just like any cedar. I glued on the tips with Ferr-L-Tite and took them to the range. I shot mostly at 20 yard targets because I am reliably able to hit  the bullseye there. They flew well and resembled my carbon shafts in character. I have them tipped with 135 grain heads. In short I might be making a transition to tonkin cane before fall but I want to do some more testing and get some confidence in their durability. So far they seem to be natures carbon and the small irregularities do not seem to affect flight out to 30 yards (as far as I will shoot at most game). Considering they are about half the price as carbon and seemingly as durable I think they are a viable option for those who like to use wood. I plan on tipping a set out with some Abowyer Boneheads.

[rasbo]

something Ive wondered on the wood arrows..Does the wet side moisture affect them at all...

[Ray]

Not really. I treat my shafts with Tru Oil and unless you submerge them underwater for a long period of time I would not expect them to have any problems with regards to weather and water. In fact if I was using fletching longer than 3 inches and wider than one inch I would be more concerned with my fletching during a little drizzle. I use RainX on my fletching but I have not chopped them down in size. Ashby and some  others have been doing some testing with fletching. They seem to think you don't even need more than something like 2-3 inches (I may not be quoting correct numbers but was referring to a photo) in length and about one inch in width was best combined with a heavy head about %25 FOC or greater. They even used a small piece of thin narrow tape just before the front of the fletching to increase either accuracy or speed (I need to go read their techno report again) and referred to it as a turbolator or something. Whatever. Pretty techno but the core of their reports are : Greater than %25 FOC, and small narrow fletching with the tape I mentioned.

[rasbo]

I would be curious on the 2inch fletching,,port Orfords 2 1/4 sells so why not go to a shorter one

[ribka]

I purchased some cane shafts about 20 years ago from Kustomking. I ended up shooting a few whitetails with them. I too was surprised at how uniform, durable and smooth they were. I was using a I believe a 185 gr grizzly head.  I remember fletching with 5 inch feathers. 25% FOC seems about right for a heavier head.   I think I have a few left. I forgot i still had them until I read this

I see Three Rivers has some too:

http://www.3RiversArchery.com/Heat+Tempered+Bamboo+Arrow+Shafts+6pk%2E_o3_i6640_listproduct.html 


That is a good looking broadhead. 3 for $48. 

[Ray]

The reasoning behind the short fletching is that it doesn't slow the arrow down as much and is just sufficient to maintain accuracy. If it is shorter and smaller it will also shed water without aid of anything like RainX. I looked for the article but was unable to locate it earlier. However they were dunking fletching into buckets of water for 30 minutes and then shooting. The consensus of the testers was that with "just the right size" fletching there is no need to even care about water effects on performance at expected short ranges of a stick bow.. At least in the controlled environment. I am doing some paraphrasing.. The concept is to put all the weight up front and let the heavy broadhead pull the arrow like a heavy front ended dart does. I don't want to rip off the visual materials of the article if I do find it again because they could be copyrighted. If I can find the article again I will check it out and report back.

One more thing which I recall was they were talking about shooting lightweight  and FOC heavier arrows across an open area. The heavier specimens with FOC centers seemed to outdistance the lightweight arrows which are typically desired by most modern archers.

[Ray]

Ok Topic (very long as it appeared to be a combined effort over time) --> http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=057257;p=1

4 Fletch
2.5 inch "A&A"
** Short summary LINK **


2 inch "A&A"


Compared with 3 inch parabolics the A&A fletch seemed to do the trick while the parabolics did not. Their test was with a compound bow apparently with 26-27% FOC.

[rasbo]

that's a good read,It really intensifies my urge to try the traditional way..I started that way as a kid.But we in noway no how were having discussions,as the doctor and Ray..Rays banana 4inch Fletch,cut down sounds like it might be the ticket in speed and silence.And if I understand it correctly,the longer Fletch in wet conditions.one might be better off..I feel a whole Lotta head scratching coming on

[Ray]

Yeah that's a serious dose of techno babble lasting over 30 pages. I tried to summarize some of what I have consumed but it wasn't all from one topic. The short fletch is supposedly better for both the rain and the noise and superior to blazers. They were pretty specific about the dimensions which were used in their testing. Apparently without the right size tape and in the right spot (1/4 inch in front of fletching) accuracy is poor. At that point people wanted to become aircraft wing engineers and I decided to take their word on that. LOL

[rasbo]

whats the length of your bow Ray?I like the long bows...Looking for a mid range bow{Price}50lbs...

[Ray]

All my bows are 64 inches or longer. Except for perhaps my vine maple bow which I believe is 62 or 63 inches. I prefer a bow on the longer side because they feel more comfortable when I shoot. The angle of the string is greater on the longer bow and there is less finger pinch when the archer draws back due to the greater angle. You probably won't get a consensus on what is best as a lot of people prefer the shorter bows for tight positions such as blinds and brush. However I don't often hunt from blinds and have had little trouble managing brush with my bows.

Anyway if you wanted to spend a small amount of cash and didn't mind buying a bow made in China they got them for 119 dollars and are reportedly "OK". I'd loan you one but I don't have one in that weight category to loan since my bamboo-ipe bow experiment blew up last fall. Otherwise I'd surf craigslist or even get one of Ernie's or Jay's Bows.

[ribka]

RASBO:
Look for a used Martin long bow. They are located in Yakima. They used to give tours of their bow making process.
I have two and I think a decent bow for the money. I have had good customer service too with Martin. IMHO

[Ray]

I have seen those Martin bows. There was a nice one for auction a while back (this one) which I did not bid on. Pretty sweet bow. I don't think you could go wrong with the right bow. This one appears good below..

http://www.martinarchery.com/2010web/l100.php

[rasbo]

thanks for the info,I will look into them..

[Ray]

55# longbow - Olympia...

http://seattle.craigslist.org/oly/spo/1669596260.html