How do you choose to wear your arrows?

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Iodo
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How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Iodo »

If you use a quiver there are realistically two ways to wear it, on your back or on your side, and if you don't there are historical drawings showing people with arrows directly tucked into a belt, or in an arrow sock tucked into a belt etc...

and within the two ways to wear a quiver, there are many ways to harness it, where back quivers are concerned people on this forum often lean towards the three point harness that prevents the quiver from slipping backwards, but even this can be done in many different ways

So I'm curious to know, what does your set-up look like, if you use a quiver how is it slung and why do you prefer that method?
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Ghostsoldier
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Ghostsoldier »

This is something that I would like to know, also; I'll be beginning a new back quiver project soon, and the harness technique/method(s) is the million-dollar question for me....

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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by caedmon »

I actually carry them in an arrow bag while trekking, and just tuck 3-6 of them into my belt when it's time to hunt.
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Elleth »

I'm still using the one I made some years ago based on Urthgard's model. I'd meant once to change the strap arrangement from just top-and-bottom to top-and-side, but never have. It does droop a bit when walking, but long ago I just got in the habit of nudging it back into place by pushing with my bow-hand elbow against the toe of the quiver while reaching for an arrow. One of these days I'll actually make that WETA Ithilien copy to play with the top-and-side arrangement, but that's ages down the line. I've too many other things to do first.

No plans to do anything harness-related. A simple strap's enough for me.

As often as not though for stump shooting rambles I'll just keep one on the string and hold a couple spares in my bow hand.

edit => a picture so the new folks don't have to go hunting:
Image

If I were to do it all over I think I might dispense with all that extra hardware and leather strap "ladder" on the back. On the other hand, the double-layered spine does add a nice bit of extra rigidity.
I'm not planning on making any changes at this point though.
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Ghostsoldier »

Is that a woolen arrow bag or liner inside of the quiver? I assume to protect the fletching?

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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Elleth »

I think we're informally calling it an "arrow sock" - it's just a long cloth bag that sits inside the quiver. In addition to being able to pull it up and protect the fletching, it also pads around the arrows and keeps them from rattling around, sliding out if you take a tumble, etc. It's an amazingly practical innovation that - so far as we've been able to tell - was actually first done by WETA.

Here's the thread on my quiver:
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=3749


... and here's the post in that thread where I show off the completed arrow sock with drawcord and spacer:
viewtopic.php?p=43673#p43673

I think most folk here use linen or waxed linen: I like wool for the added bit of cushiness. Though I suspect it would be less good for long long treks in the wet.
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Iodo »

nice info Elleth, thank you :P

what you mention with lifting the bottom of the quiver with your bow hand is exactly what I watch someone at my archery club doing, it's cool to know it also works well enough for you because the 3 way harness, although it's nice and secure, doesn't look like it would be easy to use with a bedroll etc..

also I notice on your quiver that the lower strap attachment is a few inches up from the bottom of the quiver, is this for any practical reason or just because it was the easyest place on your design to attach the strap?


Ghostsoldier wrote: Tue Feb 08, 2022 12:01 pm This is something that I would like to know, also; I'll be beginning a new back quiver project soon, and the harness technique/method(s) is the million-dollar question for me....

Rob


I put this thread up for a similar reason, I actually have a quiver now (custom made by Darkblade LARP - this worked out cheaper than buying enough leather to make one myself) but I'm not planning it to be really accurate "middle earth", but instead to be a way of testing all the different ways to wear a quiver to find out what works best for me and then maybe I will make a better one. I now have about 5 different strap attachment points on the quiver, and all the straps are on sam brown studs so I can try them in different places etc... This experiment might become a YouTube video eventually, I don't know yet, but I'll upload some photo's here later
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Elleth »

Iodo wrote: Wed Feb 09, 2022 9:59 am also I notice on your quiver that the lower strap attachment is a few inches up from the bottom of the quiver, is this for any practical reason or just because it was the easyest place on your design to attach the strap?
The exact position falls out of the construction technique: I wanted a metal d-ring for the bottom anchor (rather superfluous in retrospect) - and that meant the ring needed a tab to hold it down, and the tab needed to be above the "boot" at the bottom for a clean line, so... there it went. Also I think I used a commerical quiver I had as a reference.

HOWEVER I do have a memory of playing with different placements and coming to the conscious decision of moving the quiver down on the body a touch, because I wanted to use rather long arrows without the fletching being way above my head.
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Greg »

Mine is a bit of a unique hybrid. The strap goes over the left shoulder for a right-handed draw, but neither of the straps are connected off the "top" of the quiver; they both come off the sides, essentially in-line with each other. A few inches shy of the actual quiver body, they split into pairs, which then connect to the strap individually for a total of four connection points, which stabilize the wobble and eliminate the need for a three-point harness, which would be restrictive to the wearing of a cloak. Because my cloak is of bocksten design, the side that is open is also the side that has my quiver strap going under the arm, so the opening and closing of the cloak is unaffected by straps, etc., and the open side is free to carry my snapsack under the arm without bunching up around excess cloak material.
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back.JPG
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Since those photos were taken, of course, a waxed linen arrow sock is a part of the party, and I carry arrows that are a little shorter than those pictured here. It definitely stays mostly upright (there's a slight tilt to the right which is intentional), but they draw very comfortably over the right shoulder, I don't ever have to adjust it once it's on, and the arrows rarely snag on anything since they're so close to being within the running lines of my head. The quiver itself is quite lightweight, so there's virtually no wobble unless in an outright sprint (watch Legolas running at the beginning of The Two Towers and you'll see his bouncing all over from the weight of the piece, even with the three-point), and it feels more like a pack than a quiver slung over the shoulders in how securely it sits.
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Iodo »

Elleth wrote: Wed Feb 09, 2022 12:37 pm HOWEVER I do have a memory of playing with different placements and coming to the conscious decision of moving the quiver down on the body a touch, because I wanted to use rather long arrows without the fletching being way above my head.

That's a good point, I hadn't even considered making sure the arrows don't go too far above my head, but I can imagine if they did the chance of catching them on trees and stuff, and damaging the fletching, would be quite high

Greg, that is very interesting, I honestly thought you used the three point harness because that's what it always looks like in your photo's (to the untrained eye), now I finally understand how you get your setup to work with the bocksten cloak, it makes a lot more sense now, any chance of seeing a photo of the side of the quiver that faces towards your back?

Greg wrote: Wed Feb 09, 2022 1:02 pm ...and it feels more like a pack than a quiver slung over the shoulders in how securely it sits.

This unintentionally reminded me of one of the things I was going to ask, has anyone here ever tried harnessing a quiver just like a rucksack? If so, does it work? I'll probably be trying it anyway, but for now here's a random photo of what I mean from the internet:


Image



[EDIT] Also, here's a link to quite an interesting article I just stumbled upon, it goes over things quite quickly but the bit at the end about Japanese quivers caught my interest

https://legendarchery.com/blogs/archery ... get-quiver
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Ghostsoldier »

Thanks for the great information, everyone... it's really helpful, and good stuff. :P

My dilemma is trying to determine the best rig for wearing the quiver over my circular cloak; I'm not overly keen about having to cut a slit in the fabric to pass the straps through, although it is only a cheap canvas version from Mytholon.

Once I figure this out, I plan on upgrading my cloak to a more expensive wool version...of which I wouldn't want to have to cut a hole in, unless absolutely necessary.

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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Elleth »

... has anyone here ever tried harnessing a quiver just like a rucksack?
My very first (bought off the shelf) quiver worked exactly like that. It was very stable, very comfortable, kept the arrow fletchings pretty much inline with the head so it was pretty easy to duck through branches and such.

BUT at the time I was using an 18th c. knapsack and bedroll, and they just didn't play well at all together. The best I think I managed was put on quiver, then knapsack over it. Which wasn't comfortable, was hard to get in and out of, and made things with the blanket roll even more awkward.
merf-first-kit.jpg
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When I use that quiver any more I tend to put both straps over one shoulder and carry it "normal style" - it just seems less trouble. Which isn't to say there's not some way of making it work with other things: I just wasn't able to find it.
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by ForgeCorvus »

My quiver runs pretty much along the back of my belt just off horizontal with the nocks sticking out into the space that my drawing hand falls into (I shoot bows left-handed but long guns right-handed).
I shoot a 75lb English longbow instinctive with an overhead draw, so my 'firing cycle' is:
Nock
Spot target
Raise bow
Drop bow vertically while drawing
Hit anchor-point
Loose
Draw-hand to 'magazine'
Bring bow to low position.
Nock

And, yes I have shot 12 to 15 aimed arrows in a minute..... But its hard on the fingers
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Greg »

I've worn a true backpack style one before as well. It's super comfortable and solid...but if you want to carry other things (ie. bedrolls, wear a cloak under, etc.) they kinda get in the way. If we didn't have all this other stuff to carry, we all wouldn't have spent so much time discussing this!
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Iodo »

Elleth wrote: Wed Feb 09, 2022 6:07 pm My very first (bought off the shelf) quiver worked exactly like that. It was very stable, very comfortable, kept the arrow fletchings pretty much inline with the head so it was pretty easy to duck through branches and such.

BUT at the time I was using an 18th c. knapsack and bedroll, and they just didn't play well at all together. The best I think I managed was put on quiver, then knapsack over it. Which wasn't comfortable, was hard to get in and out of, and made things with the blanket roll even more awkward.
Greg wrote: Thu Feb 10, 2022 12:31 pm I've worn a true backpack style one before as well. It's super comfortable and solid...but if you want to carry other things (ie. bedrolls, wear a cloak under, etc.) they kinda get in the way. If we didn't have all this other stuff to carry, we all wouldn't have spent so much time discussing this!

Good to know, I did wonder about compatibility with other stuff :P
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