The Reinvention Of Archery ©
By Frank H. Scott
The North American Archery Group, LLC & The Fred Bear Museum

    In most cases, the nomenclature and component parts of all arrows are pretty much the same. The basic parts being the nock, the fletching, the shaft and the point. It is the point that needs to be changed from time to time depending on its extended usage. In the early days of our modern archery industry, the points were usually fastened to the shaft by means of a hot melt cement or glue. This procedure was a problem, since the points could not be conveniently changed or repaired in the field.
    In 1968, Fred Bear introduced to the mass archery market the "Converta Point" arrow system. This system provided a means of changing arrow points quickly and easily from broadheads for hunting big game, to blunts for small game, to target and field points for practice.
    In Figure 1, a threaded plastic insert was glued permanently and flush into the end of an aluminum or fiberglass shaft into which the various points (Figure 3) were screwed. The idea of the plastic insert being flush with the end of the shaft was to allow the various points to make direct contact with the end of the shaft. At the time it was considered that a metal to plastic screw-in connection would be less likely to corrode and bind as could happen with a metal to metal connection. However, it would seem that many of the archery consumers resisted this plastic insert, resulting in the manufacturers of arrows changing from plastic inserts to an aluminum insert, as in Figure 2. Otherwise, the system hasn't changed since 1968.
    In reality, however, all we have done with the interchangeable head is refine an idea that dates back well beyond 500 years! Please note Figures 5 through 10. While these heads are all of different shape, all have one thing in common. That is the long metal tang on the back end. The purpose of this tang was to fit the arrowhead into a hollow bamboo arrow (Figure 4) allowing those ancient archers to quickly change heads for different usage. Even arrows with solid wood shafts had holes drilled in the end to receive these tangs. In Figure 4, the bamboo shaft is shown with a wrapping of heavy silk thread to reinforce and prevent splitting of the shaft.
    All of the heads in Figures 5 through 9 are of oriental and mid-eastern designs, being widely used for hundreds of years by the Turks, Persians, Chinese, Mongolians and Japanese. Figure 10, however, is of African pygmy design and is evidence that even so- called undeveloped societies had employed this system.
    The small heads in Figure 4-A and Figure 4-B are whistling heads used for signaling, but even these had a hole in the forward end to receive a broadhead. It is believed by many scholars that the whistling arrow was one of the first psychological warfare weapons. That is, the enemy wanted his opponent to hear it coming and perhaps strike fear into his heart. These particular heads in Figure 4-A and Figure 4-B are Japanese, and are called Hikimeya.
    In Figure 5, the forked head is called Karimata. In Japanese, that means "Flying Goose". This particular head was used in naval battles for shooting up in the sails of ships to cut down the sails and riggings, as the heads are sharp on the inside of the fork. The Karimata was also used in mass land battles against troops. It is shown with a whistle behind the head, since every one of these heads ever found on a battle field had a whistle attached purely for the psychological effect. Figure 6 is again Japanese and is called a Watakusi, which translated means "Flesh Tearer". Being barbed, it would seem that part of the devastation of wounds inflicted by this head involved the removal of the head from the victim's body.
    Figure 8 and Figure 9 are military armor-piercing heads used by Samurai Warriors. These heads are pointed, but the edges are not sharp. The theory for this is that a pointed, yet dull blade punches a hole through the breast armor plate and the jagged metal parts of the armor virtually become part of the weapon. The name of the head in Figure 9 is Yanagi-bu, or "Willow Leaf" in Japanese..
    Stay tuned for next month's article