[Archers] Fwd: I need your help

[Garth G. Groff]

Lord Siegfried and Lord Christophe,

The ground where we shoot is ROCK HARD clay, and very difficult to drive 
anything into. It probably was heavily compacted when the gas pipeline 
that is buried there was laid. Which brings us to the second problem, in 
that you aren't supposed to drive anything into the ground there (by 
state law) without getting a permit. Even going down a foot would 
probably get us in lots of trouble, though I'm sure the pipe is several 
feet deep. Remember 'Miss Utility'?

The wooden frames (built by Lord William of Wolverhampton and his 
brother John of Caer Gelynniog) are very heavy, and since we leave them 
out there year-round in all weather, they are also much stronger against 
wind than the constructions you describe. They may clunky, but they work 
well for our purposes, and certainly could support a half dozen or more 
darts without falling over. Your ideas are appreciated, but we will 
stick with what we have for the foreseeable future.

I would much like to get away from the construction foam, which leaves a 
nasty gunk on arrows, bolts and darts due to the friction melting the 
foam to the shaft on impact. This stuff can be scraped off with a piece 
of plastic, but that takes off the protective finish on the shaft as 
well. Our arrows need frequent maintenance. My choice for archery (maybe 
not for atlatl darts) would be the classic round straw butt about 8" 
thick on a tripod stand. These could be removed for indoor storage, and 
the whole thing put up in ten minutes or so. I know somebody still makes 
these (I stumbled across a web site once), but I can't find them right 
now. I'm planning on setting up another range, and would rather use these.

Kind regards,


Lord Mungo Napier, Shire of Isenfir Target Archery Marshal

Siegfried wrote:
> A couple of thoughts for you Mungo.   Christophe already pointed out the
> PVC/Fiberglass Rod method.
>
> There are some other ways to make the targets lighter-weight and simpler
> as well, plus stand up better.   For example:
>
> 1) To make them hold together better, A sheet of cardboard on either
> side of your sandwich does wonders.   At the very least, on the back, to
> stop blowouts.
>
> I've seen those heavy 2x4 frames.   You don't really need them ... Some
> ideas instead are:
>
> 2) Make a 2x2 4 sided frame (fancy joinery, or just deck brackets for
> the corners, so that the foam either rests against the front of it (and
> gets duct taped on) ... or rests inside of it, and has a cardboard
> backing that holds it on.
>    On the bottom two corners, put spikes (think pavilion pole spikes)
> ... maybe 6" long so that you can jam it into the ground.   On the back
> have two hinged legs that swing out.   Jam it into the ground at a 30
> degree angle, swing the legs back.  Done.
>
> 3) The original 'simple' version I was talking about.   As long as you
> don't have heavy winds.   Make the 4x4 foam sandwich.  Lean it on the
> ground, and take two of your 4' to 5' to 6' pavilion poles, and jam the
> spikes through them from the back to front, and lean back so that poles
> rest backwards.   Unless there's a strong wind that will pick them up
> and fly them, it will stand surprisingly well.
>
> But I do like COG's fiberglass pole concept.
>
> You could also use rebar, or perhaps fiberglass electric fence poles,
> which are much stronger (3/8" diameter instead of 1/4" for reflectors)
>
> If you want it to hold more than 6 darts.
>
> Siegfried
>
>
> On 8/23/10 9:50 AM, Garth G. Groff wrote:
>   
>> Lord Siegfried,
>>
>> If you have built targets like this, I bow to your experience and
>> wisdom. We already use a double layer of pink or blue insulation, but
>> the sheets are slid into a heavy slotted frame of 2X4s, with substantial
>> feet at 90 degrees to the target face (I wouldn't want to try driving
>> large legs or pegs into the verrrrry hard ground of our range). I think
>> after several hits with darts, anything less substantial would fall over.
>>
>> Kind regards,
>>
>>
>> Lord Mungo Napier, Shire of Isenfir Target Archery Marshal
>>     
>
>
>   

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