[Archers] Vermil Period-style Nocks

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends of the Bow,

We often think that period-style arrows have to be self-nocked. Not so
among archers from the far east. Applied nocks have a long history with the
Chinese and some steppe tribes. But applied nocks also show up in middle
ages Europe. Note the nock in this painting of Antoine, Bastard of
Burgundy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony,_bastard_of_Burgundy#/media/File:Antoine_de_Bourgogne.jpg
. This Rogier van der Weyden portrait was likely painted in 1463 after
Antoine won the prestigious archery tournament at Bruges, and possibly
shows one his personal arrows used in the tournament.

With Antoine in mind, I decided a few months ago to try the new Vermil "V"
nocks from 3Rivers on some of my period arrows. I bought several packages
and mounted them on 50/55 pound shafts to use with my 45-pound yew longbow.
Since the yew bow died, I have been shooting the same arrows from a
43-pound hickory longbow (with less power and accuracy--poop!).

The Vermil "V" nocks are said to be based those used by Asian horse
archers. They have a rather wide mouth for easy string gather and thus
faster nocking. The nocks are made of a creamy-colored polycarbonate
plastic that imitates horn or bone. They are available to fit 5/16 or
11/32-inch shafts and are to be glued in place (insert nocks for carbon
shafts are also available in both the "V" and "Y" series and might work
with bamboo shafts).

The nocks performed admirably, though the nock slot is rather small at the
bottom. Since most of us use 14-strand strings with serving at the nocking
point, the nock slot is a bit tight for a clean release. I chucked a fine
rat-tail file in my electric drill and reamed out the bottoms of the slots
just a bit. This made the fit perfect for my strings. If you shoot with an
unserved string, or one with less strands, the nocks should work fine as-is.

My only criticism is that horns of the "V" nocks stick out more to the side
than most nocks. This makes them easier to break with a subsequent arrow in
the same spot. I've Robin Hooded several of my arrows because of this.
Polycarbonate might be tough, but it won't stand up to an arrow hit.

While researching for this review, I went to Vermil's web site (
https://www.vermilarchery.com ) and found that they also make an "M" series
with shorter horns. These are based on Manchu nocks, and should be a bit
less likely to be hit by another arrow.

3Rivers ( https://www.3riversarchery.com/vermil-arrow-nocks.html ) offers
the Vermil "V" series in packs of six for $5.99. I noted that the list
price from the manufacturer is $9.00 for a pack of twelve, with small
quantity discounts for packs of 50 or 100. 3Rivers does not currently offer
the "M" nocks, nor do they offer the "V" nocks in large-quantity packages.

I'm still making self-nocked arrows, but like the "V" nocks very much. I
will be trying the "M" nocks next, and you can be sure I will order from
the manufacturer (remember, I'm a penurious Scot). I'm planning on shooting
my "V" nock arrows at Kings Assessment in July, and might have arrows with
"M" nocks at WoW this fall. I will be pleased show them to any of you who
are interested.

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
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