Introduction:
The purpose of this article is to give a brief overview of the construction of Siloflex combat arrows for SCA heavy archery combat use. As with any pictorial, this is meant to serve as a general guide. The assistance and tutelage of an experienced combat archer or Marshall is invaluable in these matters.

These arrows are legal in Caid. Please check your local kingdom rules for applicability.

There are many ways to build these arrows, this is neither the “only” way nor the “right” way. For more ideas, instructions and assistance please refer to Tessa the Huntress’s site at http://www.combat-archery.com.

In this pictorial we are using tennis balls as blunts, and a special nock designed and built by the archers of Saint Artemas.

Happy combat archery!!!

Materials Required:

• Straight lengths of Siloflex or its equivalent Polyethylene Pipe. For a list of equivalents, please refer to Tessa the Huntress’s site with its most informative article on the same. Remember that the maximum length for combat arrows is 28 inches from the bottom of the tennis ball to the notch of the nock.
• 2 inch wide any color duct tape.
• 2 inch wide red duct tape
• _ inch wide good quality monofilament strapping tape: Scotch 3M is the best. Please do not use cheap strapping tape if you value your hobby time. You might save a few dimes at the counter, but the lower quality adhesive will fail quickly and you will have to re-strap the blunt all over again.
• Polypropylene cord, _ inch diameter or so. Do not use nylon cord please.
• Hammer
• Nocks if used, or saw/file for making self nocks (remember we are using a premade nock in this article).
• Drill or punch.
• Tennis balls…dead tennis balls are preferred as they are more yielding. These can be obtained free at any tennis or country club, usually by the hundreds as they are discarded.
• Single edge razor blade for trimming excess or un-neat tape ends as you finish up.
• Scissors.
• Glue for attaching the wooden or Siloflex nocks: Liquid Nails brand has been shown to be the best choice.
• A method to tie the nocks in place after they are glued. I use artificial sinew and a large leather sewing needle

Recommended items:

• A flame or heat source to sear the poly cord ends, makes threading them a bit easier.
• Other colors of 2 inch wide duct tape to suit your fancy, for labeling and/or cresting the arrows when you are done.
• Clear packaging tape to cover labeling letters.
• Kelly clamps or hemostats to assist in tightening the knots on the poly cord, or a willing assistant.

If you have cats, put them elsewhere or find something for them to do. It is not possible to make arrows if you have curious cats around.

Procedure:

After the pipe is cut to length, drill or punch four holes as shown in a cross configuration.

Pull 2-3 feet of poly cord. Thread it through the holes like this. It can be helpful to sear the ends of the cord in order to get it through the holes more easily. The loop shown is critical.

Set the tennis ball on the edge of the pipe. Drape the loop over the top of the ball as shown. Thread the longer of the loose end through the center of the loop as shown, again try to keep the loop on the top surface of the tennis ball. A helper or a tiny piece of tape can be beneficial until you are experienced. This is a tricky part. The ends of the cord need to be pulled down TIGHTLY to the side of the ball and then tied. Here is where Kelly forceps, teeth, nails, or an assistant are beneficial until you are experienced. The ball cannot be permitted to fall off the end of the pipe and the loop cannot be permitted to slip off the top of the tennis ball. The knot cannot be on the striking surface of the ball, it has to be on the side.

Congratulations, you did it. Take your ends now and pull them TIGHTLY around the neck of the pipe and tie them again, TIGHTLY. This should be easier as now the ball should not be able to slip off the end of the pipe nor the loop move. Take a breath. Trim excess cord if it is really excessive, but don’t be too worried about that.

Pull five lengths of your 3/4 inch strapping tape, about 18 inches long. A lap is a good place to put them.

Take two of these pieces and make a cross pattern over the ball and down the pipe. Try to cover the string and make maximum contact with the sides of the pipe. Do not overtighten these strips of tape. Snug but not tight please.

Repeat with the next 2 pieces. All string should be covered now. Again maximize contact with the pipe, and make it snug but not over tight.

Important step. Take your fifth piece of strapping tape and begin to wind it around the neck of the pipe. Pull this as tightly as you physically can, very important!!! You will feel the string and the other pieces of strapping tape tighten themselves beneath your fingers.

Pull two pieces of your any color duct tape to 1 foot-18 inches long. Place the first piece like this, and make the duct tape over the striking surface of the ball as smooth and wrinkle free as possible.

Place the second piece at a 90 degree angle (cross configuration) like this. Again make the striking surface of the ball as smooth as you can. Do not worry if a small bit of tennis ball yellow shows at the edges of the tape. We will address that in a moment.

Pull one piece of your 2’’ wide red duct tape, about 18 inches, and then split it into two lengths as shown.

Place one piece across the ball and down the sides of the arrow. Place it so as to cover any exposed ball, and again ensure that the striking surface is as smooth and wrinkle free as you can make it.

The second piece now applied. No tennis ball should show now.

Pull a one foot section of your duct tape and wrap it TIGHTLY around the neck of the arrow, just as you did the strapping tape. Again you will feel the duct tape tightening as it is pulled into place.

Repeat below with another one foot piece of duct tape. If any strapping tape remains below the bands of silver duct tape, trim them off with the razor blade. This is an important step not only for aesthetics but function. Strapping tape left exposed will degrade and its filaments unravel. Over time this degradation will spread beneath the duct tape and lead to failure of the arrow.

Nock installation: The Saint Artemas nock is a lightweight and durable nock made of Ramin wood, with an average weight of 30 grams and finger tabs for ease in drawing and handling. They have been used for many years in Caid and are virtually unsplinterable and unbreakable. Remember that the Saint Artemas nock has to be glued first, but since no glue really bonds to Siloflex it also has to be drilled and tied as an additional safety measure. Do not staple the nocks to the arrow please. The best glue found thus far is “Liquid Nails” brand contact cement, available in hardware and home improvement stores in any size from 5 gallon buckets to 2 ounce tubes (really all you need.) Spread a thin layer of glue on the shouldered end of the Saint Artemas nock and drive it into the arrow nock end, either by tapping it on a firm floor or with a hammer. Drill four small holes in a cross configuration through the arrow and the shoulder end of the nock. Drill the holes in comparable size to whatever cord you are using. I have found that a doubled length of artificial sinew on a large leather sewing needle works best for me. Artificial sinew is cheap, available, thin and lies flat when tied. Tie the artificial sinew in place, and then wrap a piece of duct tape over it when you are through.

Siloflex nock: Multiple methods exist to the building of these nocks. These are installed in a similar manner. Use a thin layer of Liquid Nails brand contact cement and push your nock so that only 1/2” of the nock protrudes beyond. Then drill, tie and tape in the same manner described above. Trim the nocks to fit if they protrude longer than 1/2” if needed.

When you are done, label your arrows with your name, barony and kingdom, and cover the label with clear packaging tape to protect the writing from moisture and fighters’ feet. Remember that even though they are labeled, the arrow goblin is going to claim some of them. The use of brightly colored duct tape strips as cresting has been shown to be useful in cheating the arrow goblin.

Congratulations, your arrows are now ready!!!

The Author:
Ingilborg Sigmundardottir is an 11th century Norsewoman. Her husband died long ago on a campaign, and her fair daughter sailed away on a longship to be wedded to a brave Viking prince. She spends her crone years as an accomplished healer, birthing the babies of her village and tending wounded warriors of all types. She contemplates the White Christ, whose teachings she finds sensible and fascinating. She is known as a very accomplished archer, meadmaker, and Healer. She lives away from her village in the surrounding forest and is rarely seen among the villagers, but is intensely loyal to them and offers the services of her bow whenever her village is threatened. Her cottage is rich with plants of all types and she keeps the company of wolves, and the wiser of the villagers know that in times of extreme, she is quite capable of running with them whenever necessary.

Roberta Ashley is a 21st century Norsewoman, a very accomplished anesthetist who is all too often seen in the hallways of various healing institutions in the City of Angels, where she assists in the birthing of babies and the tending of wounded warriors of all types. She is an accomplished archer, meadmaker, and practices in her spare time a very ancient form of Eastern hands-on healing when it is needed. Her cottage in the more remote canyons of the San Gabriel Mountains is rich with plants of all types and she keeps the company of two rescued captive bred wolves, Cheyenne and Mai-Coh. The wiser of her colleagues know that in times of extreme, she is probably quite capable of running with them whenever necessary.

Tighearn Lonán Dubh is a 9th century Irishman, who spends most of his free time on his studies of trivia and quadrivia, going on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and learning languages to assist him on his travels through the largely uneducated continent. Unfortunately, given the nature of modern day economics and his attendances of Masses, these periods of free time are not nearly as often as he would like.

Ciaran Dougherty is an impoverished college student, currently working towards his bachelor’s degree in one of the least practical majors he could find: Language Studies. In truth, though, it is not so impractical, as he wishes to warp the minds of the next generation through instruction in foreign languages. In the copious free time he finds by depriving himself of sleep and ignoring the entire concept of ‘study’, he plays at archery, music, and crew, and that’s not even including his more geekish pursuits. After those hobbies are dealt with, he seems to work quite hard at finding new ways to insert his foot into his mouth, at which he is far more accomplished than in his other pastimes.