Ordered the various bits and bobs I need to repair the fletching on the arrows, and while I was at it, got some wraps for the arrows as well from socx (nothing fancy, just ordinary standard white, with my name and the arrow number on them). I’ve tried several silver pens now and not one of them works – leave them to dry overnight and they still wipe straight off come morning 🙁

So by the time this stuff all arrives, and the arrows are all refletched (and I have some new nocks as well, so I’ll have spares), the arrows should look like this:

So, neat at last 🙂

Mind you, this is just until we decide if we’re going to get custom-made WTSC club wraps…

One of the advantages WTSC has in target shooting is that between Matt and Geoff, we have a wealth of knowlege and experience in the sport available right there on the range. A sort of support network I suppose. We’re not there yet with the archery and we’re working as hard as we can on it, but the occasional gaffes and goofs are showing up. To me, as usual 😀

For example, I have a 70″ bow. So, when we took the riser and limbs and string out of the box and put it all together and strung it, we figured that’s what a 70″ bow looks like. The limbs say 70″, and the string says 70″. Just so you know I’m not kidding on that one:

Thing is, when I went down to Dublin Archers last night (who do have that support network in place), someone noticed the setup and pointed out (thankfully) that a bracing height of 11″-12″ is not normal, and that the string (despite the packaging) is actually a 68″ string. So I was busily damaging my limbs for the past few months and none of us noticed. (Do I need to mention we’re now checking all the other club bows just in case?). Continue reading “Gaffes and Goofs” →

Heading out to Dublin Archers tonight to sign up. WTSC hasn’t gotten sorted with the IAAA yet (though we will), so the fastest way for me to get access to a nearbyish field is to join up. For €40/year and €3/night, it’s not bad value. And it’ll mean I get exposure to other archers, which I think will help a lot with setting up WTSC; I’ll get to observe practises and training and so on first-hand and I plan to ask about the basic stuff a lot so we can figure out how we’re going to do things.

Like, for example, limbs. You start off with 15-20lb limbs, then progress upwards to whatever poundage is right for you; but in the UK there’s a system whereby you don’t buy the ten or twelve sets of limbs that you use as you progress while a beginner – you have a kind of leasing/hire type arrangement, where you pay a deposit and a small amount when you change up. That’s something we’d never have thought of in the beginning (and in fact, didn’t) – but now we know it’s something we have to cope with, we’ll be able to find a way to do so.

Must take the camera and tripod as well…

And arriving late (but better than never…), my new tab. Hopefully the last bit of kit for a while. It’s the cheap-ass version of the Soma Saker tab:

Still, for a cheap-ass version, it’s really well made, and unlike the A&F tab I’ve been using, the shelf doesn’t rock back and forth when I pull the string back…

So that’s a dozen arrows fletched with kurly vanes, and all the other stuff stuck on the riser, and everything packed into the backpack:

All set. Except for one touch. One trip to the Arts&Crafts shop later… Continue reading “Damn you FITA!” →