Is my quiver upside down?

[punch]

I was looking at the book Survival skills of native California and noticed that this guy's yucca quiver looks like it has the widest end of the yucca down.   I have always had the widest end up like a traditional tapered quiver.  In fact all of the yucca quivers I have seen have always had the wide end up. Are we making our quivers upside down?   Does putting the wide end down make arrow extraction easier? Does the wide end protect the tips better? Or was he just being different?   I am going to do some experiment to see.

Here is the link to the color photo.  What do you think?

[Pat B]

I think it would be a personal preference. Seems logical to have the fat part up but I doubt it matters.

[punch]

I think most people use the wide side up so you have a larger capacity  since the feathers take up more room than the tips. But what I am now wondering is if the larger bottom does it make it easier to extract. The arrow pivots on the top rim as you extract so does the extra room make the pivot easier.   That is what I will be testing.

[JW_Halverson]

Maybe I am missing something, but if you turned it upside down now, wouldn't the arrows fall out?

I like it just the way it is.  Go with it!  Looks great!

[punch]

It is upside down in respect to the yucca plant the arrows still go in the top. Just the wide side is down instead of being the top as you normally see

[JW_Halverson]

I was just ribbing you a little, punch.  I imagine the function is pretty much the same either way.  If you are still wondering about it when the time and opportunity comes your way, build the next one with the wide end up. 

[osage outlaw]

Maybe he put the fat end down to make more room for stone points?

[stickbender]

     So J.W., are those owl fletchings?

                                    Wayne

[punch]

So I got another piece of yucca and played around with it.  The wide end down does not help with drawing the arrow out of the quiver.  The only thing I can think of is it gives the stone heads a bit more room/protection.  The wide end up in the traditional taper is easier to draw arrows from and will be how I continue making my quivers.

[JW_Halverson]

     So J.W., are those owl fletchings?

                                    Wayne

WHOO you asking?  Me?

Yup, look mighty owly to me.

[ozarkokie]

Just cruising through the bulletin boards and saw this statement about owl feathers. Looks like this individual is part Hispanic, maybe Mexican. If he is any native American and registered with the Federal government then he is legal If they are indeed owl feathers then it raises a lot of questions in my mind. Having grown up around Native Americans in Oklahoma I can't imagine any tribe I know that would touch owl feathers for fletching or any other use. Bad omens come with owls as messengers. If he is from Mexico or South America then the question would be does he identify with an indigenous group, and if so, does his group not follow the normal viewpoint of other Native Americans about owls. Just got very curious and would like to know if I am correct about owls and indigenous people groups or is there some exception. Not trying to be a wise guy, just really like to learn from other folks who are a hidden wealth of knowledge.

[JW_Halverson]

There are HUGE variations in beliefs regarding owls.  Everyone thinks eagles are the penultimate religious feathers when some tribes in the U.S. have held parrot feathers from Central America as the top of the list. 

[punch]

The guy in the photo is a member of the kumeyaay tribe in Northern baja. The book said that they use owl and hawk feathers.   The photo is from Survival Skills of native California.   It's a very good book. A must have if you live in California.

[crooketarrow]

  Those look like  hawk feathers.