Self Nocks Failed

[OldBow]

I've been using self nocks for years but had five arrows out of 12 split today.  I'm careful to keep the grain 90 degrees to the string but maybe I've got to wrap the nocks with sinew which I have sometimes done. What do you think?

[El Destructo]

I wrap all of them ....unless I have strengthened them with Hardwood like these

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[Coo-wah-chobee]

Yup Like Yankee said "Wrap em up-head em' out !"..................bob

[Pat B]

Don, I wrap all self nocks. Sinew, silk thread and artificial sinew have worked well for me. If you add a spline, like Yankee, you don't need to wrap. I have used wood and rawhide for the spines in reinforced nocks.
   A busted nock creates quite a bit of pucker power. After 5, I'd need a pacemaker!    Pat

[Keenan]

 Don, Is it possible that they were to narrow and tight on the string or slightly wegde shaped in the grove I had one split that I know was from that.  Keenan

[Sparrow]

Yep ! I've had a few failures myself.Not a one since I started inletting a piece of oak and also wrap with sinew.I used to shoot heavier bows so I really reinforced the nocks,now I shoot bows in the 50's so probably don't need to be so extreme,but it's a habit now and that is how I like them done.(One more thing you don't have to give a thought to).               Frank

[JackCrafty]

What type of wood did you use?.....so I can steer clear of it.    (Maybe the wood you used was too dry? Maybe it had very small checks/cracks?)

[Yeomanbowman]

Chris Boyton, a fine English bowyer, uses plumbers hemp for his primitive arrows.  I use a horn insert (I mainly make war-arrows) but that's probably not relevent for hunting?

[michbowguy]

all above advice is good and true!

but i will add this.

IVE HAD PLASTIC,AND GLUES FAIL MORE THAN AWENATURAL!!!

mbg

[mullet]

  I wrap them all also. And Pat witnessed not one but two plastic nocks breaking on me . It was the first time I attended the Elberton, Ga. Shoot. The second one pretty much took the fun out of it when the string hit the baseball size welt from the first one.

[1/2primitive]

That would hurt, Eddie. 
Yep, I wrap all of mine, or most. I haven't had a whole lot break on me.
    Sean

[OldBow]

What type of wood did you use?.....so I can steer clear of it.    (Maybe the wood you used was too dry? Maybe it had very small checks/cracks?)

These were brand new Port Orfod cedar shafts from  3-Rivers. I'm wrapping the survivors.

[jamie]

don you should also check the fit like keenan said. conifers should be wrapped like said , anyway. but if its too tight in the crotch of the nock you can still break em. only thing i find myself wrappin anymore is cane and conifer ive yet to have a shoot shaft or good hard wood split shaft break. now that i said that though i can gaurantee ill split one this weekend

one other thing is brass nocks. they can also lead a nock to failure . especially if you use an upper and lower. peace

[daniel]

I'd say they were to narrow and tight and for that reasons alone they did split on You

[juniper junkie]

I had two nocks fail on me yesterday, they were osage inserts in syringa shafts, I cut the nock cross grain and both split identicly, and resulted in dry fire my juniper recurve held up though I think I will wrap them from now on, not worth the possibility of breaking a bow.