best bamboo for arrows?

[Pat B]

Japanese arrow bamboo is pretty light(physically). A good clumping type that makes great arrows is Bambusa multiplex. It has round culms(canes) with thick walls and small center holes, 12"+ inner-nodes, nodes that are less pronounced without a sulcus(indentation above the node). Generally an arrow will only have 2 nodes.
There are places in Oregon to buy bamboos. Google it to find out.

[mullet]

I use Japanese arrow bamboo or Tonkin. There is a big difference in raw Tonkin and the stuff everybody is buying on Ebay. Raw Tonkin is very tough and just about indestructable. The processed, dark brown Tonkin that is very straight and has the nodes and rind sanded off is also carmelized. These have been heated and break a lot easier then the raw Tonkin. The tomato stakes are the raw Tonkin.

[ohma2]

Lots of garbage  out there.

[DC]

You might want to discuss it with a "bamboo expert" at a garden center. It would be a shame to wait 5 years and still not have a big plant. They might even have some in pots so you can get an idea of what to buy. The Fargesia I got was in a ten gallon pot. It was full of bamboo about an eighth of an inch in diameter and about four feet tall. Nice round straight stuff. I planted it in the ground and in 3 years the clump had expanded to about four feet across and maybe eight feet tall. Now after five years it's about six feet across and twelve feet tall. The canes are almost 1/2" at the base. If you look closely at the second picture you can make out the original clump in the middle.

[Dante_F]

i googled tonkin bamboo and there were lots of websites selling a bunch of cane bundles are these any good? also how long would it take for bambusa multiplex to grow to arrow size outside of a pot.

[DC]

I've never bought any myself but I took an arrow making course and we used shafts from Tiger. Very nice shafts but most of them were spined(marked) 10# lighter than they actually were. Better than the opposite as I can scrape them down.
  I don't know how long it would take to grow that species. You were thinking from seed weren't you?

[Dante_F]

probably but i may be able to find some from pots

[Pat B]

A friend of mine in SC busted up a clump and planted a hedge of Bambusa. In a few years he had more than he wanted. The clump he busted up was 50 years old and he left the culms full size when he planted them. If you cut it back before transplanting it takes longer.
Be sure to check the hardiness of the bamboo you plant so you are sure it will survive in your area(hardiness zone).

[mullet]

i googled tonkin bamboo and there were lots of websites selling a bunch of cane bundles are these any good? also how long would it take for bambusa multiplex to grow to arrow size outside of a pot.

I buy bundles of 500, 8- 10mmx 4', from a place down here called the Bamboo Warehouse. I bring a bundle with me when I go to the Classic.

[Dante_F]

theres probably lots of bamboo places in oregon, ill see if i can get some good material