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Strip bamboo arrows

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willie:
I have read that good tonkin is not about a specific species, as much as it is about a place in china where the cane grew stronger.

maybe it is a sub-species? Like not all doug fir is coastal doug fir?

what bamboo do the traditional arrowmakers of east Asia use?

avcase:

--- Quote from: willie on September 28, 2020, 11:37:54 am ---I have read that good tonkin is not about a specific species, as much as it is about a place in china where the cane grew stronger.

maybe it is a sub-species? Like not all doug fir is coastal doug fir?

what bamboo do the traditional arrowmakers of east Asia use?

--- End quote ---

Willie,
Tonkin cane is a distinct species (Pseudosasa amabilis) and is native to a very small region in the mountainous area in southeast China.  I even have some growing in my back yard, however it struggles if we get any kind of an extended frost.

There are examples of Turkish flight arrows made from split cane also.  This kind of flight arrow construction may have become more common if they had access to better material. For the same spine, the split cane Turkish flight arrows are much more bulky and soft.

There are a few species that traditional arrow makers used for self-arrows. Pseudosasa Japonica, or Japanese arrow bamboo is one of the best. I have made split cane arrows from this also. It is much more difficult due to small diameter and thin wall. The biggest pieces are less than an inch in diameter, and it seems more brittle than Tonkin Cane.

Alan

bownarra:
I have a patch of Psuedosasa Japonica growing in my garden :) It is taking some time and I suspect it isn't particularly happy where it is.

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