Does all bamboo turn tan when it is dry?

[Ifrit617]

Hi everyone,

I Picked up some bamboo poles at Home Depot for Arrows and decided to make a pole bow out of a couple just for the fun of it... All of the poles they had there were a dark greenish brown.. I am curious if these are dry and just a different color or if they are still green... (They are no where near the color green of live bamboo) First picture shows the color and the second picture shows them next to a dry tan backing strip... Let me know what y'all think...

Jon

[Pat B]

That looks like black bamboo. It should hold most of its color after it is dry.   Drying doesn't turn boo tan. It usually dried light green and the exposure to sunlight turns it tan.

[Ifrit617]

Cool pat thanks for the quick answer...

Jon

[Onebowonder]

Looks like you already got an answer, but I wanted to add that I have seen dried and aged bamboo that is black, dark purple, redish pink, vibrant green, pale green, tan (certainly the most comon), and yellow like amber.  I'm not sure if it is mostly dependent upon the species or the environment,  but I'm certain that at least these two factors are significant.