Has anyone made a coiled straw archery target?

A lot of reenactment level work is about learning appropriate historical crafts and skills. This board is for all general skills that don't have their own forum.

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Elleth
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Has anyone made a coiled straw archery target?

Post by Elleth »

I keep losing my straw bale targets to the livestock! They keep saying something about needing fresh bedding... :)

I'm thinking of making something like these and leaving it up permanently:
target-archery.jpg
target-archery.jpg (50.72 KiB) Viewed 28909 times
I'd just order one, but all the suppliers I can find are in Europe and shipping something so big and bulky here is astronomical.

Has anyone made one themselves? If so, is there a particular cordage you recommend? What did you use for a needle?

Thanks!
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Re: Has anyone made a coiled straw archery target?

Post by Greg »

I bet a big fat sail needle or yarn darner would do the trick.
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Re: Has anyone made a coiled straw archery target?

Post by Elwindil »

https://myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=26780 there's a post here that talks about making one.
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Re: Has anyone made a coiled straw archery target?

Post by Eledhwen »

I made a cloth tube stitched around a brass hoop, got some net makers twine and a sailmakers needle, and started working on one last year. It is still out there, about half done. It works. I am certain it isn't the right way to do it, although it does work.

Good luck.

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Re: Has anyone made a coiled straw archery target?

Post by Kortoso »

Donning the thinkin' cap here...

Assuming the coils are built up from wheat straw, these would have traditionally made from hand-harvested straw. I'd expect that the straw you'd find in a modern bale would be more mangled, since the bales are made by machines. Anyway, it would be pretty crazy to break down a straw bale just so you could build it up as a coiled target. I think the coiled targets were made in the old days when they didn't have the convenience of straw bales.

Wouldn't coiled rope be too dense?

If you have a field of wheat or some other grass, and you are harvesting it by hand anyway, you will have plenty of un-mangled straw to supply this. On the other hand, you might have some other tall grasses that are in need of cutting down.

PS: More info on this: http://www.goldengatejoad.com/2012/07/t ... XI6wlG1s-A
Looks like they have a machine for this...
And 85 Euros apiece from la belle France:
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Re: Has anyone made a coiled straw archery target?

Post by Eledhwen »

I used grass I had scythed down and let dry. Worked well..I plan to finish it this Autumn.

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Re: Has anyone made a coiled straw archery target?

Post by Elleth »

cloth tube... oh! For the funnel? That makes sense! I was thinking of using a canning funnel: it seems about the right size.. I checked one of our straw bales and sadly the stalks are cut far too short to use as is. Drat it!

Well... we're raising a small head of wheat this year. I guess now I know what I can use the stalks for. :)

edit - thanks for the link kortoso!
Sadly that's one of the many listings I saw. They're cheap in Europe, but once you add in shipping to the US I've not seen one of the larger ones for less than a couple hundred dollars, which I just can't justify for a straw target. :(
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Re: Has anyone made a coiled straw archery target?

Post by BrianGrubbs »

I have an old (early 1900s) archery book that has detailed instructions for making one of these, I need to dig it out and see if I can post pictures up of that chapter, or at the very least type out the instructions. If I remember correctly, they used a piece of 1/4" bar stock and drilled a hole in it to make a needle for sticking the target together. Let me look that up and I'll get back to you!
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Re: Has anyone made a coiled straw archery target?

Post by BrianGrubbs »

I found an online copy of the book in question (published in 1939) here:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id= ... 1up;seq=15 Page 311 is where the part on making the target starts, but the whole book is golden. Talks about bow making, arrow making, general archery practice, etc.
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Re: Has anyone made a coiled straw archery target?

Post by Eledhwen »

Good book. I have it. :)

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Re: Has anyone made a coiled straw archery target?

Post by Elleth »

Given how time consuming the process looked, and how incredibly tight those things are woven, and how similarly sized targets aren't much cheaper.... I decided to go ahead and order one. It's grabby as heck even on my bodkins, but I think with regular target points it should be fine:
egertec-target-first-try-01.jpg
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Re: Has anyone made a coiled straw archery target?

Post by Daerir »

You could order this one. It says from Poland but it also has free shipping anywhere in the US so its a win win. It's price is also quite similar to a modern target close to the same size.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Straw-hay-arche ... 5#shpCntId
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Re: Has anyone made a coiled straw archery target?

Post by Kortoso »

Elleth wrote:Given how time consuming the process looked, and how incredibly tight those things are woven, and how similarly sized targets aren't much cheaper.... I decided to go ahead and order one. It's grabby as heck even on my bodkins, but I think with regular target points it should be fine:

...

Finally! This is going to be fun! :)
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Re: Has anyone made a coiled straw archery target?

Post by Manveruon »

Bummer about the compromise, but still, cool target! Looks great!
The one Daerir posted looks pretty cool too - and for a great price. I'd be half tempted to grab one of those myself. Wonder if it's decent quality...
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Re: Has anyone made a coiled straw archery target?

Post by Elleth »

Hunh - wow! I'd seen those, but every other one I saw on eBay looked like a good deal - until I added it my cart and another hundred dollars of shipping got tacked on. Looks like that one doesn't - awesome!

For what it's worth, I still think the Egertec was a good choice - it's VERY dense and tight, and I believe I've read that squarish coil is fashioned with a bit of a wedge so as to tighten up more with impacts. I guess we'll see.

Anyhow, I'm happy. Can't wait for Saturday freetime. :)

OH! For what it's worth, the maker- Hugh ofEgertec- is soliciting US distributors, and a word to your local shop (or 3 Rivers) would go a long way to making these cheaper for all of us in the future. :)
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