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What weight leather for a quiver?
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 2:07 am
by Elleth
As my trousers project is nearing a close (almost there!) - I'm thinking of actually doing a bit of work on woods gear for a change. What's the ideal weight leather to use for a standard "Ranger" style quiver with an arrow sock inside? I'm thinking of mostly copying Urthgard's fantastic design, for what it's worth.
Re: What weight leather for a quiver?
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 11:45 am
by Peter Remling
For a rigid quiver 8-9 oz or better. For a soft side quiver you can go as low as 2-3 oz.
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn46 ... nchair.jpg
The soft sided quiver is quieter than a hard sided one. The mouth and walls can be reinforced with 8-9 oz straps as seen in the attached picture.
Re: What weight leather for a quiver?
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 12:46 pm
by Udwin
For my 'stealth-draw' type quiver, I made the body out of alum-tanned (grain-on) deerskin, which is in the 3.5-4.5 oz range...but then reinforced that with a tube of heavy cow rawhide (1/8" or more) to keep it rigid. (I have plenty of the rawhide left over if you need any Elleth!)
Re: What weight leather for a quiver?
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 1:18 pm
by Elleth
Thank you all!
Are the following tradeoffs about right, or do I misunderstand?
3-4 oz: rather floppy, which moves with the arrows and keeps down noise, but doesn't necessarily protect as well. Arrows can be drawn out quietly. Very light to carry.
5-7 oz: kinda in between. Doesn't protect as well a heavier quiver, isn't as light and low profile as a lighter one. Best of both worlds? Or too many compromises on both sides?
8-10 oz: hard "case-like" quiver - protects well, but arrows tend to rattle inside. Heavier to carry, and more risk of noise in drawing an arrow. (Presumably a fabric arrow sock or shearling lining can ameliorate the noise issue, at the cost of more weight and bulk.)
Is that right?
Re: What weight leather for a quiver?
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 3:48 pm
by Udwin
That sounds about right. Consider that 3 oz is as thick as a dime, and 4 oz is only nickel-thick - that's really probably too thin to do much 'protecting' and mostly good just for keeping your arrows all in one place.
Arrows by themselves in my hard quiver will rattle, but adding a thick piece of felted wool at the top and bottom cut the noise down to almost nothing while walking, stalking, or drawing (still a little rattle while running, which shouldn't really be an issue while hunting).
Re: What weight leather for a quiver?
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 5:23 pm
by Greg
What I've found is that the general tendency when making a quiver with stiff, thicker leather is to make it large, able to accommodate 2 dozen+ shafts. This loose arrangement, yes, will rattle, even with soft fluffies put around the edges, because the arrows in the middle still hit against each other. Andy literally stuffed his entire quiver with shearling to avoid this, but this seems to have reduced his capacity by quite a bit (though he never commented on that publicly.) Also, nearly every video clip you've ever seen (or in person in public for that matter) of a person dumping a quiver full of arrows because they "turned around too fast" or any other number of motions that are rather common in the woods, was carrying a large-mouthed, stiff leather quiver. FYI.
Thin, floppy quivers just don't belong in the woods in my book. Because they move so freely and don't hold their form, I've actually seen the straps pull the top and bottom together, like scrunching up a sock, allowing the arrows to slowly creep out until there's no quiver left to hold them in place, and the whole bundle gets dumped.
What I've found works best for me, is using 5-6 oz, and keeping the quiver small. The way I see it, if you're headed off to war, there will be countless sheaves of arrows available, because it is the leadership's responsibility to provide ammunition if they want you shooting it. If you're in the woods, carrying more than a dozen at most is unnecessary. If you disagree, I think you shoot your bow too much in the woods. It's like a squirrel hunter carrying 200 rounds of .22 LR. "You shoot your gun too much. Wait for the right shot; don't shoot at everything that moves."
A smaller diameter quiver can hold 9-12 comfortably, but I don't particularly like how a 6 oz quiver feels all on its own. I doubled up on my thickness by lining the quiver with another layer on the inside, grain side in, so the exterior and interior are the same texture. This adds a bit of shape-holding stiffness without actually getting stiff/hard, and the narrow profile virtually eliminates the potential for arrow-dumping. A fabric arrow sock can still be utilized here, and absolutely silences the contents. The only time I've heard arrows rattling around in the last eight years has been others' arrows at Ren Faires, yet I've been carrying arrows weekly.
My two cents on materials. Just remember...there's a lot more to carry than just arrows, so I'd recommend you keep it smaller. Spend some time really thinking about your straps, because it's likely that you'll discover quivers can carry a boatload more than just arrows.
Re: What weight leather for a quiver?
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 5:35 pm
by Kortoso
What, pray tell, is an arrow sock?
I've looked at the "Fred Bear" design; it seems to have two tubes (leather) bound side-by-side, inside an outer shell.
The outer shell requires a base to be made in a oblong shape:
http://www.realworldsurvivor.com/2015/0 ... er-step-01
Re: What weight leather for a quiver?
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 5:56 pm
by Elleth
Thank you all - that's perfect!
Kortoso - by "arrow sock" we're referring to a fabric bag held inside the leather quiver, such as these Ithilien quivers by WETA:
- ithilien-rangers.jpg (232.29 KiB) Viewed 19746 times
Re: What weight leather for a quiver?
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 6:23 pm
by Harper
I have nothing to add to the conversation, but it gives me the excuse to post to quivers that I like:
http://rasherquivers.com/custom-quiver-ranger-quiver/
and, a side quiver:
http://hidehandler.com/side_quivers.htm
There is also a back quiver version of the above.
Re: What weight leather for a quiver?
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 7:05 pm
by Eledhwen
For a quiver you can use to beat the enemy to death after your arrows are spent, try armor weight leather...say 12 to 16oz....just be ready to cut it with a jigsaw.
Just kidding.
I used 6 oz leather for the most part, with 8oz in higher stress or use areas.
Good luck!
Eledhwen
Re: What weight leather for a quiver?
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 10:49 pm
by Kortoso
Elleth wrote:Thank you all - that's perfect!
Kortoso - by "arrow sock" we're referring to a fabric bag held inside the leather quiver, such as these Ithilien quivers by WETA:
Ooohh, shiny.
Thanks, I hadn't seen that.
Re: What weight leather for a quiver?
Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2016 10:28 pm
by Manveruon
A lot of good points have been made here. For my part, I think I used 5 or 6 ounce leather for the main body of my quiver, and then 7 or 8 ounce leather for the bands at the top and bottom. I also used some soft, upholstery weight leather to make rolled finished edges along the top and bottom.
That being said, my next quiver project will probably be from a slightly softer leather, and based primarily on the Ithilien quivers from the films.
Re: What weight leather for a quiver?
Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2023 11:03 pm
by A Mayer
Greg wrote: ↑Fri Jun 10, 2016 5:23 pm
What I've found is that the general tendency when making a quiver with stiff, thicker leather is to make it large, able to accommodate 2 dozen+ shafts. This loose arrangement, yes, will rattle, even with soft fluffies put around the edges, because the arrows in the middle still hit against each other. Andy literally stuffed his entire quiver with shearling to avoid this, but this seems to have reduced his capacity by quite a bit (though he never commented on that publicly.) Also, nearly every video clip you've ever seen (or in person in public for that matter) of a person dumping a quiver full of arrows because they "turned around too fast" or any other number of motions that are rather common in the woods, was carrying a large-mouthed, stiff leather quiver. FYI.
Thin, floppy quivers just don't belong in the woods in my book. Because they move so freely and don't hold their form, I've actually seen the straps pull the top and bottom together, like scrunching up a sock, allowing the arrows to slowly creep out until there's no quiver left to hold them in place, and the whole bundle gets dumped.
What I've found works best for me, is using 5-6 oz, and keeping the quiver small. The way I see it, if you're headed off to war, there will be countless sheaves of arrows available, because it is the leadership's responsibility to provide ammunition if they want you shooting it. If you're in the woods, carrying more than a dozen at most is unnecessary. If you disagree, I think you shoot your bow too much in the woods. It's like a squirrel hunter carrying 200 rounds of .22 LR. "You shoot your gun too much. Wait for the right shot; don't shoot at everything that moves."
A smaller diameter quiver can hold 9-12 comfortably, but I don't particularly like how a 6 oz quiver feels all on its own. I doubled up on my thickness by lining the quiver with another layer on the inside, grain side in, so the exterior and interior are the same texture. This adds a bit of shape-holding stiffness without actually getting stiff/hard, and the narrow profile virtually eliminates the potential for arrow-dumping. A fabric arrow sock can still be utilized here, and absolutely silences the contents. The only time I've heard arrows rattling around in the last eight years has been others' arrows at Ren Faires, yet I've been carrying arrows weekly.
My two cents on materials. Just remember...there's a lot more to carry than just arrows, so I'd recommend you keep it smaller. Spend some time really thinking about your straps, because it's likely that you'll discover quivers can carry a boatload more than just arrows.
I think my quivers are usually around 7-9oz. I’ve lined them with a lighter leather.
I’ve always just lined the top of my quivers with about a two inch strip of shearling, making sure that it encloses the quiver. I’ll trim the hair if necessary for a smaller diameter opening. This won’t actually reduce the quiver capacity but does a great job at silencing the arrows. Bodkin and field points pass through fine. I recently discovered that modern two blade broadheads pass through without snagging. I’ve never actually tested medieval broadheads.
The arrow sock that many seem to use looks very functional. I’ve just always used the shearling and an oilskin cover for the fletching during rain or snow. I have the cover tied to the quiver.
Greg’s right in that how you configure the straps are very important. Take the time to get the straps and carry configuration right.
I generally base everything off of being solo and on foot.
As for how many arrows a Ranger should carry, there are so many variables to consider. What are you out there to do? How long do you plan on being out? What’s the bad guy situation? Number of Rangers and weapons breakdown? Personally, if I had a company of Rangers, I’d run bow and spear buddy teams for the most part). Those are just a few of the considerations.
Also, your capability with that bow plays a huge role. Your effective range, rate of fire, and the arrows penetration.
Ultimately I think it comes down to what each Ranger feels he needs to carry.
Re: What weight leather for a quiver?
Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2023 2:25 pm
by Turgolanas
