From the Lions' Den - A freestylers' journey.

geoffretired

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I went to Iceland yesterday and found the shelves were back to normal and there were only a handful of customers.
Perhaps you will get lucky.
 

chuffalump

Well-known member
Just been to Morrisons. No flour. No muesli or rice, except the more 'bespoke' types. Loads of bread though. Shopping a bit more expensive now that the shelves are emptier. Not sure people are really taking the hoarding seriously 😁. Shelves full of low sugar items and posh stuff.
 

LionOfNarnia

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Good luck
get lucky
("Sh!t sandwich" time......)

It was actually the most stress-free trip I've ever had!

Quiet roads (but DAMN the average speed cams covering over half the route!) plenty of parking - and I mean the Blue Badge bays were empty, instead of packed with unbadged vehicles - no queues, I managed to get pretty much everything I went for. There were even stacks of TP in the aisles, not that I need them, I have 4, they'll see me through to chrimbo. There were a few empty shelves but a bit of flexibility meant I ticked my list off OK.

So apart from (local) bread, milk & baccy, that's me sorted for at least a fortnite. And Merlin for 2 months 🐶🐕🐶

While I was making lunch - BLT bun, as usual - the phone went. It was the sister of the landowner, who's a partner (they're really big on nepotism around here :mad: ) to say I couldn't have permission to shoot on the car park. Apparently one of my neighbours (& I'm pretty certain I know which one!) had objected.

So I'm about to instigate Plan B - an 8 yd indoor range I can use anytime I want, and no-one can say DICK about it! The tripod doesn't fit well, and shortens the range too much so the boss will be on a heavy folding table, sitting on 2 layers of Futon with the 3rd behind it as 'vibration protection'. I'll do some pix/vidz later, I'm just enjoying my post-lunch cuppa & smoke right now.
 

Emmadragon

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AIUK Saviour
No good having a conversation with the neighbours?
We had some problems with ours when we applied for planning permission to replace our garage, and it turned out to be a misunderstanding of measurements which we got sorted out with a quick conversation in their lounge (and we got to watch their very fat labrador sit on their horrible ginger cat, who had a broken leg in plaster at the time, one of the funniest things I've seen a dog do).
 

geoffretired

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Layered foam bosses are great bits of kit. They do have one weakness, which is that they do not like arrows landing in them side by side. The holes tend to join up and a hole appears.
What I have done is to set my sight so the arrows land off to one side of the aimed point. Shoot the first arrow at the point and shoot each following arrow at the last arrow you shot. The equivalent of a tight group is a straight line of evenly spaced arrows. A poor shot shows as the arrow that breaks the pattern.
Something I notice about shooting so close is the way the arrows land almost at the same time they set off. I found that after a time I started to get worse results. What was happening was the follow through was getting shortened to the point where there wasn't one.
I was taught, years ago, to "hold my posture until the arrow lands".......... so there was no "holding the posture"!!!
 

LionOfNarnia

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Supporter
conversation with the neighbours?
No, I don't think so. This one is like a skinny version of Pat Butcher but with a voice like a screech-owl. Classic neighbourhood drama queen. I know its' her coz I bumped into her (henpecked) hubby at the petrol station before I went shopping. Normally I have a decent craic with him but today he couldn't even look me in the eyes. Wifey has her nose in everyones' business & if she takes a dislike to you... ☠
LOLs at that Lab!
one weakness
Well, the week 1 WA league target is 15 tiny 3-zones on an A4 sheet, one arrow at each. With a 90cm boss I can move targets around so that no one area sees too much action.

...but not yet, I'm still working on the stand etc, taking my time to get it as right as I can. 'Pottering around' you could say. I'll wait til daylight to carry on,
 

LionOfNarnia

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So, in the best 'rough engineering' traditions, I've gone for the simplest solution that (I hope) does the job.

After unscrewing the heavy MDF/Melamine table top from the base, I cut two of the slats from an unused futon base down to 77cm & screwed them to the base with the same screws.

Base 1.jpg

Then used the fettling disc on my angle-grinder (I still prefer the Dutch word SlijpIjzer) to remove the protruding tips of the screws - I still want to be able to take the boss off the base easily for storage, I don't have the space to leave everything in place 'permanently'.

Base 2.jpg

Finally, I used the off-cuts from the slats to make a 'lip' on the rear slat to ensure the boss can't slide backwards off the stand under impacts, re-using the long, thin screws that held the slats to the futon longitudinals.

Base 3.jpg

Voila! Indoor target complete.

Base 4.jpg

I'll be sight-setting after lunch, then making my first attempts to record scores for both indoor leagues - hopefully with pix & maybe even vidz - as soon as I'm happy with my marks.
 

LionOfNarnia

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Hey, the first eight shots have been loosed -

- The first was the scariest shot I've ever taken!

I'm on a cig-and-tea break to alter the pin, for the 2nd double-brace it was hard against the end-stop so some tweaking is in order.

Yes, I'm using my 'outdoor' ACEs for the very first time but I'm glad I not only stuck with my indoor limbs but also wound them out quite a bit - any more poundage there'd be a chance of shoot-throughs, deffo can't afford that as the hot water timer/controller is pretty much directly behind the gold.

End 1.jpg

More later.
 
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LionOfNarnia

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Supporter
Last arrows of the night. At least they're at a bit more challenging a face! As it got dark I discovered that my living room 'mood lighting' throws off my string picture & dims my long fibre too much for accuracy. Will need to rig up something bright & directed for after-hours ends - TF it'll be lighter for an hour tomorrow evening.

Saturday last.jpg

...but it wasn't quite the end of 'human-powered marksmanship' ;)

For the first time in at least 2 years, I whipped out my 'Big Bore Magnum' & let a few darts fly at the same target.

- Never underestimate the power of the 'pipe 💥

Darts!.jpg
 

LionOfNarnia

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Over the last few days, I've proven to myself that my dislike for shooting at 8m is more than double that for shooting at 18m 😔

So, the only use of a bow here for the foreseeable will be just enough Serious Physical Torture to keep my muscle tone up.

The boss has been moved to the living room, from the kitchen I have a nice 5m blowpipe range. When it gets warm enough to leave the hall door open I'll have very nearly 9m to use. In Holland we used to blow @ 10m outside & 7m indoors but we had the odd 'long range day' at 20m which is about the limit unless it's dead calm. 'Back then' we made up all our own 'rules of blowing' but I think there are enough areas of cross-over with archery to adapt.

An A4 sheet with 6 faces (simulating 60cm face for 50m @ 5m) seems just about right, but I have a few Online League targets to get through first - a 2.5mm shaft does SO much less damage that they'll last weeks each.

The noble 'pipe totally satisfies my marksmanship itch, for what is in effect pure instinctive shooting - No sights of any kind, no weights, just an aluminium tube & a soft plastic mouthpiece. So cheap, easy & safe I really wish more of could get the chance to try it. (The best pipe that can be bought, including loads of darts, is less then the price of a single complete A/C/E)

- It's been on my to-do list for 7 years to make it accessible to everyone again but it's such a huge task I've never really even got started. Perhaps I'll post the whole story during the lockdown as I won't have much archery craic for while.
 

KidCurry

Well-known member
AIUK Saviour
Over the last few days, I've proven to myself that my dislike for shooting at 8m is more than double that for shooting at 18m 😔

So, the only use of a bow here for the foreseeable will be just enough Serious Physical Torture to keep my muscle tone up.
Don't overlook its use for practicing a perfect release which can be done at a couple of metres or so.
 

LionOfNarnia

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Supporter
Just a quick pic of my updated blowpipe range....

Mod Range 7apr20.jpg

I shot (the equivalent of) a WA70 yesterday, carding this...

1st round 6apr20.jpg

Which is above the 'First Class' standard, so I'm pretty chuffed. Scoring is 'by target' instead of 'highest down' as it's far easier that way.

I think there's a lot of mileage in adapting as much as possible from archery to 'piping - and a lot less work for me!
 

LionOfNarnia

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Came across this gem today, whilst shopping for some top-notch darts.

Please note just how similar the whole thing is to an archery competition!

Yes, it's in German, no I don't understand it, but it makes no bloody difference.

 
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LionOfNarnia

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Since Thursday I've been as busy as a buzzin' thing doing the 'spadework' to prepare for making target blowpiping 'a thing' in the UK (again)...

* Contacting Sport England for details of the application process for recognition as a national governing body
* Starting to write a constitution & 'rules of shooting' for the same - based on AGB as much as possible
* Gaining an email addy, building a dedicated forum & a Facebook page
* Re-establishing contact with a US 'blowgun' (Pfft, 'muricans!) forum I haven't posted on since 2013
* Affiliation application to IFA (International Fukiyado Association, Japan) for UK membership
* Ordering new competition darts & dart-making materials from Germany
* 'Testing' different 'pipe/dart/target combos at 5m & 8m
* 'Converting' archery scoresheets & target faces for blowpiping

No, not a thing that's directly related to archery, not even SPTs - my training bow isn't even strung right now & my club bow has been cleaned & packed away in the bedroom.

I could actually do with the lockdown continuing for at least a couple of months, so I have a chance of finishing it all - Once I can get out in the fresh air & let some arrows fly again, I'll be happy to leave the bumf until the cold dark days of winter!
 
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