From the Lions' Den - A freestylers' journey.

Sinbad

Member
I shoot compound, 55lb. My arrows were almost all the way through to the fletching. Checked the boss and realised that its not as tightly packed as the club ones. Bought some ratchet straps, and tighten it so it felt good and tight. Arrows still go through, but only by a few inches. Happy with that, and allows me to still practice. That was a few years ago, even helps with moving the foam about when needed
 

olis

Supporter
Supporter
After your previous post about blowpipes I had a look on google; as far as I could tell they are actually illegal in the UK so you would also have to change the law.
I would have got one if it was easily available, perfect lock-down fun I would say.
It is weird is it not that crossbows and air rifles are readily available and blowpipes not.
 

LionOfNarnia

Supporter
Supporter
I shoot compound
Think you might have posted this in the wrong thread Bro - No biggie though ;)


change the law
To quote from what I wrote on a blowgun forum..

The legal position isn't as dire as I first thought, TF, whilst it is against the law to "manufacture, sell or hire or offer for sale or hire, expose or have in one's possession for the purpose of sale or hire, or lend or give to any other person" " the weapon sometimes known as a "blowpipe" or "blow gun", being a hollow tube out of which hard pellets or darts are shot by the use of breath" the personal private use of the pipe isn't banned, nor is buying or making darts. "All" that will be needed to free British people to enjoy our fantastic sport is a small amendment to Schedule 1 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Order 1988. I know who I need to talk to about getting this done, it still won't be easy but it's certainly not impossible.
Yes, perfect indoor (or outdoor) fun lockdown or not. I know I'm not breaking any law by using my own 'pipes in my own home, the problem comes with letting others enjoy the same. Now I'm not saying I haven't, I'm not saying I have ;)

It's a lot easier to learn than archery, is inherently far safer, and much, much cheaper...

- The 'best 'pipe in the world' can be bought for under £40 (theoretically ;) ) but a decent home-made can be made for less than £20. Darts can be made from supermarket-bought bamboo 'kebab skewers' wrapped with a bit of cotton wool whilst precision built 'premium class' ready-made competition target darts (German) are about £2.50 each.


It is also interesting that the World Peashooter Championships are held in Norfolk every year without hassle even though a peashooter fits the legal definition of 'blowpipe.

Yes, it's totally ridiculous that the 'pipe got banned in '88 whilst crossbows/compounds/bows are still perfectly legal. At the time there was no organised blowpiping anywhere except maybe Japan hence no-one to resist the law changes, which I understand were a knee-jerk political reaction to the 'civil unrest' of the mid-80's.
 

KidCurry

Well-known member
AIUK Saviour
Yes, it's totally ridiculous that the 'pipe got banned in '88 whilst crossbows/compounds/bows are still perfectly legal.
I suspect you meant to say 'Yes, it's totally ridiculous that the 'pipe got banned in '88 whilst crossbows/archery bows are still perfectly legal'. :)
 

LionOfNarnia

Supporter
Supporter
I really don't want to start a semantics discussion here, there are plenty of other threads for that, but I wrote what I feel. Otherwise I'd have just used the catch-all term 'bows'. 'Nuff said?

ANYHOO - The French are hosting a 'virtual' International Blowpipe Competition this weekend, starting Friday evening. I'll be practicing hard, really looking forwards to whuppin' some French arses. "Remember Agincourt" 🏹 ;)
 

LionOfNarnia

Supporter
Supporter
LOL this was my 2nd practice end at the 5m target - The French must be lousy shots if they can fire 6 ends of 5 darts, for 6 rounds, into this without ruining half their darts!

Sarb 5m 1 small.jpg

I really dislike the fact that the IFA (Japanese) target only scores a 7 for the gold! Guess it's one of those 'lucky number' things but I assure you people, the UK target faces will ALWAYS score a 10 for a bull.
 

LionOfNarnia

Supporter
Supporter
Last night (10pm-midnight) I shot a 'Dutch' -style match.

- Beer, whiskey & LOUD rock courtesy of the Alice Cooper show on Planet Rock Radio.

That was how our Friday club sessions in Zaandam 10 years ago went & I still miss the hell out of it. The only thing missing was the 'good green', there's none of that to be had at any price during this damned lockdown.

Did it ruin my form? No, sir. I shot a very respectable 1158

... and think I ruined my chances of shooting another match on these faces

Wrecked!.jpg

Yes, I am feeling 'a little delicate' this morning, I'm well out of practice for hard-core sessions these days. But I'm still due to shoot an outdoor 10 meter round (at a slightly larger face) this afternoon.
 

Timid Toad

Moderator
Staff member
Supporter
Fonz Awardee
Ironman
Guys, do you want to keep things on the Archery topic? Specifically target archery in this location? This isn't a forum for airsoft, clay pigeon shooting or blowpipe. If you want to chat your other hobbies keep it via PM? Thanks.
 

Cereleste

Supporter
Supporter
AIUK Saviour
Inspired by these posts, I gave blowpiping a go yesterday using a roughly 3ft piece of copper pipe (no modifications) and some bamboo skewers with a cone of paper attached to the end with blutac.
Keeping strictly on topic, I think it could be quite useful for cross training at short distances in the weeks ahead.
In particular:
- I can shoot 8m only when alone since most of the flat is in front of the shooting line, which means about an hour twice a week.
- I can shoot 2.5m pretty much whenever, but find it rather dull (both good and bad shots are indistinguishable on individual target faces) and it's fairly loud.
- With the copper pipe, I can shoot from any distance as long as my line of sight is clear and my housemate aware. The bamboo skewers bounce off the paper target half the time at 5m, so the risk to property is zero and the risk to person is a slight prick if the tip pierces the fabric (my lungs' "poundage" isn't high). However, the excitement of hitting the target is quite high because it's not a given. And the sound is pretty minimal.

While the physical aspect is admittedly rather different, the same focus can be applied towards making the "pffft" more consistent. So it's similar to mentally shooting arrows but more enjoyable for me due to the visible feedback.
I've been using a scaled down 122cm target that's about 12cm across, and can get a group about the size of the red at 3m, though haven't yet managed to get more than 25% on the target beyond 5m yet.
Any other sports/games with similar crossover to target archery that don't require throwing the projectile?
 

Kerf

Supporter
Supporter
AIUK Saviour
Guys, do you want to keep things on the Archery topic? Specifically target archery in this location? This isn't a forum for airsoft, clay pigeon shooting or blowpipe. If you want to chat your other hobbies keep it via PM? Thanks.
Hear, hear. Well said.
 

LionOfNarnia

Supporter
Supporter
Thought it was time for an update - but I warn you this won't be easy to read.

I've been diagnosed with non-curable lung cancer, I start chemo next Monday, how long I have totally depends on how well my body reacts to the treatments.

So I haven't shot (bow or pipe) for many months. No energy or mojo. I've also lost around 1/3 of my weight, I'm now just a shade over 16 stones & gone from 4XL to XL, so I've got bagz of clothing ready for the charity shops when they open again.

I'm not sad or bitter, I've lived an interesting life & as a 45-year *dedicated* smoker it was almost bound to be lung cancer that brought me down.

I am hoping to make at least a couple of appearances to Newburn indoor sessions in the coming months, but right now I can't even face a light SPT session. My dream of the 2023 European Masters is deffo over though.
 

chuffalump

Well-known member
I was wondering where you'd gone to. I hope the chemo helps but it'll be a long road most likely. Good luck.
 
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