Throwing Arrows

[jason h]

AKA Swiss Arrow, Dutch Arrow and even Yorkshire Arrow, I remember these were very popular growing up in Yorkshire in the 70s/80s. Constructed of a thin piece of dowling wood with a cross intersection cut in the top to accomodate a four pointed flight (usually cut out of mum's cerial box) these were a lethal but fun passtime.
The end was sharpend to a point to sick in the ground and a notch was cut roughly two thirds up for the string to loop around. The string was used in a sling-shot method to propell the arrow.
Building one was like developing a racing car as lots of people had their own method to make them - length of wood, where to cut the notch, length of the string, Weetabix or Frosties etc..
Dunno if this was just a Yorkshire thing or not.

[SpiralCoolStuff]

Re: Throwing Arrows

well id never heard of it...but then i am from lancashire heh

[jason h]

Re: Throwing Arrows

Remote control not included.

[Oggy]

Re: Throwing Arrows

scarey game?

[SpiralCoolStuff]

Re: Throwing Arrows

looks painful

[steve edwards]

Re: Throwing Arrows

i used to make these , i used to live in andover as a kid , and someone showed me how to make them , and i had great fun doing it , and as you do as a kid , i used to big it up by saying that this is how the old time people used to catch and kill cows ect as the cows could never hear the hunter coming .

Kill a cow , ha they could barely fly more that 10 feet but yes they were great fyn and we used to call them dutch arrows as well

[MommaMystique]

Re: Throwing Arrows

oooooh another Lanky lass then. 'Ah wish ah 'ad norn befoore. Ah wud a spoken reet proper to thi flower.

[sarcymarky]

Re: Throwing Arrows

We used to have them down here in wilts too. Throwing arrows they were and I seem to remember ours were made of garden bamboo poles and playing cards for flights. Instead of sharpening the end we'd shove a nail in the tip. Happy days!!

[BeetleBug]

Re: Throwing Arrows

Yep I remember these too, we made ours from bamboo and cereal boxes for the flights ours were really lethal though we nicked our dads dart tips and lodged them in the end, the extra weight seemed to make em go miles.

[Fatboy]

Re: Throwing Arrows

AKA Swiss Arrow, Dutch Arrow and even Yorkshire Arrow, I remember these were very popular growing up in Yorkshire in the 70s/80s. Constructed of a thin piece of dowling wood with a cross intersection cut in the top to accomodate a four pointed flight (usually cut out of mum's cerial box) these were a lethal but fun passtime.
The end was sharpend to a point to sick in the ground and a notch was cut roughly two thirds up for the string to loop around. The string was used in a sling-shot method to propell the arrow.
Building one was like developing a racing car as lots of people had their own method to make them - length of wood, where to cut the notch, length of the string, Weetabix or Frosties etc..
Dunno if this was just a Yorkshire thing or not.

I can remember these but we used to call them Chinese Arrows, they were great, they were cheap to make and it was always fun making them and then seeing who's would go further, happy days. I have never seen any kids with these for years (probably to tame for todays kids) I remember my friends father used to make his own fishing weights so he would sometimes get a bit of lead and we used to weight the ends of the arrows with it, I remember one of my friends once getting hit right on top of his head with one of these arrows, he required 3 stitches, it was funny though lol.

[proud to be welsh]

Re: Throwing Arrows

I remember them and we use to have great fun seeing who could throw them the furthest

Of course the younger generation probably cannot remember them as all they do now use the computer but when it was fashionable to spend all your summer days outside, i found these to be great fun

I use to use old playing cards for the flight and Bamboo was always a favourite for the body.

also found it useful to have a little weight at the end

I am from South Wales and we use to call them swiss arrows

[Mulletino]

Re: Throwing Arrows

Our version was more like a crossbow:

The projectyle was a dowel, sharpened at one end and again with a 3 quarter flight.

The "gun" was a long rectangular piece of wood with two nails at the front with a lazzy band looed round them and a peg stuck at the other end. You'd pull the arrow back in the lazzy band and hold it in the peg, pressing the peg launched it. If you were adventurous you'd put the same on the other side of the wood for a double barrel one.

We also used to play "catapult wars" over the common in the long grass where one team was confederates and the other yankees (or something) and you basically just fired stones (and acorns) at each other, headshots were banned though.

[rossobantam]

Re: Throwing Arrows

acorn fights...happy memories

esp when I got hold of my first (metal) catapult !!

And stones to the head? oh yes, lost a few quarts of blood I'm sure

[Elbmek]

Re: Throwing Arrows

Oh yes, in school, early 60s, on the playing fields. Mine had a nail embedded into the stick, gave it strength and a weightier tip. A playing card was cut up to provide the flights. How the hell it was allowed is beyond me? H&S would have had heart attacks nowadays. Nobody ever got hurt. My Arrow used to fly about 100 or so yards and always stuck in at a good angle. Could get quite some height on them too.

[Legionnaire]

Re: Throwing Arrows

Brilliant...

I used to make these at Scouts and we called them Dutch Arrows

I just thought of trying to make these with my little lad when we were camping... (though that was a wash out) and saying we are viking heroes!!

I couldn't get the damn thing to fly from memory... so thank god i have found this site... I obviously forgot the notch... (well and i`ve made an artillery size one....)

I`m using plastic from a ketchup bottle for my flights

Thats me sorting out the arrows and down the field tomorrow!!

Having spoken to a lot of my mates they have no idea what i`m on about...