Pulling Arrows - How to or how not to

[TimGriff6]

I just got told not to pull arrows from the pointy end but to grab them half way down the shaft. (First time in the couple of years I've been doing archery that I have been told off about the way I do it) Why? says I. Because carbons only have a very thin bit of ali inside and if you grab them there, they'll go easily, came the answer.

I wasn't too bothered so I let him pull the rest of the round but I was a bit alarmed to see how much bend he actually got on my arrows while he was pulling them.

As an engineer, I am surprised to learn that I can do more damage to an arrow by applying a controlled & constrained pull at the point where it is fixed than applying it in a much less controlled way at a distance from the boss.

What is everyone else's view on this?

[JaniceH]

Found this in the FITA beginners manual:

[quote]Safe arrow retrieval/collection: When approaching the targets, care must be taken not to walk into arrows stickinginto the ground or target.

Nocks are very sharp, pick up all arrows that have fallen short of the target, whoever is their owner.

Care must be used when drawing arrows out of the target, to see that no one is directly behind the person pulling the arrows. Arrows can come out of a target suddenly, and the nock may hurt anyone who is too close.

Bending over in front of the target is dangerous; you should wait beside the target to collect arrows.

For pulling an arrow out of the target, press one palm hand flat around the arrow sticking in the target. With the other hand, grab the arrow shaft close to the target face and pull out the arrow right in the shaft axis, without bending the arrow shaft.

For pulling an arrow out of the grass: Do NOT pull the arrow up! You could bend orbreak the arrow shaft. But move the grass out of the fletching, especially of natural feathers. Then pull the shaft back in the axis of the arrow shaft and along the grass.Only when the point is getting out of the grass, you can raise the arrow up.

[geoffretired]

Pulling arrows, from as close as possible to the boss surface, is the way I was taught.Pulling arrows from the fletched end it very clumsy I find.
I remember reading( or hearing) about carbons??? needing to be pulled from nearer the back.I guess it is more dangerous to pull a carbon from close to the boss; a carbon that is split could do serious damage to a hand, and it is more likely to be split at the front end.(you may not know it is split till it is too late)
Looked at another way, if an inexperienced archer gripped an arrow the wrong way,perhaps there is more chance of it breaking if the hand is close to the boss.

[EVC]

I use a gorilla puller and pull near the face. By doing this I minimize bending the shafts. Geoff's post gives me yet another reason to use the puller: hand protection.

Elder.

[danda]

Nope.

From my first training course, I was told:

(editing out the "don't impale yourself or others stuff)

One hand flat against the target face;

Grip as close to the surface as possible;

Pull firmly, and purpledicularly to the face.

If it's seriously stuck, another archer can pull from just in front of the fletching. A co-ordinated heave will shift anything.

No twisting. Everything up the long axis of the arrow.

Reasons for not twisting:

All-carbon arrow could be damaged behind wherever the glued-in point stops;

If the arrow has a screwed in point, you'll unscrew it and leave it in the face.

Reasons not to grip it in the middle:

You'll knacker the arrow. (As a non-engineer, I can vaguely remember bending beam calculations from Physics lessons years ago, and the gist was that any sort of distance out will give any sideways force an enormous boost);

You'll get a lot less pulling effort from two widely spaced hands, than from doing it properly.

I reckon Dennis The Menace owes you some arrows. (But at least you'll now have a fair idea of what credence you ought to give to anything else he says.)

[worthipa]

Originally Posted by TimGriff6

I just got told not to pull arrows from the pointy end but to grab them half way down the shaft. Why? says I. Because carbons only have a very thin bit of ali inside and if you grab them there, they'll go easily, came the answer.

What is everyone else's view on this?

What cr*p. The alloy tube is the same thickness throughout the arrow and, in fact, it's reinforced by the shaft of the pile at the front end. It's the carbon, on A\C\E's and X10's that's thinner at the front (and the back). Pulling them from nearer the target is fine and, IMO preferable. Watching the bend some people put on the arrow when they pull them like your friend recommends I always spin test them after if I see them doing it and I make sure they don't pull them for me again.

[pyroarch57]

Thinking about it logically. Where is an arrow able to take the most bend? obviously at its centre.
In an ideal situation a "controlled and constrained pull" close to the boss would be best. BUT when arrows become difficult to remove, often more pressure is put into the grip, which in turn can sometimes put massive bending pressure on a short vulnerable section of the arrow.
I recently had someone break one of my arrows pulling this way, and i have seen two protours broken in the same way.

[geoffretired]

Pyroarch, I agree with what you are saying about the pressure applied to a part that is vulnerable. I guess that part is weakened through use, or am I wrong?
The alternative is to pull from further back, obviously. My concern then is, how much better is that, if at all?

[pyroarch57]

Originally Posted by geoffretired

Pyroarch, I agree with what you are saying about the pressure applied to a part that is vulnerable. I guess that part is weakened through use, or am I wrong?
The alternative is to pull from further back, obviously. My concern then is, how much better is that, if at all?

Geoff, i guess it all comes down to the awareness of the person pulling the arrows. Just as there`s good and bad drivers, there`s good and bad arrow pullers.

[geoffretired]

There are certainly some who pull arrows better than others.
I was just wondering if there was a sound reason for pulling any arrow from half way along the shaft.
I can see, up to a point, that pulling a suspect arrow from the front end could be crushing the part most likely to be damaged. Apart from that, there seems to be no sound reason given for pulling a carbon from near the back.