Kid's Arrows

Right now I'm busy straightening dowels for kid's arrows. If I hurry they will be ready for the Conejo Shoot in Simi Valley, CA this weekend. If not, then surely in time for the Woodley Park Swap on the following weekend. The only thing hindering me is it is already getting in the 90's outside. That and we keep having to go to town for those annoying little things like groceries and smog checks. And what with town being 30 miles away now, it takes half the day every time we leave the yard. I can't wait to get to the fun part of making the arrows.  For me that's the colorful part: painting or dyeing, and picking out the feather colors.

Upcoming Chamberlain Ranch Shoot

Tom Mills working on Guy's bow at the last Paleoplanet gathering.

Guy is getting ready for the Chamberlain Ranch Shoot, which means he's out on the patio too melting beeswax for archery. It keeps the bowstring supple and extends the life of it. He pours it into little containers and sells it in the archery booth.  It's $1.00 for a one ounce container, which lasts a long time.
He's making stock arrows to sell at the event, but if you want to make sure he has the kind you need, it's better to order them in advance, that way you get to pick the colors of the cresting and feathers.
Unfortunately I won't be going this year. I'm staying home to take care of the cat that has colon issues and needs medicine twice a day.

You can see the beeswax in the basket.

Wallop

Atlatl Time

I just got back from the Conejo Archers traditional shoot in Simi Valley. What perfect weather we had! We are so spoiled in S. California.

I met two atlatl makers named Chris and Cary.  Coincidentally they also use the name Paleoarts. When I ferret out their business card from our many bins, I'll add their link. Cary lent me a fancy atlatl to test out. I didn't have much luck with it, but she's really good with it. I think you just have to try a bunch of styles and weights until you find one that works with your hand, arm, shoulder form of throwing.

I found that one of Tom Mill's atlatl's worked really well for me so I traced that one to make my own hopefully. It's going to go into the 'roundtoit' pile until I have more time. I'm taking today off just to unpack, do camping laundry, and get my banking into order because those bills keep coming whether I'm out of town or not.

After the dust settles, I need to finish my own atlatl darts.

On Friday I tried out atlatl's again for the first time in about five or six years. That first contest I only got an 8, but the next day I did it again and got 23, so I'm improving already. Go me!
Sunday I was manning the arrow booth so I missed not one but two atlatl contests. Ah well, I'll have to wait until the next Pasadena meet to try again.

Photos soon. I have to unbury my camera before I can download them.

Conejo Shoot

Next weekend I'll be going to the Conejo archery event in Simi Valley. I may be vending there but I haven't heard back yet from the organizer. The event itself is up and over some pretty steep hills so my boyfriend tries to get me to stay in camp. And right now I'm pretty out of shape so I'm happy to comply. And sometimes it's a scorcher. This is maybe my fourth time there. I'm sure I could get through the course if I had to but it ruins his fun if he has to worry about me falling off a cliff all the time.