Newsletter - National Field Archery Society

Bow, arrows and kitchen sink …..What do
you carry with you on a field shoot?
by Rob Jones
IN FIELD archery you are on your feet walking
a course from 10am until 4-5 pm, sometimes
longer. Depending on what the terrain is like,
carrying lots of kit can be very tiring. Some
archers travel light, others carry everything
but a kitchen sink.
I guess I'm somewhere in between. At a normal
shoot or when practising at the wood,
besides my bow and the arrows in my quiver I
tend to carry a tube of spare arrows on my back
(shooting wooden arrows, it’s always useful to
have a few spares, and in wet weather you can
keep the spares dry). Whilst it’s no Batman utility
belt, I do carry a few bits on the belt:
n A small first aid kit for bites and scratches
which includes plasters etc. It has been used on
many occasions for patching up other archers
who have decided to try and chop their finger
off whilst extracting arrows from tree stumps
or have sliced it open when a carbon arrow has
snapped. I’ll mention no names but you know who
you are!
n Add to this a water bottle or mini thermos
flask if it is cold;
n A whistle for emergency signaling. This is on
a retractable key ring along with an arrow puller
(very useful for giving you a better grip on
arrows when drawing them from a 3D or target
boss);
n A multi-tool;
n An arrow rake in my quiver for finding those
arrows lost in the undergrowth;
n I often carry some snacks in the quiver
pouch (the main bag for drinks and sandwiches
is normally left at central spot) and a spare finger
tab etc;
n If the weather isn’t great (like most of this
summer) I carry a small pac-a-mac that I can
put on to keep me dry. I think I might have to
start carry a brolly if the weather carries on
being this wet!
Unlike some other archers I don’t carry a
knife to dig arrows out of trees or stumps; I
find an old flat headed screwdriver works just
as well. It also means I’m less likely to cut off
one of my fingers when extracting the wayward
arrow from some tree that moved across the
target as I release (always amazes me how
many trees seem to move in to protect a target
when I’m shooting).
To round it off I’ll have a metal detector in
the car along with a kit box for spare strings
etc. I quite like the small backpack that can
double as a seat which I’ve seen appearing at
shoots, but knowing me I would forget to pick it
up.
I know a few people laugh at how much I carry,
but others have been grateful when I have been
able to lend them a finger tab, patched them up
after cutting themselves or got the pliers out
to retrieve a wayward pile from tree stump.
So what do you carry when out shooting?
Thanks for reading.
Rob Jones
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