emergency arrow making

[Talon]

I'm struggling to understand the question of an emergency arrow?.If you're life's in immediate jeopardy then there's no way i could fabricate an arrow in time.If you mean that you've ran out of arrows and need to resupply fast (for hunting or to aid in defence) then i would use whatever i could find,whether that is a green sapling quickly fabricated,or a piece of dowel taken from an abandoned DIY store.Or even fibre glass tent poles.


Fletchings can be quickly made with duct tape.Arrow heads can be made from tin cans or knapped from bottle glass (with lots of practice) or either fire hardened or just quickly sharpened.I would try to have enough bare seasoned shafts handy.If i don't then i'll use whatever i can improvise.The arrow is the most complicated part of the equation though.A simple bow is always going to be the easy thing to make.The arrow is always the most complex component.

I would use whatever i could find,but i wouldn't expect it to fly true,or trust it to get me any game or protect me against an adversary (except for extremely close range,say 10 to 15 yards).
Steve is right when he says trapping is the best way to go for game,less energy to expend and a much higher chance of success.

If you aren't using a broadhead then you could get away without fletchings as a well tuned bare shaft will fly perfectly well without them for close range.The problem is of course that you can't tune an emergency arrow.Also if you're arrow is for food you really need a broadhead on the end of it.

Use whatever you can find,but keeping a good supply of matched shafts on standbye would be my advice.