So I walked into the local sporting goods store to get the stuff to make my first set of darts.

• 1 dozen aluminum arrow shafts. . .check
• Bright colored fletching (so I can find the darn things after I throw them). . .check
• Sockets for the points. . .check
• Points . . . .

Did you know arrow points come in different weights? Yup. They are weighed in grains, just like bullets.

Ooooooooooookay.

So I asked the clerk in the archery department for help. The conversation went something like this:

Me: What weight point works best?
He: It depends on the length of your arrow. How long are  your arrows?
Me: Five feet.
He: (Smiling like he's talking to an imbecile) Not your bow, your arrows.
Me: (Flat-toned like I'm repeating myself to another imbecile) Five feet.
He: , followed by  .

So I had to launch into an explanation of an atlatl and what it was (you think an archery dude would know his history!). Incidentally, that raised eyebrow thing is EXACTLY the same look I got when I went to another store with a friend who knows the owner. Good thing I'm used to people thinking I'm crazy, I suppose.

For those of you who throw aluminum darts, what weight field point do you use? How do you decide what weight works? Does it even matter?

K'Jev

I seem to recall a formula from one of those atlatl sites....The dart should balance about 1/3 of the way back from the head.     Some fudging will likely be OK.

It's true, my bamboo dart hits a lot harder than my aluminum ones. I think I'll probably buy the heaviest one I can find (it's what I ended up doing last time)

And the 1/3 rule holds true for darts as well.

I spent the weekend painting the shafts (I hate camo arrow shafts. I can never find them), glueing in small sections of carbon fiber shafts for the joints, and shaping the butt ends for my atlatl. Then I started working on the fletching: 4 5-inch fins in a spiral. . . someone shoot me if I ever try that again. What a pain! I imagine it will get easier once I figure out how to do it better.

Will get some pictures of them when they are done. Thank you all for the information.

K'Jev

On paleo planet I've seen reground 1.5 in spade bits used as broadhead dart points ... much heavier than std. arrow broadhead ... in case you need more weight forward

Kjev wrote on Aug 9^th, 2009 at 8:53pm:


This: http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/reply/244215#reply-244203

  I just made a good field point out of a section of copper pipe and a 1/2" thick bolt.  Nice weight to it.  I'll post a picture when my camera decides to come home.

nice looking darts, man! i bet as soon as you find some 160g field points, your center of gravity will tip to the front third. but, honestly, i don't think it's that big of a deal. i shot today with a guy throwing very similar darts and he was hitting it big time!

Somewhere in my sleep last night (or when I was hunting for a lost dart, maybe) I thought about packing some epoxy putty behind the head. On the other hand, I DO have a lot of spare bolts lying around. Not sure if any are small enough, though.

K'Jev