Medieval Archery Blunts

Demonstrates why medieval arrows and bolts were great for shooting small game and birds with slo-mo footage of melons getting shot with the two types of bolt.
If you like budget medieval weapons, have a look at www.todcutler.com
If you like custom medieval weapons, have a look at www.todsworkshop.com
You can find the small blunts shown in this video here todcutler.com/...

[@jeanlannes4396]

We can't say for sure that Medieval people didn't hunt wild melons with crossbows. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

[@madnessbydesign1415]

Don't forget the Melon Revolts that were put down by the Royal Blunters. Bam! :)

[@Epulor1]

The vegetarians had to get their food somehow.

[@owooperator8824]

@@madnessbydesign1415 dont joke about the melon revolts. Hundreds of melons were blunted

[@tando6266]

This is a falsehood, in the right context an absence of evidence is evidence.

[@somersethuscarl2938]

are you an archaeologist perchance? or do others apart from us use that phase all the time?

[@ZarlanTheGreen]

That test is a bit flawed, as I'm sure it would be different, shooting proper _wild_ live melons, moving about in the field ;)

[@bacon81]

😆

[@allmachtsdaggl5109]

They are under strict protection in Britain, so he would run into serious legal issues

[@Frageye]

Allmachts Daggl you mean the melons right? 😉

[@allmachtsdaggl5109]

@@Frageye Yes, the wild melons. Rare creatures but so majestic

[@2bingtim]

Why aren't people taking this more seriously? It's making me Meloncholy.... (you're welcome).

[@100dfrost]

Sir, your opinion on the usage of blunts gains even more weight when one considers that these men were required by law to practice every Sunday. I would invest my money in a shaft I could use over and over if I was placed in this position. Good video, thanks. Incidentally I heard of you and your channel through Matt Easton's.

[@olamarvin]

Agree. Iron arrow heads were probably not too easy to come by for a peasant, with a blunt you could practice often and more easily replace lost ones.

[@john-paulsilke893]

An excellent option for sure. I remember being a little kid nearly 50 years ago and I saw my dad’s .30 Luger box of ammo with 8rds missing. By the time I fired it when I was 12 it had 12rds missing, (same box) because ammo was expensive and most people didn’t shoot much. I can only imagine the same was just as true or even more so many decades/centuries before.

[@romanlegionhare2262]

I came here thanks to Matt Easton as well.

[@Tullio238]

I know that even shooting modern arrows, I don't like losing them - and for that matter, even fletched in bright pink the little buggers can be very difficult to find when they bury themselves into the mud. I can absolutely believe the medieval yeoman would have wanted to shoot something cheaper for Sunday practice

[@ryddragyn]

Another advantage of large blunts: if one's arrows are matched to one's draw length, the blunt is easily felt, and is good for keeping a consistent draw length, similar to how modern clickers work on an Olympic bow. Ascham talks about this very specifically: "The blunt heads men use, because they perceive them to be good to keep a length withal; they keep a good length, because a man pulleth them no further at one time than at another; for in feeling the plump end always equally, he may loose them."

[@grendelgrendelsson5493]

@@tods_workshop I'm going to have to get my Toxophilus out and have another look; I don't remember that bit!!

[@johnpotter4750]

Soak a blunt in linseed oil for a day or two wrapped in light cloth, then shoot into an awkward noble man (causing you master grief) hay/straw roof - delayed action fire arrow.

[@aboyne]

I didn't know about that fact about the arrowheads not being found on shooting ranges. Very interesting video

[@Trev794]

i think at a range you would gather them up at the end of the day not like a battle field is it

[@aboyne]

@@Trev794 I suppose its like Tod said in the video - some arrows inevitably get lost, and after years and years of a particular parish shooting at the same range there would be a significant number of arrowheads that were lost or left behind. That is, if they used steel arrowheads, which according to the video was actually quite uncommon.

[@Trev794]

@@aboyne and we view target shooting as a big round disk to aim at they didnt did they they just shoot at a marker at varying distances ??

[@davidgraemesmith1980]

I used to practice with my crossbow and recurve bow using judo tips on a paddock full of tusocks, played something like golf 😂

[@aboyne]

@@Trev794 they may have also done that, but it is illustrated in the Llutrell Psalter that they also used the multicoloured disk that modern archers also use to practice accuracy. You can see an image of it here bshistorian.wordpress.com/2007/07/02/two-fingers-up-to-english-history/

[@raics101]

Some mentioned it might be to avoid fouling the meat with intestinal fluids, that could be the case and it might also do less damage to the pelt, depending on the animal. It's safer for your fellow hunters and shooting range enthusiasts too.

[@SoGGet]

I've heard of it being used to hunt small animals, like squirrel, for their fur. It wrecks their insides, but leaves the fur intact. And they don't get stuck in the tree.

[@micahreid5553]

Thats what I was thinking as well is that for non meat hunting it would do a much better job of leaving pristine pelts

[@Patrick-tg4dq]

similar to how a hollow point bullet is cheaper (as opposed to reusable) and safer on a shooting rang in modern times. very good point! i didn't consider that

[@kryhigh9302]

I'm no expert, but Tod stated that they could punch in ribs, broke legs, etc. With that kind of blunt force trauma, that would definitely be able to rupture intestines, so I don't think the first reason stated here to be necessarily correct. The rest are definitely feasible

[@MrEvanfriend]

@@Patrick-tg4dq Hollowpoints aren't cheaper. They're significantly more expensive than full metal jacket ammunition. When I go to the range, I shoot cheap FMJ 9mm, it costs less than $20 for a box of 50 rounds. The Federal HSTs - defensive hollowpoints - that I keep loaded in my Glock for everyday carry cost I think $38 for the box of 50 rounds. Same caliber, both 9mm, but the hollowpoints cost a lot more. Same with rifle ammo. For 5.56mm ammo, a box of the cheap brass cased FMJ ammo costs about $10 for a box of 20, maybe a little less. Even cheaper for the steel cased stuff, but I don't like that. A box of good boattail hollowpoints in the same caliber costs about $24 for 20 rounds - over twice the price. Hollowpoints aren't any safer for range use either. Any reasonable shooting range will have a berm or some other backstop that will stop any ammunition that you can buy, and/or very strict rules about what calibers you can shoot. Hollowpoints are generally safer for defensive use, as they do expand and thus penetrate less than FMJ rounds do. But on the range, it doesn't make a difference.

[@Carrot421911]

Having practice arrows/bolts that bounces off the target instead of sticking in it would also prevent arrows gettting hit with other arrows. I'm not talking about the "robin hood" perfectly split in twain kind of thing, but with target shooting you'll sometimes nick an arrow thats stuck in the target, ruining the notch, or fletchings. This would also allow many archers to shoot at the same target without having dozens of arrows stuck in it, and everyone having to queue up to pull their arrows out.

[@T3t4nu5]

Yeah, hitting an arrow with another arrow feels really badass the first time, but after five or so you're just annoyed with the money you're wasting. I put six arrows on each target at most because of this.

[@2bingtim]

I think you're probably referring to shooting at the medieval earth/turf butts, but I once shot a blunt at a reinforced paper target on a layered foam butt & while the butt stopped the arrow & it bounced off, the paper target had a whacking great hole punched in it.

[@M.M.83-U]

This I can relate with.

[@DrakeMagnum]

I never would have thought of that. Fair point!

[@2bingtim]

p.s. I also limit arrows per end to reduce the possibility of damaging arrows, RH or otherwise.

[@2bingtim]

Under medieval forrest law you'd get maimed or worse if found with bow & sharp arrows, but blunts were allowed as they were only suitable for small game & birds.

[@GamingWithHasty]

Aim that blunt to the head of someone and tell me if they are only "suitable" for small game & birds.

[@2bingtim]

@@GamingWithHasty NOBODY EVER DO THAT!!!! It could be fatal. I know what you mean though; friends of mine who did reenactment who had taken a hit with blunts from even v light(c30lb) bows REALLY wished they hadn't. That's why I typed "suitable". But please never shoot at someones head people, even with foam tipped LARP arrows.

[@weirdscience8341]

@@GamingWithHasty just have pull off blunt heads and a few deerpoints under ya hat and when the poxy nobles have gone pop one on deck a nice deer and get thst dinner home im sure a lot went on like thst the ruling classes have made themselves out to be all nice of late but there ancestors were vindictive murdering ruthless vile represents of the human race

[@PatrickKniesler]

Was gonna say, there have to have been laws about this type of thing somewhere. Knowing humans, there are probably still laws on the books about it!

[@philipwebb960]

I'm pleased that you tested your theory that at least one reason for crescent head arrows is that they don't bury themselves in the grass when shot. It sounded logical when you said it in a previous video, and I'm glad you proved it.

[@joejoelesh1197]

I hunt small game using blunts, and can attest to their effectiveness. Both in savings of arrows and for putting down game.

[@martyjehovah]

Does it not ruin the meat? Or if it does it is only a small portion?

[@joejoelesh1197]

@@martyjehovah no noticeable meat damage on the squirrel and rabbit. I use a 55# recurve, same bow I use with deer. I used to use a G3 point, and that did tear up the meat, quite a lot, but now I use blunter (hard rubber) blunts. I mostly switched because the G3 tips were pricey, and not as durable.

[@KingAmondor]

have they the same range as a normal arrow?

[@joejoelesh1197]

@@KingAmondor with normal fletchings, yes or so nearly so that I cant tell a difference. When hunting small game i use flu-flu type fletchings (6 feathers, 2.5 inch tall, 4" long, straight) so those have a significantly shorter range. They fly true and fast over the first 30 feet, but rapidly decelerate after that. They work perfect for most of the shots I take. The big fletchings also make arrows easy to spot. I do carry 1 arrow with normal fletchings for the occasional long shot, and for stump shooting as a walk up to my hunting patches.

[@GrimFaceHunter]

Blunts may actually be more aerodynamically efficient, since arrows travel at subsonic speeds. That of course still depends on their actual shape and size. Blunt that has same diameter as the shaft of the arrow or bolt may be the most aerodynamically efficient. Nasa and airliner manufacturers did research on this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hYawgIuYibyblbM

[@IExistSometimes]

I'm loving the content on this channel and await every upload, it's always good to watch someone who just knows what they're talking about for once.

[@maj21093]

I completely agree! The delivery of information is straightforward, as unbiased as possible and entertaining. I'm thinking of building a small wooden crossbow to dispatch some groundhogs at work, were firing a gun would be severely frowned upon. ;-)

[@Cahirable]

I know this is petty, but I think it's important to emphasise that mandatory practice only existed in England from 1363 on. Before this, while ownership of bows for the poorest classes had been mandated since 1242, practice was optional. This is reflected by the fact that, outside of border regions and some select counties, most English infantry weren't archers. This was changing by the end of the 13th century and was pretty complete by the 1330s, but there still wasn't seen to be a need for everyone to practice archery until 1363. That's a long period where medieval England didn't have the Archery Law

[@davidlane1248]

I could listen to you talk about archery all frickin day long, Todd

[@Thisismyusername69420]

I love how you do all types of research for your videos looking up manuscripts and making sure you have as much information as possible and you're still humble enough to ask for people's input and there theories rather than dismissing them like alot of other people doo, a true gentleman and master crafter.

[@ChrisYourself]

Is really amazing to find out how effective blunts really are!

[@VikOlliver]

Best to find out in videos like this, not the way I found out way back. Fortunately it only resulted in an inch-wide hole in the garden fence and some very surprised people on the minigolf course. No I was not The Lone Bowman on the grassy knoll, but all the same I learned.

[@zamazakati]

Love your work! Another reason for blunts might be, these arrows wont get stuck high in a tree, when you shoot a bird. There are lots of these in manusscripts also!

[@jobran1]

literally his first point

[@zamazakati]

@@jobran1 Sorry true :-)

[@dimitrizaitsew1988]

Always good to hear Tod talking about some butts.

[@weirdscience8341]

Or bollock....daggers lol

[@callumtostevin-hall2044]

The archers practicing at the butts in the Luttrell Psalter are using blunts, so that supports your theory. I would wager the reasoning for their use is far more to do with not loosing them in the ground and also the cost rather than the 'keeping the peasants unarmed' angle as they had to keep arrows in their homes by law (Statute of Winchester 1285) anyway and even if they only had blunts, I still wouldn't want to get hit by one shot from a 100 lb + warbow.

[@benwinter2420]

Yep . . probably needed a 'licence' to own hardened steel weapons of war back then . . same as todays restrictions on 'assault weapons'

[@MrEvanfriend]

@@benwinter2420 I doubt it. We have a good understanding of the law at the time, and as far as I know there's nothing of the sort. Back then the weapons laws were more sensible than they are now - all free men were expected to own weapons of contemporary military utility and to maintain a level of proficiency with them. This is how it ought to be.

[@MisdirectedSasha]

@@MrEvanfriend I agree that there is little evidence that the nobility felt threatened by peasants and common folk owning weapons, but it was far from universal to require citizens to be armed, and where it was, they were not required to own fully military grade kit. England did require men to learn to use bows, and this was part of a national initiative to produce enough good warbow archers for the military. City-states in Italy, and many cities in the Holy Roman Empire required adult men to own swords or Messers in the late middle ages, and this was explicitly so they could be called up to serve in the militia or town guard. But when these city states or cities wanted to go to war, they almost always hired mercenaries to do their fighting for them, using their militias only as a last resort. And the reason for this is that owning a sword made you as effective a soldier in 1400 as owning a pistol makes you today. To actually serve on campaign, you needed a primary weapon, like a spear or bow, pretty much a full suit of armour (even for archers), servants to make your food and clean/carry your gear, and multiple horses for fighting and travel. You had to be fairly rich just to play. A militiaman who owned a sword, and was maybe given a spear and light armour by his city, was fit for defending a wall and little else. Militia were worth having because they were better than nothing, and the mercenary companies of the time could be a bit unreliable if you "forgot" to pay them. They also could serve a useful law reinforcement function. But they basically couldn't leave their towns, and if they had to fight proper soldiers, it would be a short fight.

[@MrEvanfriend]

@@MisdirectedSasha I understand all of this. And obviously, a poorly trained citizen with a weapon, regardless of the quality of that weapon, is not the same as a trained soldier, and logistics were as complex back then as they are now - if not more so, as we now have far better means of transport and better ways of preserving food. I was also talking specifically about England - the continent is different. Yes, it's true that not every Englishman was an archer of the quality that defeated so many French armies. But he did have the basic skill that made him easier to train into one. A longbow is a weapon that apparently takes a lifetime of training to truly master, unlike a crossbow or a firearm, which can be mastered in a couple of months. Thus men who trained with their bows every week had that basic skill set that allowed them, should the need arise, to be trained into useful soldiers relatively quickly.

[@MisdirectedSasha]

@@MrEvanfriend That's all true. I would say, though, that England was only able to do that because it had a relatively powerful central government and weaker neighbours than most continental societies did. Neither France nor the HRE could have done that, no matter how much the King or the Emperor might have wanted to. They also only found it worthwhile to do so because invading France became a national passtime for a few hundred years, as well. Regarding the normative question, modern societies are in kind of a different place. All modern governments are much stronger and more centralized than medieval ones were, but also answer to much different constituencies. Really, modern governments only take an interest in militia for two reasons: 1) they expect to face a land invasion in the next decade or two, or 2) They want to kill political opponents, but don't want to use uniformed police or military to do it.

[@Ilamarea]

Blunts make sense for hunting small game, even the wider tip might help a bit in hitting small birds and critters. They also make sense for practice not only because of the fact they are easier to find later, but also because they don't damage the target AND they are cheaper than metal. An arrow without a tip would probably not shoot right, while a blunt-tipped arrow would have normal ballistic characteristics on top of that.

[@johnpotter4750]

Better than being hit with today,s rubber, pvc, sand bag sabot, etc. Police shotgun rounds indiscriminately aimed, and bounce into privates.

[@AnExcellentChef]

Very interesting video! You brought up many benefits of a blunthead arrow I hadn't thought about, like how they are cheaper and less likely to get lost. What I think the selling point of a blunthead was that a broadhead would make a mess out of small game like birds and rabbits, where as a blunthead kills the animal with blunt trauma, leaving the animal(and its pelt in case of say, rabbits)more or less intact.

[@VasileIuga]

Nothing to comment, your logic is flawless.

[@evanault9988]

Just found your channel today. Greetings from the US. Glad I came across your stuff. Your videos are awesome and I love that you explain the historical context of what and why you are doing something. Keep up the good work and I'll keep watching.

[@trevorreid4082]

Truly enjoy your videos Tod! I find them among the most reasonable and logical of the "history" posts. You clearly indicate when something is conjecture and also support your comments with references to the source material. This, in my opinion, is how historical channels should be. Thanks for taking the time to share!

[@christopherpappas7474]

Those damn melons were collaborators with the enemy! Love your bow... It's a real beauty:)🇬🇷😀☮

[@samnottheotherone4363]

Yeah, I really want to buy one of his bows.

[@mikefule330]

Another great video.. You explain knowledgeably, clearly and charmingly. Thank you.

[@davidfernandez3840]

Many others talk about "common" arrows, but nothing about blunts, so this is really interesting, yeah, great video.

[@rlepola]

The only thing that is hard fact, is that you RULE! Well done Todd, thanks for all this valuable info you have shared with us 4 free! The knowledge will not be wasted.

[@jacobjett5783]

Really appreciate your videos. Have learned so much about medieval/early renaissance weapons.

[@Jutte777]

When I was growing up my brother and I weren't allowed firearms. So we went hunting with Bows.Being not that well off we couldn't afford to buy the "flash" hunting arrow heads.So we made our own blunts.We used mainly old scrounged .303 cartridge cases - and I made wooden blunts that looked very similar to Tod's bolt blunts. Never saw any medieval archery prints until much later - talk about my brother and I reinventing the wheel or rather the blunt..LOL! And yes they all took plenty of rabbits and hares. Later on we could afford a few of the hunting rubber blunts - but I still used the .303 cases and wooden blunts Nowadays I still don't buy blunts for my arrows - I just put el cheapo washers behind the field points.

[@welshpete12]

I often wondered what these where , when I saw them in medieval manuscripts . I even didn't know they were called . Thank you , very informative !

[@Gadsdentreadlightly]

I think your ideas are on point. A blunt is really something that could be made at home whilst an arrow head not so much. Making them more feasible for alot of people.

[@upcyclemichael]

Well that certainly made me think. I love your channel. Informative, engaging and interesting as hell. Keep up the good work.

[@Stigstigster]

The whole demonstration and talk was very informative but I was especially pleased to see the crescent head being fired at that shallow angle into the ground. When you last talked about the crescent head it made for a lot of debate in the comments about their true purpose. I was convinced and would have bet money on it being to prevent loss under ground in hunting smaller game and said so at the time. To see how it stopped dead immediately really showed just how effective that head shape is in that purpose. Truly interesting stuff throughout.

[@pawesmolinski502]

This video make me want tu turn something when i saw it some time ago. Today i have a lathe and learn turning. Thank you Tod!

[@greyareaRK1]

That was a great demonstration, and a interesting argument.

[@strydyrhellzrydyr1345]

It's nice seeing u do archery... This is from before when I joined the channel

[@robc2682]

Stumbled across your video by accident. Nicely done thank you

[@caspianbell9556]

Tod, I know this isn’t relevant to this video specifically, but something I do when making round shapes is to take 1 inch belt sander paper, cut it, and pull on each end, it’s pretty quick at removing material as well as polishing very quickly.

[@kerrymcmanus9188]

Great impact with these,they will save me a lot of arrows & bolts

[@kevinlobos5519]

Great video as always, the lack of arrowhead findings outside of battlefield context really clicked on my head. As you said, people higher up didn't want the lower ones to be armed and dangerous, maybe it was even illegal to have metal sharp ones, only blunts (unless you were a soldier or something). Gives me great ideas for worldbuilding for rpg campaigns or writing in general, awesome stuff.

[@reidsjaaheim8237]

Absolutely incredibly insightful.

[@johnfreeman2956]

Also, notice how the blunt melon sort of wobbles on impact. That is a visual representation of the blunt transferring energy. It might be related to hydrostatic effect, but I am not sure if it's technically the same. This was a great video! It's always interesting to see novel uses for established items. "Of course arrows are sharp..." but then blunts show up, lol. It makes me wonder what else they used in unexpected ways: Did some nutcase put a seax into a crossbow and try to shoot it? I believe I've heard of a "bow gun" that works kind of a pinball plunger (tube attached to bow, put stuff into tube, pull bowstring back, and loose the plunger so it flies forward and launches your projectile). What did they put into the bow plunger? rocks? eggs? small knives? lol it would be interesting to see.

[@Laggerslam]

This is my 3rd Videos on blunt arrowheads and their use or advantage. Won't look any further. Thanks for your carefull study and in depth view!

[@The1Helleri]

I thought I'd heard in a previous video that the purpose of the crescent head is unclear. Here it seems (though with only a single test shot) that it doesn't tend to bury itself when grounding out. I wonder if when fired into to tall grass, will it cut grass blades directly in it's path; Perhaps creating a groove in tall grass that indicates where it grounded out at? I'd imagine you could still loose a blunt in tall grass. If the crescent cuts a line in grass, seems like it would be a lot harder to loose. It also still has a point likely good enough to stick in a target. If I am remembering correctly what you said about these. Than that seems like something worth testing. Maybe the crescent was a midway between a sharp and a blunt. Specifically for tall grass shooting? That might be good for bird hunting. Seems like if one were to not hit a bird squarely, that grazing the bird could still mortally wound and even maim it. taking of a section of wing or leg, perhaps even beheading a bird with a lucky shot. Overall seems like it would give small game targets less chance to get away on near misses while also being more easily recoverable than something with a single leading point. I'm thinking (if you like the idea and think there might be something to it) that you should test it. Shoot crescents into tall grass. Maybe set up some tall closet pole stakes with a store bought game hen suspended on a wire between them. Could get some really interesting results out of it.

[@yourgoodliness]

Very entertaining, as well as interesting. I never knew people used archery blunts for hunting!

[@steveqhanson6835]

Thanks for another great demonstration.

[@ratroddiesels1981]

excellent presentation . blunts are still with us today . commonly used as bunny busters , they usually dont muck up the meat badly.

[@davidlane1248]

I'd love to see some more demonstrations of your pellet/stone bow and the gastraphetes. Both very interesting weapons with intriguing backgrounds

[@AndrewSkerritt]

Another excellent video that raises some very valid points. I think the cost factor would be, back then as it is today, the conclusive factor. At the end of the day the bean counters usually heavily influence policy.

[@guitaraflamenco]

Great video. Very interesting. I am sold on your theorising

[@_Diaghilev]

Interesting, informative video. I appreciate that you dive right into the matter and waste no time or footage. Keep it up!

[@jasonpercy184]

Every time I watch your videos I end up working on a new project . So off to making a few blunts now . Great videos !

[@Dominator046]

Excellent video, Todd! Somewhat off-topic question / video suggestion. What are some of the biggest mysteries or questions you have about certain material culture, or regular practices from medieval times? How long have you had them? Fun questions like that.

[@brian280453]

Great video as always, your ideas may only be educated guesses , but I believe you are right on the money. Keep the videos coming please, most entertaining and informative videos around.

[@wyrdwildman1689]

I absolutely love this sort of thing. It is also very telling in comparison with the social framework we see today.

[@capitantilapia]

Awesome channel. Thanks, Tod, for the great content.

[@Cliffepoos]

Very interesting and it makes perfect sense to me. Good job.

[@qutube100]

A blunt shaft pummeling pensive melons REALLY ! but seriously at shorter ranges especially for larger fowl (like pheasant) these were the staple of the day and a head shot is a very efficient way to take bird and retain the meat in prime condition and if flocking could even bring in more than one target..... thanks Tod a really good treatment of the subject as usual and in lay terms (for us laymen)......

[@2bingtim]

When the Melons take over I'll be their Nemisis with my blunt arrows: Melongeddon! Thanks Todd for another great video. After the brief clip in the intro I wanted exactly what you did at the end, slow-mo of the arrows going into/through the melons. When I first started archery I invested in what was then quite expensive Judo points for roving, but then found rubber blunts just as good if not slightly better & 1/10th the cost.

[@Aconitum_napellus]

Very interesting point with regards the lack of arrow heads at the butts.

[@johnqpublic2718]

Growing up in the country in Oklahoma, I had the opportunity to shoot a LOT of archery after school. Lost so many arrows on which I installed field tips by the exact process outlined in this video. I can testify that his account of arrows inserting into the ground and then traveling parallel to the surface, tangling in roots and being lost in grass shortened by grazing goats is accurate. I wouldn't find them for weeks.

[@goreil2489]

Makes a lot of sense mate, lovely vid.

[@sheep1ewe]

I think this totaly make sense, i had exactly the same toughts when i was a student and worked at the local museum.

[@leightonchapman9311]

Superb video, as always. As a blacksmith I am very curious about how the various arrow heads are forged. Could you possibly give us a video from the forge?

[@OTT822]

Great video again! Please don't stop making good videos like this!

[@kelleren4840]

@Tod's Workshop --another excellent video!!! It'd be really interesting to see one on whether a blunted longbow arrow might be more effective at transferring blunt force through armor and into the wearer? Or whether the difference was negligible, and the extra piercing potential outweighed the value of blunts in combat.

[@mtodd4723]

Awesome video ! I think you are correct in your guesses . To be honest I thought they would have used field points like we do . But with iron being so expensive , blunts and fire hardened tips make more sense . Thank you four sharing you time & efforts & thoughts . How well would fire hardened points work ?

[@crazyash103]

Wonderfull video !! I didnt even know Those arrows existed😱

[@justanothercaptain6566]

Thank you for the amazing history lesson on archery. Cheers!

[@MagikosEksMaikhina]

"Although a melon is not a perfect facsimile for a rabbit..." really makes my day lol

[@filmfan4]

Every one of your videos is just brilliant, I learn something new each time 😊

[@isaiahkerstetter3142]

Excellent stuff Tod.

[@joops110]

Makes a lot of sense that they would have used blunts for practice shooting. Awesome video as always!

[@homemademedieval3935]

I'm definitely enjoying your videos.

[@marknew3]

Thankyou for the food for thought! Highly instructive as usual. Keep up the good work.

[@lizardink2900]

I know what to use to hunt melons now. :) Great video as always.

[@makeyourownsawdust9225]

Another great video. Interesting about the energy transfer. Would give the rabbits (and melons) a severe headache. Can we have some more crossbow construction stuff. My dream is to build one myself.

[@davidm1563]

Great video Tod. So if you think these medieval shooting ranges called "Buts?" would most likely be used in tandem with wooden blunts instead of the sharpened steel/iron heads more commonly used in warfare what exactly where they aiming at to practice? Would they be shooting at circular targets like what you have with the classic bullseye or just an open field or some other way perhaps?

[@johnw1544]

You can still see the butts they used today. They're basically grassy humps in the soil. You could just shoot at the soil itself I imagine. warbowwales.com/communities/0/004/009/712/490/images/4615286173_204x275.jpg

[@davidm1563]

Thanks John! Very insightful actually. Makes sense as well, why build a special target when piles of dirt work equally well it seems.

[@SonsOfLorgar]

I'd guess they erected some sort of target, perhaps a stretched piece of hide or, more likely, bark or a rug of quilted straw.

[@VickiVampiressYT]

Very interesting video! I love that you go into the specifics of weapons and armor. I love how so many if the reproductions are made authentically as they would do back then. I'm honestly surprised you don't have more subs!

[@crafter170]

Very interesting video.Yes the blunt sure would stop small game as the bolt slows right down on exit.Wonder if the Scots tested theirs on wild haggis

[@claytonmcdonald9520]

Very neat. They were by no means ignorant of making different things Work, and being very effective.

[@peterwise143]

I have blunts which I use on my carbon arrows when I am hunting small game with my compound bow. Some are small metal ones and others are 28 mm plastic ones with vents to allow air to pass through so that they don't slow too much.

[@johnstephenson4925]

Loving the videos was never much into historical weaponry but you've really grabbed my attention keep it up

[@pekkamakela2566]

In medieval Finland blunts were used in fur hunting. It leaves the animal skin intact. Furhunting was commonly done during winters, since farmers had extra time and animals had best furs. Therefore the not losing arrows explanation does not work so well. Targets were mostly up in the trees, and blunts would fall down, but the ground was covered with snow. A meter of snow will swallow any arrow completely. I think that even frozen spring snow couldn't stop arrows.

[@JanoTuotanto]

About finding the spent arrows, why do you think our boy scouts are still called "kolkkapoika" (blunt bolt boy)

[@nudl3Zz]

Really love the videos you put out lately

[@Tacklebox3000]

Blunt arrow heads are still used today for small game hunting. The broad head you would use for a deer is going to shred half the meat in a squirrel but a nice thumping blunt will smash it up without destroying the meat or pelt.

[@SveinNOR]

Sort of a nerdy question, but here goes: With arrows for bows, a lot of research has been done on the effect of "Kinetic Energy" vs "Momentum", where Ed Ashby in the "Ashby Reports" showed clearly that in order to maximize penetration and hunting efficiency some unexpected results give a clear advantage. These are 1. Light, but stiffer shaft. 2. Very heavy broadhead. (200gn+) 3. 1:3 width/length ratio Broadheads with slight curved, single bevel edges and tanto style tips. The point is to push the center of mass of the arrow as close to the tip as possible. This is expressed in a FOC(Front Of Center) or EFOC(ExtremeFOC) value, as how many percent towards the front, calculated from the length of the shaft+tip. EFOC is used when 30% value is reached, which is optimal value for penetration. (So, an arrow with its center of mass at least 30% in front of the arrows center by length) How do these values show up on a medieval type arrow and bolt? Since there are a lot of different tips, I am talking about the ones most used for hunting.

[@fellbatzen7033]

And then the melon slowly turned towards the camera and stared right into my soul with his big cracked open gazing holey eye... "Why, oh why? A ghastly show of force? Just for entertainment? You monster!”

[@shubbagin49]

As to the question of finding arrowheads on well-used butts, I would imagine there would be small boys looking for buried arrows, as small boys look for golf balls nowadays, obviously when they not in use. I used to do a lot of field archery, so losing arrows got to such a point I started making my own, very satisfying. I have used blunts on an old Barrnet, makes sense when hunting in British woodland, which is illegal by the way, good fun for water bottles and stuff.

[@martyjehovah]

This was my thinking too. If there were hundreds of lost arrowheads out there a flock of children with shovels and sifters could make some decent money once or twice a year with a day's work.

[@Stigstigster]

@@martyjehovah As a boy I used to go down to the long range rifle range berm we have nearby and sift out as many bullets as I could find in a couple of hours. I used to get pounds upon pounds of them. I'd take them home, make a fire in the back yard and melt the lead out of the copper jackets in an old saucepan. I used empty aluminium cans as a mold to cast disks of lead that I either made fishing weights for myself or sold the lead to other people in the area who wanted it. I never made much money but it kept me busy and I had as many fishing weights as I ever needed using my dad's weight mold. Those were the days!

[@adamkoz9722]

Never thought they were used. Thaks a lot for uploading, you're doing a great job!

[@commissarkordoshky219]

Oooh that's gonna leave a mark!

[@marcocammozzo7553]

Nice to see some melon hunting :) Your ideas make complete sense

[@colinmaceachern9]

I've watched your vlogs for some time now and enjoy them immensely. You're theory on blunts makes sense. Why use an expensive metal head when a wooden one will do the same job. I'm interested in the traditional long bow draw weights and arrow length. I tried archery many years ago. The problem was my height and arm length, I'm 6'3" and have a span of 6'5" .

[@MrTEamonn]

Were melons common in medieval England? I think a more period correct target would have been a wild haggis.

[@weirdscience8341]

Haggis in england wrong country buddy

[@signumtemporisa.c.670]

There's something clear and simple: if you shoot at a bird, let's say a dove (in medieval times, they eat them) with a "normal" arrow head, well... Probably, you will get hungry. And you'll loose your arrow. If you shoot at that dove with a blunt arrow head, and with "flu-flu" feathers (I hope you call them in English the same way we do in spanish, 'cause I don't know another name for this kind of feathers), the dove will be in one piece (with a few bones broken, but with all its meat) and your arrow will be much easier to find after the hunting. Good video, Tod!

[@mikeorick6898]

I still do a lot of practice w blunts (slip on and screw in). I don't break nocks with arrow hits, and my targets last virtually forever because I'm not putting holes in them. Just about anything with some give will work as a target/backstop.

[@kerrymcmanus9188]

Just received some blunts from you Tod, very nicely made & excellent flight,in fact i think maybe a bit quicker,have to chronie them.Cheers Kerry

[@Robert-qr8co]

I believe your point about the negligible cost and availabilty of the blunt heads is the most convincing argument for their usage by the peasants. Use a hatchet or your one good knife to trim a bough to the right length and give it a round point, use a bow drill to make a hole on the other side for the arrow shaft and you're ready to go. You could even use large leaves pinned to your target to see exactly where you hit. One question, tough: can we tell if medieval archers used some equivalent of flu-flu arrows or the like? This in conjunction with the blunt heads would sure be a very nice way of hunting small game.

[@valkoharja]

Thanks Tod. Good stuff.

[@peterleffler2062]

I think you think right. It adds up.