Busting a Bust
Nov. 17th, 2005 03:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lenora_roseSo this is a bit of an old story, seeing as how it happened about two years ago. It's not urban legend. I was there.
Colin is one of the better archers in Castel Rouge. Siegound (SCA name used in case the real person wants some Net Anonymity.) is another. this means they both tend to hit pretty close to the centre of the target. We use wooden arrows.
Very often, the shooting line is full enough we have archers waiting their turn before we go to retrieve - moreso when we're running a contest where each person has to shoot a particular target a certain number of times. Colin tends to yield to others and wait.
Thus, in the course of about a month, maybe a bit more, Colin had broken several of Siegound's arrows. About four at this point.
Siegound's just walked off the line, and Colin gets to shoot at last, at the same target. As a joke, he askes, "Have you got any arrows in the middle I can shoot at?"
Siegound goes with the joke, "Well, there's one just a bit down."
Colin turns, aims his first arrow. (At the target proper. He swears it.)
CRACK.
Several of us burst out laughing. Siegound cusses.
We go to retrieve the arrows when the shooting's done.
And Colin keels over laughing when he looks at the target.
Siegound's arrow is only buried about a quarter of its length in the target.
Colin's arrow didn't slip out - it's still lodged between the two halves of Siegound's. You couldn't see the point of it.
We pulled it/them out. A perfect split, almost all the way down.
Colin kept Siegound's arrow. He's joked about having it bronzed. I know exactly where it's sitting on top of his bookcases.
The reason I mention this now?
I've had a recent Mythbusters mentioned to me three times now saying this can't be done. Ever. At all. Not once. Not even by Robin Hood.
Heh.
(I could geek you out by discussing why it's not likely to happen, to do with woodgrain, arrow building, shooting technique, etc. There's a *reason* it's impressive when Robin Hood does it. There's even a reason I remember that incident so well, besides the "Never tempt the gods..." comment. It's the only time I've seen a clean split like that with the arrow still lodged in. I just object to being told something I've seen happen with my own two eyes is not possible.)
Colin is one of the better archers in Castel Rouge. Siegound (SCA name used in case the real person wants some Net Anonymity.) is another. this means they both tend to hit pretty close to the centre of the target. We use wooden arrows.
Very often, the shooting line is full enough we have archers waiting their turn before we go to retrieve - moreso when we're running a contest where each person has to shoot a particular target a certain number of times. Colin tends to yield to others and wait.
Thus, in the course of about a month, maybe a bit more, Colin had broken several of Siegound's arrows. About four at this point.
Siegound's just walked off the line, and Colin gets to shoot at last, at the same target. As a joke, he askes, "Have you got any arrows in the middle I can shoot at?"
Siegound goes with the joke, "Well, there's one just a bit down."
Colin turns, aims his first arrow. (At the target proper. He swears it.)
CRACK.
Several of us burst out laughing. Siegound cusses.
We go to retrieve the arrows when the shooting's done.
And Colin keels over laughing when he looks at the target.
Siegound's arrow is only buried about a quarter of its length in the target.
Colin's arrow didn't slip out - it's still lodged between the two halves of Siegound's. You couldn't see the point of it.
We pulled it/them out. A perfect split, almost all the way down.
Colin kept Siegound's arrow. He's joked about having it bronzed. I know exactly where it's sitting on top of his bookcases.
The reason I mention this now?
I've had a recent Mythbusters mentioned to me three times now saying this can't be done. Ever. At all. Not once. Not even by Robin Hood.
Heh.
(I could geek you out by discussing why it's not likely to happen, to do with woodgrain, arrow building, shooting technique, etc. There's a *reason* it's impressive when Robin Hood does it. There's even a reason I remember that incident so well, besides the "Never tempt the gods..." comment. It's the only time I've seen a clean split like that with the arrow still lodged in. I just object to being told something I've seen happen with my own two eyes is not possible.)
