The head which looks best on an arrow is the bodkin. Used throughout the Hundred Years War, this head would penetrate chain-mail and armour, and made the longbow the fearsome weapon it was. These bodkins are machine-made, which means that they are all the same and will all shoot the same, so that your arrows will group well.
I designed these many years ago, when I got fed up with my arrows bouncing out of targets on the rare occasions when I hit them. Since then other makes have come on the market, but ours are still the best. (One maker of arrows is even using my text!) The reason why ours are best is that ours are a parallel fit, which gives a much stronger glue bond than a taper fit, and also the front of our bodkin has four cutting edges, which gives greater penetration. They don't make a bigger hole, they just go in further. They have been tested and accepted by the National Field Archery Society
(full details of the testing and acceptance available on request). The parallel fit means that they are easy to drill out if you snap an arrow, so they can be used over and over again. They are made from steel, they are four-sided at the business end, we stock them in both 5/16" and 11/32", and they are 1.75 inches long. And I have never had one bounce!
Some of our customers have queried the fact that the short bodkins are a little bit wider than the shaft they are putting them on, which leaves a little lip of the bodkin on the shaft. This is because the wall thickness is wider so that the bodkin is strong and so is slightly bigger than the shaft. If you are not bothered by this then continue to buy the 11/32" bodkins for the 11/32" shafts, but if you want the bodkins to be flush with the shafts then order 5/16" bodkins for the 11/32" shafts. You will have to reduce the diameter of the end of the shaft more to take the bodkin, but you will get a flush fit. If you don't understand any of this, give me a ring!
To order, ask for SHORT BODKINS, and state the size you want. 5/16" are
95p each and 11/32" are
£1.20 each.
We have sold out of the 11/32" size and are trying to find a new engineering firm to start making them for us at a reasonable price. As an alternative, we are now stocking Modbods in 11/32" 125 grain at 45p each. Sorry we have no picture at present.