# No shelf or rest, now what



## Thin Man (Feb 18, 2012)

You definitely have to worry about feathers tearing up your hand. This can also occur with a shelf and problematic tuning or fletching. 

Others will weigh in as to the tactics to insure safe and pain-free shooting. Some other archery forums specialize in this type of shooting, so give a big peek to the Google search function and practice safe Saxon.

Good luck!


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## Curve1 (Nov 25, 2009)

If you have no other choice but to shoot this bow, I would take a thin plastic L shaped clip and tape it to the side of your bow..put some velcro on the top of the clip where you arrow will set...it would be a make-shift rest.


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## PRES 10 (Dec 16, 2007)

Another quick and easy option for make-shift rest would be a zip tie and leave the tail about 1/2" long.


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## Ryddragyn (Jan 28, 2012)

Raise nock point slightly or wrap front part of the fletchings with some twine. Raising the nock point would be the best bet imho. People have shot bows like yours for probably well over 50,000 years, so I say man up on it and honor your caveman ancestors.


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## Destroyer (Sep 11, 2009)

wolfe28 said:


> Should I wear a glove on my bow hand,


Good idea to.


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## BLACK WOLF (Aug 26, 2005)

wolfe28 said:


> Should I wear a glove on my bow hand, or do I really need to worry about the feathers tearing up the back of my hand?


Yes...you will need to protect your hand.

Another option would be to wrap the front of your feathers with thread or sinew.

Ray :shade:


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## Ryddragyn (Jan 28, 2012)

Depending on what type of arrows you have, wearing a glove will be next to useless, hence my recommendations on raising the nock point and wrapping. If they are recently made carbon arrows the feather edges can punch through the glove like butter. You can make reinforced gloves with thick leather as a shelf but it will still wear out.


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## rickstix (Nov 11, 2009)

“tearing up the back of my hand” is putting things mildly. I started out shooting off the knuckle and some bleeding was par for the course…probably lessened as the scarring accumulated (…much like my hard-headedness to persist with shooting). Worse, though, is when feathers get imbedded under the skin…and the dang things ain’t antiseptic.

I would certainly recommend any means of sparing injury to yourself…including more detailed maintenance/touch-up of your fletching. Store-bought or even home-chopped feathers, typically bring the quill to a fine point, which is often disadvantageous to the fletching and anything/one in its way. 

Anyhow, just thought I’d drop a heads-up. Do hope your shooting is an enjoyable experience. Rick.


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## gnome (Oct 22, 2006)

If you are shooting right handed, glue a short piece of a left wing feather (lip side down), to the side of the riser to make a feather rest. you will need to sand the base so that it has a little bit of an upward tilt. I also shoot cock vane in with this set up. I have used this on flea market self bows ,with good results. It acts sort of like a flipper rest. Old school way of doing it. Good luck, gnome. :beer:


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## wolfe28 (Apr 2, 2012)

Happy Easter, and thanks for all the suggestions. I'm all for embracing my inner Saxon (for me, it would really be my inner Viking and inner Hun), but ripping the back of my hand to shreds is not the way I want to do it. I'm only planning on using this bow long enough to get back into shape, and then I'm planning on getting something a little nicer (that has a shelf/rest). The other thing is that the price is right, free. 

D


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## WillAdams (Jun 6, 2009)

I use a Bowglove from Ravenswood Leather:

http://ravenswoodleather.com/index.php?p=product&id=398

when shooting my Kaya KTB.


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## Sanford (Jan 26, 2009)

wolfe28 said:


> Happy Easter, and thanks for all the suggestions. I'm all for embracing my inner Saxon (for me, it would really be my inner Viking and inner Hun), but ripping the back of my hand to shreds is not the way I want to do it. I'm only planning on using this bow long enough to get back into shape, and then I'm planning on getting something a little nicer (that has a shelf/rest). The other thing is that the price is right, free.
> 
> D


On the thin handle longbows I build, I just add a plastic stick-on rest under and through the grip cover. Not original to period, but neither are the bows, per se. There's really not much room in the grip area for a rest without taking from the looks of the bow in keeping a thin, unobstructed profile.


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## wolfe28 (Apr 2, 2012)

Good evening;

The bow just showed up today, and things aren't quite exactly as remember them. There is a marking that reads 45# on the back of the bow, just below the string nock (so its a little stiffer than I remember, but I'm okay with that). Also, there seems to be about 1/8" of a rest, or something that was part of a rest pushing the handgrip out on the left side of the bow (where you would rest an arrow). It is nowhere near wide enough for an arrow to rest on it, but the groove in the top edge will make it easier to attach something to act as a rest.

I'll post pictures tomorrow.

D


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## wolfe28 (Apr 2, 2012)

Here is the picture; I put a penny in the frame for scale. 









Again, thanks in advance for all the help.

D


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