Meridian Golf Tube APD Construction
Materials
- Golf Tube
- 3/4 in. Strapping tape
- Scissors
Makes aprox. 18 APD's
Construction
| 1. Cut Golf Tube in a section 1 1/4" long
2. Trim the edges of the APD of any rough or sharp edges |
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| 5. Cut pieces of strapping tape into approximately ½ in. sections. Place these over edge of the APD. Make sure to fully cover the edge of the golf tube on both sides. |
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| 6. Remove all fletches from the arrow.
7. Cut a piece of strapping tape approximately 3 inches long.
8. Place tape inside the APD such that one end has a 1/4 in. tab projecting from it. This is now the top of your APD. |
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| 9. Place on arrow so that the top of the APD rests less than ½ in. from the end of the nock. It is suggested that this be placed parallel to the nock slit, in the third fletch position (as discussed in the testing section this appears to work off a rest, shelf or hand). Then secure the tape protruding from the bottom of the APD to the arrow. The top will most likely be loose at this point.
10. Cut a 4 to 5 in. piece of strapping tape. Split this lengthwise into two pieces, one slightly narrower than the other.
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| 11. Take the narrow piece of tape and use it to secure the tab at the top of the APD to the arrow. Start the tape on the arrow and slant to minimize effect on nock slit. It is ok if some tape covers the nock slit, this will give some and be useable after a couple of times on the bow string.
12. Use wider piece of tape to secure the bottom of the APD, wrapping to create a small shelf to help secure the APD. |
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| 13. Take strapping tape and wrap around the middle or top of the APD and around the arrow for extra anchoring.
14. Test to make sure the APD is secure and remember to cover any exposed fiberglass from where you removed fletches! |
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Testing Results
- Shot from 30# recurve bow
- All arrows were fiberglass
- Static and combat testing done
- Shot into helm at both half draw and full draw (20 times)
- Shot 40 times into the field
- Cram test conducted
- Crush test performed
| During Helm shot testing, the APD held up and kept the shaft from penetrating the helm during the half draw testing. The tape did not loosen during the half draw testing, nor did the APD move on the shaft. When shot at full force from less than 10 feet, the APD buckled and the tape tore. Though the arrow did NOT penetrate the helm and did to the job required of it. |
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| Flight testing was also done on a wooden crossbow bolt, where the bolt was mounted INSIDE the APD. This bolt was fired off a golf tube designed crossbow with a pull of 55lbs. The bolt flew just as far as the hand bow arrows with the GT APD. |
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Crush testing was done during a fighters practice. The arrows were placed in the middle of the fighting field and the fighters were told to stomp away. After an afternoon of fighting on the arrows, the APD's did flatten out. Though they either came back to shape on their own, or were easily put back into shape. Also a siloflex APD was placed into the pile and while it also was crushed, it was not as easliy put back into shape as the golf tube APD.
Mounting the APD parallel to the nock should take care of the right hand, left hand problem. These arrows were shot off both a riser and the shelf with no apparent kick out from hitting the bow. The golf tube seems to give enough while passing by the shelf to let the arrow release without any problems.
When flight testing was conducted, we estimated that there was a loss of 30 yards distance with the APD, both golf tube and siloflex designs. The golf tube crossbow bolt flew as far as the hand bow APD arrows. Max distance for hand bows went from aprox. 100yds to 70yds. I attribute this difference from those testing APD's out west, due to the fact nocks here were never changed. We still use the snap nocks, while out west they use a form of APD to replace the nock. During the combat testing, the arrows had zero failures and flew fairly straight. Though all the shots that day were within close range, with no shots being placed over 20yrds. Also testing was not done on wooden shafts at this time. Anyone who wishes to do so, please do and report your findings.
The testing was conducted by;
Meridian Deputy Earl Marshal - Sir Griffin O'Suaird
Meridian Deputy Earl Marshal of Combat Archery/Siege Weapons - THL Seamus Corrigan
Meridian Combat Archery Authorization Marshal - Qaylah bint Aamir
This APD has been approved for Society use on December 30 A.S. XXXVI, 2001 Gregorian.
