My 2015 archery season got underway properly yesterday at the Castle Bowmen open shoot in Woodhall Spa. I’ve already done a couple of friendly shoots this year but nothing too serious, although I wouldn’t exactly call yesterdays attempt serious.

I knew it would be hard work, when l started the car to defrost it at 7am the temperature gauge said -3c. Travelling to Woodhall Spa, the temperature went as low as -4.5c. At the start of the shoot, the temperature was -2.5.

Shooting in cold temperatures is always hard work, it’s difficult to keep the muscles warm enough to keep them free, it didn’t help that after two targets we were already stood around waiting for the group in front to clear the targets. Not what you need when it’s that cold. The problem with standing around is that the muscles get cold and each shot is essentially the first shot of the day, you don’t get in to any sort of rhythm. All this resulted in me getting off to a particularly slow start.

By lunchtime, the temperature had increased in to positive numbers and we’d let the group in front have a good head start. I started getting in to a rhythm and my shooting started to improve. At the end of the day, I managed to piece together a score of 590 from 36 targets. Not exactly record breaking, but an average of just over 16 per target and good enough for second place on the day and only 26 points off 1st place.

I’m happy enough with the result, and its a fairly modest start to 2015. I’m off to Woodend Field Archers next weekend. It’s not a course I do well at usually as a lot of it is out in the open which makes distance judging hard for me. I’m hoping to do a lot better than my last performance on this course though.

Onwards and upwards…

I’ve been debating whether or not to get a couple of reusable hand warmers for a year or so now. When I’m out shooting in winter I really need to keep my fingers warm. Up until now I’ve been using the disposable type, the particular brand I’ve always used are Little Hotties. Up until last year they’ve been perfectly good, but the last two boxes that I purchased from Costco have barely got warm. I’ve ended up using two pairs just to get enough heat to keep my fingers from freezing. I’m not sure what they’ve done to the active ingredients but they’re definitely not as good as they used to be.

Zippo Handwarmer

I’d been looking at the Zippo hand warmers and also the S-Boston version. I’m a big fan of zippo products and have used their lighters for twenty years. Zippo products are known for their quality and lifetime guarantee so I figured the hand warmers would be up to the same standard. The S-Boston hand warmers are a similar design but have an electronic ignition system and are designed to be turned off when you’ve finished using them. Having said that, they are significantly more expensive than the Zippo.

Coming up to Christmas last year, I was struggling for things to list as gifts I wanted, so I decided to throw one of the Zippo hand warmers on the list. I was given one as a gift by my mum and Kay was also given a pair of them.

I didn’t have to wait long to try them out. The first weekend of January we were out shooting in freezing temperatures, so we fired up the hand warmers set off out in to the woods.

The first thing I’ll say about the Zippo is that it lights easily while you’re at home. Lighting them outside with even the slightest breeze is a lot more difficult. I did eventually manage to get them all to light, so I dropped them in their little pouches and stuffed them in my pocket. Having used them for the whole day, I can say they do get warmer than the last batch of disposable warmers I’d been using, but not by a whole lot.

One of the group I was shooting with had one of the S-Boston hand warmers. Compared to the Zippo, that thing was nuclear. It was so hot that you could barely touch it when it was outside of the leather sleeve it comes with. As I only had one of the Zippo hand warmers at this point, I decided to order one and give it a go.

S-Boston Handwarmer

As I mentioned earlier, the S-Boston hand warmer is significantly more expensive than the Zippo. The best price I found on the Zippo was £12.99, the best price I could find on the S-Boston was £25.99. Those of you with quick mental arithmetic will have worked out that it’s double the price!

Again, I didn’t have long to wait before I could test it out. The first Sunday after it was delivered we were off out shooting again. When we set off, the temperature was -3c. It dropped as low as -4.5c on the way there but was back at -3c when we started shooting. It was the ideal day to test the hand warmers. The temperature never got above freezing all day and we did a lot of waiting around. A guarantee that you’re going to be cold.

The S-Boston has an electronic ignition system that makes it a breeze to light, inside or out, wind it no wind. Thirty seconds and the thing is lit and warming up.

I had a Zippo in one pocket and the S-Boston in the other, and ideal test situation. Having been outside all day with the two products, I can honestly say there is no comparison between the two. The zippo did keep my hand from freezing, but definitely not that warm. I spent most of the day swapping the S-Boston from one pocket to the other to keep both of my hands warm.

In my opinion, the S-Boston is definitely worth the extra cost. The only thing I can fault the S-Boston for is the battery cover that holds the batteries for the electronic ignition system. When sliding the warmer in and out of the leather sleeve it comes with, the cover has a habit of coming loose. I’m not sure if this is because the sleeve is new and quite right. I’m hoping it gives a little over time and this little annoyance goes away. I have since replaced the Zippo hand warmer with another S-Boston and relegated the Zippo to the role of backup.

If your in the market for a reusable hand warmer, save yourself the cost of the Zippo and order the S-Boston straight off the bat.

Happy hunting!

I didn’t fancy any of the NFAS shoots that were organised for the first Sunday in August so I decided to give the Artemis EFAA shoot a go. It was another field round, the same as the previous two EFAA shoots at Artemis so I thought it would be good to see if my archery has improved this year.

My first attempt of the field round earlier this year resulted in a score of 234 (I shoot an AFB or LB as the IFAA call it). For those of you that have no idea what constitutes a good score for a field round, let me add some perspective. The World, European, and British records are 383, 370 and 380 respectively. As you can see, I was quite a bit short of a respectable score.

To make matters worse, the second time I shot the field round in June my score actually dropped. My second attempt yielded a score of only 198. To receive an A classification, a male AFB archer is require to score 250 or more on a field round. As you can see, I needed some improvement.

This time out I was determined to at least get past the A classification score of 250. Things started off well, I manage to put 3 scoring arrows on the first target and put two on the 80 yard target (albeit from 60 and 50 yards). This was better than my last outing at least and after 14 targets (out of 28) I had a score of 138. I wasn’t going to set any records but at least it was on track to get me over the 250 score I wanted.

Towards the end of the day, tiredness began to play a part. Lapses in concentration and form started to result in some pretty poor shots and my score started to suffer. At the end of the second 14 targets I’d dropped two points on the first round to give me a final score of 274. Not all that great but at least worthy of an A classification.

Whilst I didn’t set any records, a certain Mr Meeson that I shot the round with managed a massive score of 395. Those of you paying close attention will realise that score is good enough to take the World, European and English records. One day I hope to get somewhere near that, for now my next target is to break 300.