How To: Make a quick bow in the wilderness

John Campbell, from azbushman, demonstrates how to make a quick bow and arrow in the wilderness by collecting natural materials and constructing them with cord. He starts by finding seep willow (also called coyote willow) that grows in clumps near rivers. He cuts ten willow sticks and ranges their lengths from about five feet down to about one foot, each a couple of inches shorter than the next. First, the four longest sticks are pulled together and bound tightly at each end by winding cord about two inches down the length of the stems, and then tied off, so that they become one bundle. The next two largest sticks are then placed near the inner, center curve of the larger bundle, and bound with the same cord wrapping and tying near their ends. In this case, the cord is wrapped around all six sticks to bind them together on the end points of the smaller sticks. Lastly, Mr. Campbell gathers the four smallest sticks. He first binds them similarly onto the larger bundle at their ends, and then wraps all 10 sticks at the center section to make a smooth expanse of cord to grasp as a handle. Another length of cord is then tied to each end of the quick bow to make the bow string. An arrow is fashioned from a piece of straight stick with a notch cut into the end. Light thread or twine is wound around a number of leaves near that end, to stabilize the arrow's flight. He drips melted wax on the point where the twine meets the arrow shaft, to finish off the stabilizer. The other end of the arrow is then cut so that a point forms on the end.