Take a break from your bricks and go play outside!

For the past few years there has been a noticeable lack of indoor events and play, which might be a good thing. I have filled the gap in my LEGO® life by getting back into Archery Games/Battles, and taking it up to the next level!

By “Archery Games”, I mean the sport that Wikipedia calls “Combat Archery“, but that many people refer to as “Archery Tag“, because of the large American franchise that has facilities around the world that operate under that name. (Other companies and common names include Bow Battles, Battle Bows, Arrow Tag, and Arrowsoft Sports).

While I have been building PVC bows and foam arrows for years, I had never really taken the time to refine my designs, and build enough gear to have 30 player games. In the coming months, I am hoping to get a video series out, covering everything that I have learned and laying out instructions for anyone to start building their own gear. I got started with the amazing videos by Nick at Backyard Bowyer   and I hope I can contribute something to the field of PVC bow making

My goal is simple; to get people outside playing my favourite sport. Possibly the best sport ever, because it combines: lots of running and arm exercise, skill that allows young kids to play almost on par with adults, and great team competition and action, like paintball, but without any mess and way less waste!

When I first started making gear, I was always doing it with kids, because I was working at a school and it was a great way to get kids excited about using tool and making things. They all wanted to play the game, and there was no way we were taking field trips to Archery Tag at $25 /kid for an hour. I have continued building with kids, but have also build a lot of adult gear in recent years and worked on my own skills, to the point where I think I can teach them online.

So now it’s time to scale up and create a resource that anyone in the world can use to make their own gear. Whether it’s a summer camp, STEM space for kids (or adults), school, or parents and kids in the garage. Any handy person can facilitate this activities with relatively few tools.

Over a series of videos, I’ll cover making bows and pressing jigs for mass production,

Making foam arrows that will survive the abuse of the games,

What materials I’ve found that work best,

Breakage and repairs

And finding ideal urban terrain and games that work well in different locations.

Here in Vancouver, I have been hosting tons of archery games, mostly for homeschooling meetups, but also for other groups and random folk in various parks.