Archery Question

[Doc]

For a time, objects called "alchemist's bulbs" were experimented with. They were glass globes filled with flamable liquid, like oil. These were placed on the tip of the arrow. One or two were nothing, but having the sky filled with dozens, or even hundreds, there could be quite a bit of oil dispersed on the battlefield. The second volley loosed would be flaming arrows. I do not know the particulars completely, but this system failed, evidenced by lack of common practice.

Pete, rag arrows, were just as you describe. Tightly wound around the shaft, with a heavy knot at the tip. On occasion, a lump of tar or pitch was inside the knot. The rags were soaked in liquid of some kind, whatever was available, and as they were being wound around the shaft, bits of straw were placed between the layers of cloth. These acted like wicks, keeping the rag arrows alight while in flight. Rag arrows were the most dangerous though to the archer. Burning blobs of oil or tallow would shimmy off the arrow as it launched, and on occasion, the vapours from the arrow would ignite before it reached the brazier, causing quite a flash fry for all those near.

The Chinese had very nearly turned the flaming arrow into an artform. They would make special arrows, and the payload was specially dried crap, horse crap, bat crap, cow crap, whatever was handy, dried in a special way after pickling it in alcohol. This clump of crap was then tightly wound in rags, soaked in oil, and affixed to the end of the arrow shaft. These arrows were nearly 5 feet in length, and could achieve some degree of distance. These arrows BURNED. And they smelled, well, like burning pickled crap. They stunk to high heaven. Not only were the flames dangerous, but the fumes caused severe difficulty breathing, watery eyes, loss of vision, loss of stamina due to shortness of breath. I like to think of them as early versions of tear gas launchers. All these preparations took entirely to much time though, and it was not practical to make these arrows in large batches. As an added extra danger, these arrows were known to spontaineously combust, and storing them was quite dangerous in masse. I have always wanted to try and make a couple of these my self, but never quite got up the courage to do so.