"The initial shaping of the arrow shafts is considered completed, and next comes the more meticulous polishing and subsequent processing."
"Polishing removes tiny burrs and uneven spots from the arrow shaft surface, making it feel smoother and, to some extent, reducing air resistance when the arrow flies."
"Then comes the making of the nock, which directly affects whether the arrow can be securely set on the bowstring and the smoothness during release."
"Typically, we carve a 'V' or 'U' shaped groove."
He first uses the knife tip to mark a shallow spot at the exact center of the arrow shaft's tail end, then extends a line on each side from that spot, gradually deepening and widening these two grooves.
Occasionally stopping to measure with the bowstring, ensuring the angle and depth of the final "V" shaped nock perfectly matches his bowstring.
After handling all the arrow shafts, Lin Yu'an takes out a previously preserved beaver leg bone and selects the femur with the hardest bone wall.
"Now, we will make the arrowhead; the beaver's bones are very hard, making them a good choice for practice arrowheads."
"Of course, its strength and sharpness are definitely not as good as metal arrowheads, but it's good enough for shooting grass targets or dealing with some small prey."
He places the femur on a thick flat stone slab, holding it steadily with his left hand, while his right hand picks up the logging axe.
"Crack!"
With a crisp cracking sound, the femur breaks relatively neatly into several long strips of bone.
From them, he selects several bone strips of suitable length and thickness, without noticeable cracks, to prepare for making arrowheads.
He places one bone strip flat on a small anvil stone, holding a multi-purpose knife as a scraper.
Constantly changing the pressure point and angle, bit by bit scraping and peeling away excess bone from the edges of the strip, gradually shaping the arrowhead.
"Puff puff puff..." Tiny white bone scraps scatter like snowflakes.
After repeated scraping and trimming, the first roughly leaf-shaped bone arrowhead embryo is born in his hand!
It has the general outline of an arrowhead, but the edges are still rough, and the tip is not sharp enough.
"The embryo is created; next comes the fine polishing."
He picks up the bone arrowhead embryo and begins patiently grinding it on a sandstone whetstone moistened with water.
"For the tip of the arrowhead, polish it to be as sharp as possible to ensure sufficient penetration, and also try to smooth it to reduce flight resistance."
After finishing the first bone arrowhead, he follows the same method and successively crafts another four, striving for symmetry and sharpness in each piece.
The material for the fletching comes from the primary wing feathers of a grouse he caught earlier.
"Grouse feathers are lightweight and tough, making them naturally excellent fletching."
"When selecting feathers, ensure that those on the same arrow are best from the same side wing of the bird for stable flight."
He carefully splits the primary shaft of a feather lengthwise down the middle, taking only the half with intact vanes, then uses the knife to thin the shaft for easier gluing and binding.
These processed half-feathers are carefully trimmed to uniform lengths, shaping them into smooth spindle forms with slightly pointed ends and a widthier middle to achieve optimal aerodynamic effect.
Lin Yu'an scrapes off hardened resin chunks from the pine tree trunk.
"Pine resin is naturally a high-quality adhesive, with strong stickiness when heated and melted."
Placing these resin chunks in a small clay bowl, he carefully adds a little bit of water to prevent scorching during heating, then positions the bowl near the embers of the fire to slowly melt with residual heat.
Soon, the resin melts into a viscous, amber-colored liquid emitting a rich pine fragrance.
Lin Yu'an picks up a processed birch arrow shaft and uses a small stick to evenly apply a layer of melted resin over the tail.
Quickly grabbing three trimmed feathers, he adheres them to the resin-coated shaft at precise intervals of one hundred and twenty degrees.
This method ensures a stable spin inclination during flight, commonly known as fletching offset angle.
Before the resin completely solidifies, he retrieves the prepared nylon inner core extracted from a parachute cord.
Starting near the root of the fletching at the nock, he uses his finger to tightly hold one end of the nylon line, then begins winding it upward.
Each turn presses tightly against the previous one, with a winding length of about two to three centimeters, sufficient to secure the feathers.
"Final step; connecting the arrowhead to the shaft, and it's finished!"
Carefully splitting open a notch at the front end of each birch arrow shaft, matching the depth to the length of the bone arrowhead's tang.
"The notch must be controlled in depth and width, enough to fully embed the arrowhead's tang without being too deep or wide, which reduces the shaft's strength."
He meticulously applies melted resin inside the notch and on the bone arrowhead's tang.
Then aligns the arrowhead's tang with the notch and forcefully inserts it into the shaft, ensuring tight contact without wobbling.
Immediately afterwards, using nylon thread soaked with resin, starting at the arrowhead root-shaft junction, applies a cross-reinforced binding method known as "sinner's knot" or similar.
This binding maximizes the rope's tensile strength, locking the arrowhead and shaft together.
After two days of meticulous labor, all five new Birch Beaver Bone Arrows are finally completed!
Lin Yu'an picks up a new arrow, weighing it in his hand, feeling its appropriate weight and good balance.
Despite the evident handmade craft marks, it exudes a primitive yet practical beauty.
He heads to the grass target next to the camp, strings the bow, adjusts his breathing, locks his gaze on the bullseye, and releases steadily.
"Whoosh—thud!"
The bone arrow shoots off the string with a light sound of breaking the air, landing securely in the center area of the grass target!
Though the arrowhead weight differs slightly from metal ones causing a minor low point deviation from his expectations.
But its flight posture is very stable, and the penetration is quite impressive! Fully usable for daily practice and hunting some small animals!
"Excellent!"
Lin Yu'an's face lights up with a genuine, satisfied smile; although the hand-making process was cumbersome, it's sufficient for practice consumption!
A familiar, gradually nearing hum of a propeller breaks the forest's tranquility once more.
He looks skyward, where the small Bell helicopter comes flying through the distant valley, circles above his camp, and slowly lands on the previously agreed riverbank.
"Counting the days, it's been thirty-five days; the program team comes for the second material collection."
Once the helicopter stabilizes, the cabin door opens, and two staff members wearing jackets printed with "Alone in the Wilderness" logos step out.
This time, only one technician comes, exchanging brief pleasantries before skillfully checking equipment operation status, swapping storage cards and batteries.
After completing the operations, he gives Lin Yu'an an "OK" hand signal, indicating the equipment is all set.
The technician quickly finishes all work, with no extra delay; the helicopter roars to life again, disappearing into the distant sky.
Lin Yu'an stands on the riverbank, watching the helicopter head off.
This brief encounter with the civilized world only accentuates his sense of isolation; wilderness survival isn't just a physical ordeal, but more a mental one. He must regulate his emotions well to persist further.