Harvesting bamboo for arrows?

[b.glass]

My mom's bamboo patch is out of control and is going to be cut back. Is this time of year good to harvest for arrows?

[Pat B]

Bona, this time of year is OK to harvest cane but be sure the individual culms(canes) are at least 2 years old.
What kind of cane is it?

[b.glass]

I don't know what kind it is Pat. My mom passed last Sept. She probably couldn't have told me anyway. The individual canes (culms) have kept small for all the years she has had it there. I assume the older culms would be more toward the center of the patch. So if my sister cuts it back I'm thinking she will be cutting the younger ones.

[LittleBen]

I would imagine that the younger culms will have a thin sidewall, and the oldest will have a very thick one. I think you'll find that if you just cut a ton of them and bundle them and dry them out, you can spine and weigh them and get a reasonable idea which are older and which are younger. I would imagine the younger ones will end up very very low spine, and the problem will just work itself out.

With that said I have almost zero experience and I'm just goign on intuition here. Take my advice at your own peril.

[halfseminole]

That's what I experienced, actually.  Considering the material is free, I'd take the time to try it.  I really need to work on my bamboo arrows, but my PC has been taking a lot of my time in the attempts to bring it to life finally.

[b.glass]

Thanks for the responses. That makes sense LittleBen and halfseminole. It would be worth the little bit of effort it would take.

[Pat B]

Any immature culms will wrinkle lengthwise as they dry.