For you guys that chose wood as your survival shafts

[Maclean]

Mark, yeah I know about straightening...

What would you use as a tool in the wilderness to straightening them?

I carry a small simple straightening tool in my pack just in case. It's just a 4" wooden dowel with a brass hook screwed into one end. Find the high spot of the bend, put the hook on the shaft and run it up and down the shaft to straighten. Works pretty good, and it only weighs a couple of ounces.

[Pat B]

I seal hardwood shoot shafts with hard brittle pine pitch dissolved in denatured alcohol, sort of a varnish. Brush it on and when the alcohol flashes off a thin coating of pitch seals the shaft. If you use hard brittle pitch the finish won't be sticky.

[Rick James]

So what exactly is “coal oil” and how much weight does a soaked shaft gain?

[Steve Clandinin]

Coal oil is just that ,used for lamps and such, available at just about any hardware store.depending on the wood, on hickory around 25 to40 grains .

[Squirrel Hunter]

In my experience, hardwood arrows have to be constantly restraightened regardless of weather. It’s worth it, for some applications (like the one you proposed), if you are experienced in shaft straightening. Straight grained softwood shafts (cedar, spruce, fir), if properly dried, straightened and sealed to begin with, rarely need more than a slight 5-10 second restraightening. Either way, no special tools needed.