Help identifying some cane

[razorback]

Went to my father-in-laws for thanksgiving and came home with a bunch of cane. This stuff groes all over the place in his area and I'm wondering if it is good for arrow shafts. It has fairly pronounced nodes with 2 leaf stems at each one coming out side by side. They alternate opposite eac other each node. There is a distinct groove running up the stem from the leafs. The ones I grabed are for Atlatl darts so are about 3/4" wide at the widest point but there are thinner ends and smaller shoots. So any input would be great. I have to recharge the camera after the holiday to get pictures of what I have so far.

[Pat B]

Where was the cane patch located?

[razorback]

Hey Pat,
This cane is located in Pennsylvania just north of Philadelphia along the Delaware river. There are clumps of it all over the place here, some have been around for years. This stuff grows 20-30' tall and stems get to be 2-3" thick. these numbers are conservative, they may get a whole bunch bigger.

[Pat B]

I believe that is an Asian import. It grows around here too. I've never tried to make with it although I have used the poles for tarps.

[Osagetree]

If it is what I think it is, it doesn't straighten well with heat!
Rivercane rarley gets over 15ft.

[Pat B]

...and rarely over 3/4" in diameter.

[psychmonky]

There is a guy here who planted some of that several years ago. I was asking him about it and he told me it was called "yellow groove bamboo." I cut some to dry, but I worry that the groove is going to cause issues.

[razorback]

Thanks Scott,
Did some more research and it appears you may be right. Yellow groove is what it appears to be. I agree the groove and pronounced nodes may make it unsuitable for arrow shafts but the stuff I have at the moment is going to be used for atlatl darts. I am going to get some thinner stuff on my next trip and see how it works for arrows.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Where's the pics?

[SEMO_HUNTER]

I've got a few river cane shaft left over, and I can go back and get more. They have a recovery effort planted not too far from where I live. Have to call the agent in that area and see if it's ok to get more, but probably would be a problem? Let me know if you want true river cane.

[psychmonky]

here is what I cut. With the thin walls, pronounced nodes, and that yellow groove/flat spot running up different sides of every internode, I'm not thinking it will work for anything.

 

 

[inksoup]

psychmonky dry them for two weeks and examine them again if they have sequeezed or creased?
if they are not (or much) then you can try to build and arrow out of them.

[Osagetree]

In your area you might find this kind of dogwood more readily than cane. Makes for great primitive arrow shafts.
 

[Maxspin]

I have some black bamboo growing in my backyard that looks a lot like that. I made a couple of arrows out of it to prove that it could be done.

It tapers to fast, the nodes are too big, the walls are to thin. Bamboo plant stakes from Home Depot make much better arrows.

That being said I make a couple of arrows that fly real good.

Keith