Hattila, a specialist in archery andcrossbow sales, has an extensive online store, with several hundred models to choose from. Hattila has made archery its flagship category, offering all types ofbows in different calibers, from the classic to the most modern. So whether you're into sport shooting, leisure shooting, target shooting, nature shooting or bowhunting, you'll find the bow you need.
However, to practice archery in complete safety, you need to be well prepared: you need to know the safety rules to protect yourself. Here's our guide to protecting yourself during your shooting sessions. If you're a beginner and just starting out, it's sure to come in very handy.
To ensure that archery remains a safe and fun sport for young and old alike, a number of basic safety rules must be observed. It's important to remember that this sport and leisure activity involves handling a weapon. A weapon that must be handled with the utmost care. Whether you're a sport shooter, a hunter, an experienced shooter or a hobbyist, here's what you need to know and do:
- Checking the surroundings:
When training in a shooting club or outdoors, the shooter must ensure that the shooting area is completely clear and unobstructed. This means learning to shoot a bow only when other shooters are on the shooting line and none of them are near the shooting area. In fact, it often happens that the shooters don't all shoot at the same time, but alternately. In this case, there's a risk that one shooter will be in the vicinity of a shooting zone and another will shoot an arrow at the same time.
- Controlling your equipment :
It's also important to check the quality of your equipment before each shot. This ensures that your arrows have no defects that could compromise the quality or integrity of your shot.
- Vertical pitch:
To avoid unfortunate incidents, one of the most common archery recommendations is never to shoot vertically. Indeed, when you shoot normally, i.e. in the direction of the shooting zone, the shot is never risky as long as you have aimed at the shooting zone, because even if you miss the target, the arrow falls back close by. On the other hand, if you shoot vertically, you run the risk of the projectile landing in an unsafe area, i.e. where people may be present.
- Stable targets with safety contour :
While checking your equipment is obviously essential before each shot, the next thing to think about is checking your shooting range. To do this, you need to make sure that you're shooting at targets that are securely mounted on an easel, and that there are no other targets or people in the immediate vicinity.
ARCHERY EQUIPMENT
To protect yourself and others during club shooting sessions, you need quality shooting equipment. Here are a few essentials you need to know:
- No handmade bows:
It's essential to buy a bow that meets quality and safety standards. Not only will this protect your own health (after all, this is a sport that involves certain parts of the body, such as the neck and arms), but it will also guarantee the safety of other shooters in the vicinity. Good equipment must therefore be adapted to the shooter's morphology. The most popular models includerecurve and compoundbows. While the compound bow is ultra-modern and features lever-action pulleys, the recurve bow is more traditional, but no less effective thanks to its double curve. These various models are, of course, available from your Hattila gunsmith's online store.
- Pay attention to ammunition size:
Hattila, the online store for bows and archery equipment, supplies quality, standard arrows: cheap arrows for bows. These indispensable accessories for the archer must have a certain length, otherwise the arrow will not rest stably on the arrow rest.
- Check rope quality to avoid breakage:
Particular attention must also be paid to the string. It must be strong enough to propel the arrow with the required power. And you should avoid stretching the rope without an arrow, as this can damage your equipment as well as being a safety hazard.
- Use an arrow puller :
Once you've shot an arrow, you'll need to remove it from the target. To do this safely, you can use an arrow extractor to avoid injuring yourself and others who may be behind you, for example.
POINTS TO PROTECT
During a shooting session, it's important to know which parts of your body are put under strain by the sport. The fingers of your hand, for example, will be put under a great deal of strain and exposed to tendonitis, as they are the ones that pull the string. Your arms and forearms will also be put to the test, not forgetting your neck muscles. Indeed, the shooter's position means that the neck is often supported. Finally, and to a lesser extent, the shooter's teeth need to be impeccable so that he or she doesn't encounter balance problems when shooting.
ESSENTIAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
Certain archery protection accessories, such as forearm protectors, are highly recommended for archers. These protective accessories enable the archer to protect himself against possible injuries. Forearm protectors, also known as bracelets, protect the forearm from string rebound after the shot. To protect your fingers when shooting, there's the finger guard (for right- or left-handed shooters), also known as a paddle. You can also protect your torso and chest with a breastplate. Finally, for added comfort, we recommend you carry a quiver to store your arrows.
