Made of string and sticks and bamboo

Reed arrow shafts have a reputation for breaking with repeated use (or sometimes even when you release the string).  Therefore, while reeds are ideal for the most authentic "show and tell" pieces, prospective Classical archery reenactors should consider using bamboo shafts in arrows they intend to actually shoot.  Bamboo looks somewhat like reed (far and away better than wood, at least) and has an excellent reputation for strength.  Amphictyonia poster Nadeem Ahmad informs us that it's also authentic for Indians and some other Achaemenid allies/subjects.  On top of that, they're also widely available and fairly inexpensive, in the form of garden stakes.

Without further ado, Home Depot Garden Stake Bamboo Arrow Build-a-Long, courtesy of the Primitive Archer forums.

I haven't yet tried the process myself, and will refrain from adding my own commentary.  If you're willing to pay quite a bit more, you can get bamboo shafts partly- or fully-prepared from various vendors like The Bamboo Arrow Company or 3Rivers Archery.

Playing with the kidaris or tiara

Personally, I don't find the look of the standard tiara appealing, but it is the most commonly-attested headwear for Persians in Greece, and is very easy to make at home.

A tiara pattern for a large head, with moderate-length neck flap (left).
If you choose felt, all you need to do is cut out the "blank," stitch up the front seam and turn the hat inside-out.

Persians appear to have sometimes worn tiaras tied around the crown with a cord of some kind.  On this practice run, I'm just using a bit of leftover cotton belting.

If you don't like the look of the long earflaps, they may be tied up Cappadocian-style, like a modern hunting cap or ushanka.

For an even tidier look, the flaps can be tucked into themselves.

From the back.

 

I'm going to have to rescind my words about the fabric needing to be soft enough for the peak to lay to one side.  It appears that even the very soft polyester felt I used on this prototype isn't flimsy enough for that purpose.  I'd guess that the flopped-over look was probably achieved using a fine woven cloth, either wool or linen.

Again, for the Graeco-Persian wars, I have only heard of felt being used.  Greek art typically shows Persian (or possibly Scythian, etc.) soldiers wearing tiaras with rather stiff-looking peaks that are often curled, but not flopped, forward.  So it's possible that the stiff peak is okay for our purposes.

A further note on leather sheaths

Remember back in May when I wrote on how to make a scabbard?  Recently while making the sheath for a factory-sharpened knife I discovered that the instructions I gave for the all-leather, side-seamed sheath back then are only fine as they are if your weapon is unsharpened.

Otherwise, you need to include a welt, which is a strip of leather glued around the inside of the sheath between anywhere a sharp edge and seam might touch.  This will prevent the blade slicing through the stitching.  It also, as a bonus, gives the sheath a less flat shape.

Instructions can be found all over the Web; as an example, see steps 4 and 13 here.

Native Way G202

While the socketed trilobate arrowhead is the most common and preferred type for our period, Native Way's model G202 (their G200 looks very similar) belongs to a type attested from findings at Persepolis and is therefore an option for the Achaemenid reenactor.  I also happen to find it very cool-looking.

It's molded from an original and cast in a "lightly leaded" tin bronze which as you can see cleans up very nicely.  It is unfortunately cast rather thick and heavy at 12 grams, but filing and trimming the tang (above, I've cut the tang down by about a third) will help, and also let you define the mid-rib more clearly.  I've managed to get the one I've worked on down to around 9g and could go further.  Because the dust contains lead, I'm guessing your should avoid high-speed power sanding.

The best thing about these, along with being perfectly authentic, is they're very inexpensive as far as reproduction arrowheads go:  Rough-cast, they retail for $3 each, and for the U.S.-based reenactor, shipping costs are far lower than overseas options.  If you don't mind doing some of the work yourself, these are a great option for the reenactor on a budget.

Er...  Some of you may be wondering why I haven't done anything with XMFM's Facebook page since creating it back in April.  The reasons are twofold:  1) my browser is so out-of-date that using Facebook properly is next to impossible (and upgrading is out of the question, for technical reasons relating to a completely unwanted and unrequested ISP "upgrade"), and 2) even using another computer, I can't figure it out to save my life.

I'm not asking for help, just thought an explanation was in order.

An all-wood akinakes scabbard

The British Museum has some good-resolution profile shots of an akinakes scabbard showing an alternative method of construction.  It is made of just two pieces of tamarisk wood, mirror-image front and back halves.  The chape and throat are presumably also integral to these halves, although they seem to carved to represent separate pieces.  The shell-like carved throat would eliminate any need for clever methods of shaping to make it wide enough to cover the sword's guard.  An unidentified white paste was used to cover the scabbard in gold sheet, most of which is now gone.

This find does not contradict the existence of separate chapes, which are well-attested archaeologically.

Over the months it's become hard to deny that, although (as I've observed below) the variety of arrowheads acceptable for use is much wider than I initially thought, the acceptable options available on the market remain sadly limited and that the good replicas available are a bit pricey for new reenactors to buy by the dozen.

To rectify this situation, we might consider working with bronze casters to develop new products.  As a demo I've made a handful of wax prototypes based on illustrations from OIP 69.  It's easy.  The challenging part will be to make them accurate by finding and examining originals firsthand.  Since shipping and handling overseas increases costs, I'd further recommend that these ventures by carried out separately in whichever continents significant numbers of archers are interested.

L-R:  Socketed two-blade, tanged two-blade, socketed triangular and tanged three-blade.  Personally I like the tanged two-blade best, but that may be because it's by far the easiest to make in wax.  I imagine it would also be the easiest to cast.

As always, send feedback to xerxesmillion@yahoo.com.  Thanks for your interest.