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[freeformschooler]

I have this piece of shit bow and arrow

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

those are shoestrings

but while I was shooting it the arrow get stuck in a big tree. It fell down after a storm but the arrowhead didn't come down with it. There is no way to climb that tree and anyway I'm allergic to the leaves. Can you just buy arrowheads in a store or is it more efficient/cost effective to smash pointed bits of rock?

I walked up to town to a store called AUTHENTIC SURVIVOR GEAR that said "archery supplies and repair" on the door, but they didn't actually have any arrowheads, just a lot of guns and compound bows. One guy tried to sell me a walking stick that had a fake arrowhead embedded in it. I didn't buy it but it did look pretty cool.

[Tawa]

I've heard good things about cutting up tin/aluminum cans and using those, along with flint-chipping and stuff.

[Il Palazzo]

You can find plenty of online shops selling archery supplies, including arrowheads. Many have set up shop on ebay. Just go to sporting goods category and type arrowheads.

[Arx]

Tin* arrowheads are unlikely to work particularly well, since they'd have little edge besides being thin and would tend to buckle when striking at all awkwardly. It's possible to use thick wire if you cut it carefully, but I think buying is your best option, as it seems like it would be really challenging to make a reasonable stone arrowhead.

*Tin as a term for any metal derived from thin walled containers, not just actual tin.

[freeformschooler]

Well, I have made some stone arrowheads (via chisel), but they're not great. I'll check out ebay. Most places selling them seem to assume you're looking for historical artifacts.

[DJ]

Use a bit of wire to tie a nail to the end of your arrow, much easier than knapping flint and sticks into targets pretty good.

[Graknorke]

That bow really is a piece of shit.

Spoiler: Oh fuck I rambled a whole lot there. Spoilered to give a sense of how much there is here. Also that you may or may not care about bow making advice (click to show/hide)

I would suggest either doing what you can to make it better or make a new one. I mean... at least take the bark off so you can properly shape the bow. And have the string be taut. If it's good enough you could probably just fire-harden a wooden point and it'd still go into a tree.

Sources: Not a bowyer, but I helped someone who is also not a bowyer but has dabbled make a bow one time, and it was significantly more complex than tying a stick at both ends. Have to dry it off and narrow it down towards the ends so that something something tension in the right places.
As for the arrow bit, that comes from some survivalist stuff I did. Fire hardened points will indeed go through live wood with surprisingly little effort. I'm not sure how much that transfers to arrow points, but I imagine a sharp point is a sharp point. Plus the bonus of it being impossible to break off without actually snapping the arrow.

[freeformschooler]

That bow really is a piece of shit.

Spoiler: Oh fuck I rambled a whole lot there. Spoilered to give a sense of how much there is here. Also that you may or may not care about bow making advice (click to show/hide)

I would suggest either doing what you can to make it better or make a new one. I mean... at least take the bark off so you can properly shape the bow. And have the string be taut. If it's good enough you could probably just fire-harden a wooden point and it'd still go into a tree.

Sources: Not a bowyer, but I helped someone who is also not a bowyer but has dabbled make a bow one time, and it was significantly more complex than tying a stick at both ends. Have to dry it off and narrow it down towards the ends so that something something tension in the right places.
As for the arrow bit, that comes from some survivalist stuff I did. Fire hardened points will indeed go through live wood with surprisingly little effort. I'm not sure how much that transfers to arrow points, but I imagine a sharp point is a sharp point. Plus the bonus of it being impossible to break off without actually snapping the arrow.

Definitely gonna make a new one after reading that. Thanks for the tips.

[Graknorke]

Since I didn't describe it very well (sorry, that wasn't really mean to be advice at all at first so it isn't structured appropriately), here's the sort of shape you should be looking to end up with.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I can't remember the exact reasoning behind it, but the idea is to get the right balance between how far it can bend and how much tension is released when you loose it. If the wood is too thick you can't bend it far enough to be much use, and if it's too thin it won't do anything.
I'd suggest you err on the side of caution though and leave it too thick, and prone to snapping if you draw it back too far, rather than too thin and useless. You can at least fix the former or just not draw it back as far. With the second you'd have to start over again.

[freeformschooler]

Why do they carve out that bit in the middle? Is that where you rest your arrow so it doesn't slide? Most bows seem to have a grip there instead. Or is it actually a grip in the picture and just looks like it's been carved out?

[Graknorke]

Well that was just a picture I grabbed off the internet, but that looks like a grip that's been carved into the bow and then padded to fit a hand better. Not like that's the important bit of the picture, though. It was more for the general shape than ergonomics.

[martinuzz]

Depending on which country you live in, arrowheads might be illegal. I have practiced archery as a sport for a few years here in the Netherlands. Arrowheads are strictly forbidden. You are allowed to have a bow, and sports arrows (without arrowheads), but if you are caught in posession of actual sharp arrowheads, you can face jailtime. Law distinguishes between sports gear, and lethal weapon (even though it is very possible to kill with a sports arrow lol)

[freeformschooler]

Depending on which country you live in, arrowheads might be illegal. I have practiced archery as a sport for a few years here in the Netherlands. Arrowheads are strictly forbidden. You are allowed to have a bow, and sports arrows (without arrowheads), but if you are caught in posession of actual sharp arrowheads, you can face jailtime. Law distinguishes between sports gear, and lethal weapon (even though it is very possible to kill with a sports arrow lol)

So if you sharpen a rock until it makes a point, and the Polis walk by, you go to jail? That seems kind of harsh...

Here (USA) the there's a lot of undiscovered Native American relics, so you can potentially get in trouble for finding a site and taking from/disturbing it willy-nilly, but you can keep a sword, a gun, and a poison arrow in your garage. Life is great.

This is probably true for any country that allows bowhunting

[Graknorke]

you can keep a sword, a gun, and a poison arrow in your garage. Life is great.

A spear gun with a bayonet on the end?