Intro  •  News  •  Events  •  Calendar  •  Photos  •  Materials  •  Links

Materials

• Arrow shaft is a wood dowel, 5/16” diameter, 36” long (available at most hardware stores).
• Banding is colorized electrical shrink-wrap, cut to dimensions listed (available at Centennial Electronics, 2324 Bijou Street).
• Feathers (fletching) are faux Eagle feathers (available at BSA Council Office/Hibbard Scout store).
• Leather strapping is leather suede lace, cut to 3-6” long (available at Michael’s or Hobby Lobby).

Adding Color Bands and Feathers

Color Bands: Each color band represents an official award earned. These include rank advancements, belt loops, pins, and arrow points (not patches). Scouts will be awarded these at Pack Meetings, and the award is represented on the arrow as a color band. Slide the corresponding color band onto the arrow from the front of the arrow shaft, and use a hair dryer on high to shrink the band to the arrow. Heat guns, embossing guns, stoves, etc. work as well. Warning: Feathers are flammable. Be careful and do not use open flame.

Feathers: A feather is awarded for rank advancement. These are Tiger, Bobcat, Wolf, Bear, Webelo, and Arrow of Light. Scouts will be recognized for rank advancement at Pack Meetings, and will select a ‘feather’ from a staff (Akela Stick) presented by the Cubmaster. Affix the feather to the arrow forward of its rank color band (toward the front of the arrow shaft). Wrap and glue a piece of leather strapping to the arrow (super glue, hot glue, white, or wood glue), and attach the feather to the opposite end of the leather strapping using a 1” section of black shrink-wrap.

Order: The order of the color bands and feathers is important. Pack 70 has adopted a ‘chronological order’ of placement on the Achievement Arrow. The order represents the advancement of a Scout from Tiger to Arrow of Light, and are added from the back of the arrow shaft toward the arrow point. The color bands are affixed within the rank year during which they were earned. The rank feather represents completion of a rank, and because it physically prevents the addition of color bands, represents the closure of the awards earned towards a rank. For example, because a Wolf scout cannot ‘go back’ and complete missing/unearned/extra rank achievements or electives for Tiger, the attachment of the Tiger rank feather represents, and physically prevents, Tiger achievements from being completed and added during a Wolf year.

Rank Band Size & Color Band (distance from end) Feather (distance from band) Tiger Cub ¼” Orange 9.5” 9.5”+ Bobcat ¼” Blue 10” 10”+ Wolf ¼” Red 15” 15”+ Bear ¼” Green 20” 20”+ Webelo ¼” Purple 25” 25”+ Arrow of Light ¼” White 30” 30”+

Additional Awards

• Mark the back end of the dowel into thirds with a pencil.
• Using the marks as a guide, use a straight edge to draw 3 light pencil lines, 4.5” long. The lines start at 1.5” from the back of the arrow, and go toward the front of the arrow shaft for 4.5” stopping at the 6” mark from the back of the arrow shaft. The lines are where the 3 feather fletchings will be placed.
• Taper the back end of the arrow slightly with a pencil sharpener.
• Cut a 1/4” deep slot in the tapered back end of the arrow with a small saw (coping or hacksaw). To make this look like a real arrow, make the cut perpendicular to one of the fletching lines.
• Split the faux eagle feathers in half to make the fletchings. Use a small razor knife (Exacto knife, utility knife, etc), and cut a slight incision the length of the feather shaft. It generally works best if you start with a shallow incision, then use it as a guide, and follow up with repeated incisions, for the full split.
• Cut each of the fletching pieces to the 4.5” length by cutting the feather shaft (be careful not to cut the feather). Start in the black color. Keep 1” of the black color, and 3.5” of the white color, and cut to a final length of 4.5” by trimming off the excess white. Make 3 fletching pieces per arrow.
• Trim off 1/8”-1/4” of feather material from each end of the feather shaft.
• Glue the 3 fletching pieces on the arrow shaft along the 3 lines drawn in step 2. Be sure to keep the fletching straight and perpendicular to the arrow, the fletching has a tendency to curve and lean to one side. Super glue works best for fast set-up (1-2 minutes), be careful not to make mistakes. Hot glue sets up almost as fast (2-5 minutes), but can be messy. White glue or wood glue is easier to cleanup, but requires a longer period to firm up (2-8 hours).

Award Band Size & Color Location on Arrow How Many? Tiger Cub Elective 1/8” Yellow Within Tiger Cub Rank Multiples Belt Loop 1/8” Brown Within Rank Awarded Multiples Belt Loop Pin 1/8” White Within Rank Awarded Multiples Gold Arrow Point 1/8” Yellow Within Rank Awarded Multiples Silver Arrow Point 1/8” Gray Within Rank Awarded Multiples Webelos Activity Badge 1/8” Red Within Webelos Rank 20 Max All Webelos Activity Badge Recognition 1/4” Yellow Within Webelos Rank 1 Only Webelos Compass Point 1/8” Yellow Within Webelos Rank 3 Max Summertime Activity Award 1/8” Green Within Rank Awarded 1 Per Rank Leave No Trace Award 1/4” Gray / 1/8” Green Within Rank Awarded 1 Per Rank Outdoor Activity Award 1/4” Green / 1/8” Brown Within Rank Awarded 1 Per Rank World Conservation Award 1/2” Green 32” from back of shaft 1 Only Religious Emblem 1/2” Purple 33” from back of shaft 1 Only 75th Anniversary Award 1/2” Blue / 1/8” Yellow 34” from back of shaft 1 Only

Adding the Arrowhead

The arrowhead is attached when a Cub Scout graduates into Boy Scouts. The arrowhead is placed on the arrow by the Den Leader just prior to awarding the arrow to the scout at the ‘Cross Over’ ceremony. Cross Over is where a Webelo II completes their final Cub Scout rank, the Arrow of Light, and graduates into Boy Scouts. Cut a 1” deep, 3/16” wide slot into the front end of the arrow shaft. Slide the arrowhead into the slot, and whip it in place using string or thin leather strapping. Use a piece of clear shrink-wrap or glue to secure the whipping material in place.

Suggestions

• Construct the basic parts of the arrow in a Den Meeting. Have the scouts and their parents perform steps 1-8 above. Save the creation of the arrowhead slot for when arrowhead is available because its actual size may vary or change from the dimensions listed.
• Add the color bands on a timely basis. Preferably in Den Meetings, to reinforce awards earned.
• Den Leaders, to prevent rank feathers from getting lost or damaged, take the feather from the scout at the close of the Pack Meeting at which they were awarded it.
• Attach the rank feather at the very end of the rank year (an excellent closing event for the last Den Meeting). This allows for all awards and electives earned during a rank year to be captured on the arrow, even after the rank was officially achieved. Then the rank feather is added to close the rank year (and to physically represent and prevent the closing year’s unearned rank achievements from being completed in the new rank year, a Cub Scout rule).
• Den Leaders, to prevent the arrows from getting lost or damaged, keep them. Construct a ‘Den Arrow Display’ to hold, present, and protect the arrows. Make a circle or oval from 3/4” or thicker wood, and drill holes in it to stick the arrows in front first, or decorate a large tin can. Bring it to Den Meetings as presentation, recognition, and to add color bands and rank feathers.
• The arrows and display remain with the Den Leader. If a scout quits or moves to another Den, their arrow goes with them. If the Den Leader is changed, the arrows and display go to the new Den Leader. When the Cub Scout crosses over into Boy Scouts, they keep their arrow.