The sole purpose of arm guards is to keep bruises or wounds from forming on your forearms whenever the string of your bow recoils and hits your arm. Though string slaps only occur when you have the wrong form, they’re sometimes unavoidable. An archery arm guard is an important part of your arsenal as an archer and you should always wear it every time you take your bow out for a few shots.

Basic Guide On How To Make Your Very First Archery Arm Guard

Archers like Legolas and Hawkeye have their own arm guards to protect their arms. You’ll see these arm guards as leather or cloth-like braces wrapping around their forearm. These are not meant to help you look cool, but they can protect you. These arm guards can be purchased at any local sporting good store. For those who want to save money, you can make your own archery arm guard by using this template.

It’s All About The Measurement

First things first, we’ll need to know how large the archery arm guard is supposed to be. Since the arm guard is meant to protect you from string slaps, the breadth should cover the whole inner side of your forearm. The length itself of the guard doesn’t have to cover your whole arm – that’ll be uncomfortable. Measure your own forearm, mark the leather with the marker based on the measurements you’ve made, and slice away at the marked areas.

TIP: Most full length archery arm guards are, on average, around seven inches in length and two and a half inches in width. Some choose to work around these measurements. Some would slightly tweak it to tailor fit their needs as an archer.

Marking Holes

Arrange the marked leather on a level surface. The next step is to determine where  we’ll set our leather strap on the leather. Choosing to use grommets is up to you (which I highly recommend that you do). For grommets, evenly mark with your fine-tip marker circles in pairs around the edges of the leather. This way, we’ll know where to puncture later.

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Slice X’s or Simple Punch the Holes

Here comes the fun part. Once you have the markings done, punch out holes into your marked areas with your punch pliers or slice out X’s through the center of every circle you’ve equally marked on each side with your metal knife. If you have grommets, insert them and push them together through the newly cut holes to make space for the laces. Use a grommet setter if you’re using grommets and carefully hammer in the grommets together to securely fasten them in place.

Insert the Leather Strap

The last thing you need to do is simple: just insert the leather straps into the holes the same way you would with shoes. Criss-cross the leather strap from hole to hole in a diagonal motion. That way, it would be easy to tighten or loosen the bracer when it’s put it on or take it off.

And there you have it! A simple full length archery arm guard tailor fit to your own arm’s exact measurements. To wear the guard, simply slip your own arm into the bracer and tighten the cord around your forearm. You can choose to customize it by adding embellishments and other designs, like this one:

Robert Emminger, an avid craftsman, has several videos on how to make certain leatherwork. If you’re looking for a good visual aid, you might like the one he’s made about archery arm guards!

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This video from Black Owl Outdoors will show you everything you need to make an arm guard:

Have any more ideas as to how you can build up your own archery arm guard? Or perhaps you’ve made one already and want to share your experiences using or building your own? Share it with us in the comment section below!

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Featured image via Archery Talk.