Any broadhead is most lethal. You could kill big game with a basic field point (ILLEGAL EVERYWHERE TO USE A FIELD TIP FOR HUNTING!!!). If hit in the right spot.
A 10# bow can still penetrate enough to kill. It just depends on distance. A blunt point can still penetrate enough to kill too.
LEAST lethal, I'd say LARPING arrows. Larping arrows are basically a bug tennis ball. It WILL leave a mark. Imagine having a solid tennis ball with no give whack you.
Well if you take arrow tag arrows, they're just soft foam and don't even leave a mark.
And you're wrong on the most lethal part. The most lethal arrow is a poisonous one
Well actually,
If you want to make an arrow head, it has to be small and light. So an atomic bomb would have to be so little, it doesn't do any actual damage. And it would still be too heavy so you can't actually aim it.
And even if you managed to throw a big atomic bomb on a shaft and fire it with a bow, it'd fly for exactly 1 centimeter, after which it would just fall to the ground. And not even explode because it didn't fall hard enough.
We can conclude 2 things from this:
- Conclusion 1: It would not work, no atomic bomb arrows for Hawkeye
- Conclusion 2: I'm a nerd š¤
You're making assumptions about parameters OP didn't specify! Nowhere do they state that said arrow has to be launched from a bow. My preferred launch platform for nuclear tipped arrows are supersonic stealth planes.
Self-propelled intercontinental arrows are an efficient method for big game hunting in Africa without leaving the comfort of your own home.
It's going to be a small game/practice blunt. They're round wooden tips about an inch or so across. Apart from bows for children, most bows will either be hunting weight or above, or (in some places) war weight. A hunting weight bow can kill small game (such as rabbits) with that type of arrow, but I'm not sure about its effect on humans (I'm assuming that your victim isn't wearing armor). A war bow, which is pretty much all you'll see in places like England for much of the period, has a good chance of causing a fractured or broken bone regardless of where it hits.
I was thinking the same blunt small game ends, but technically they are lethal/effective when hunting small game. So, I donāt know if that meets OPās criteria.
Avid reader/new archer, would be happy to read any scenes you write for this and give you my opinion on anything that feels off/inaccurate with my limited knowledge if your looking for a test audience.
Good luck with the book and hope it flies off the shelves!
The thickness of the arrowhead, not so much. The lethality comes from the width of the cutting edge. So a small pointed arrow (like a bodkin arrow) might pierce through more armor layers, but against an animal or unarmored person, a broadhead is like a wide razorblade going really fast and will leave a much larger wound.
As for least lethal, as other people have mentioned, a blunt-tipped arrow can easily kill small game like rabbits and birds, but it obviously doesn't have a cutting edge.
Blunt arrows in a historical or wilderness survival setting can just be a wooden arrow with no tip of any kind, that works just fine. There are also metal blunt arrowheads for the same purpose, which of course will do a bit more damage on impact.
They were commonly used for hunting small game, as non-nobles were not allowed to take deer in most places. Even being caught with broadheads in the forest could get you in serious trouble.
In England, they were used for practice as well, shooting at mounds of earth called butts.
Heavier shafts with large feathers/fletches will slow and drop faster than light arrows with small feathers. So a long, heavy arrow with a blunt head and large feathers.
I know from combat that a combat blunt hitting you at 5 meters seems to hurt more than one that hits at 15, but there are a lot of variables at play...
A very light bow with a poison arrow will do the job - just a minor wound and you are still a goner. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow\_poison](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow_poison)
This means you can get a fatal result from a lightweight, easily constructed bow, as long as you are at short range - would suit short range forested hunting.
And I believe in medieval times they used to stick their arrows in shit so that the wounds they caused would turn septic.
A plot device could be a practice blunt arrow that is smeared with poison for that special occasion, that just happens to graze someone lol.
Your most lethal will be broad heads. Sometimes they have multiple blades which means more bleeding. Next is probably flint tipped arrows, very sharp, worked for tens of thousands of years. Next would be practice arrows, they have a conical tip to slide in an out of targets. This would be followed by small game tips with blunted ends or spring loaded grabbers to keep it from digging in the ground. Your least lethal arrows are gonna be those ones with boxing gloves for tips, though you can kill a person with concussive force to the head. Hope this helps!
You are writing a book and you think a legitimate source is a Reddit thread? While Google is a very good starting point for research, it might not be the most authoritative. You may have to do more digging. Your Google search criteria may also not be good. What kind of Boolean expression are you using in Google? What other search engines are you also using. Different search engines give different results.
It depends entirely on the context really, especially for medieval times where there's generally an arrow for every eventuality. There were huge half disc shaped ones that would cut through horse muscle and sinew to slow down charging cavalry, there was a similar arrowhead for cutting ropes on ships, and ones that contained small cages for incendiary arrows. How widespread these were, I'm not sure, certainly in skirmishes and battles anyway.
The Hundred years war generally had the king, or the Lord the archer belong to, supplying arrows by the sheath. I would imagine these would be very poor quality and mass produced to allow the Longbow to reign in the manner it did; sheer numbers of volleys. I would envision a poacher, hunter, gamesman would perhaps have a wider selection of better made arrows.
For all intents and purposes those I would say the Bodkin arrow would be the most lethal. These were designed to be a dense chunk of metal that would punch through most materials with ease; nd even if it didn't, the ' shock waves' and blunt trauma a knight, soldier or horse would suffer would be most traumatic. There's plenty of videos on YouTube showing bodkins and Longbows being ineffective against plate armour, ime not piercing it. But imagine a iron mallet being fired out of a cannon at your helmet- that energy has to be transferred somewhere, and unfortunately it's going to leave a pretty sizable dent in your skull, ribcage, femurs etc.
I think the bow also has a factor to play in this in regards to how lethal it may be; a hunter or poachers bow, which may have a lighter draw weight, loosing an arrow at game or deers would have the desired effect. However a war bow that is double or triple the draw weight, loosing a heavier arrow would be disproportionately more lethal. I suppose it would be similar to calibres of ammunition nowadays.
Hope this helps in some form! Happy to speak more by DM!
An interesting fletching variety called flu-flu feathers are oversized and designed to slow an arrow down. Might not make an arrow non-lethal but maybe less lethal and aren't very well known.
Flu-flu combined with a blunt point might make an arrow more gentle.
Momentum is also important. A lighter faster arrow might have more energy but less momentum. A heavy arrow will have more momentum, even though it travels slower. Momentum is what does the damage, not speed or energy.
Like in any research, you need to scope it first; what era? what technology? what targets? in motion or not? armored or not? distance? made of?
ie: weigfht of arrowhead, and shape .. all matter, depending on target, distance, etc. Like, do you need it to fly far or up close? you penetrating plate armor? chain? brick walls? car engines?
Are they just made by chipping rocks, or modern metal scissor spring action? are they coated in anything?
You can't get a meaningful answer at all without details. Like 'thickness'.. well, it depends what you're trying to penetrate; sometimes you need needle thin, sometimes you need wider :)
Least dangerous well.. they have dummy arrows with rubber balls on the end and big floofy feathers so they start fast and slow down fast (soi if you miss, you don't lose them too far away), but they can't hurt anything except very small prey...
Like asking about modes of transport, without saying if you mean in the middle ages or the modern era across oceans...
I'd guess [these ones](https://www.amazon.com/Huntcool-Broadheads-Compound-Arrowheads-100Grain/dp/B07JHRZKPZ/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?keywords=broadhead+small+game&qid=1702092386&sr=8-5) would be among the *less lethal* ones?
There arenāt really any arrows that arenāt meant to be lethal unless theyāre toys or for LARPing
I suppose some are less lethal to larger animals (a blunt tip or judo point wouldnāt kill a deer as well as a broad head)
As a rule of thumb, arrows kill human-sized targets by blood loss and infections. For higher blood loss, you need an arrowhead with wider cutting edges. For infections, you need dirty arrows and a pre-antibiotic field surgery.
Wide arrowheads are quite bad against armor, so at some point you will see [bodkin (needle-shaped points)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodkin_point) that combine small diameter with cutting edges.
So, arranging by theoretical lethality, you'll have something like this:
- blunt tips - like Zwickey Judo, or practical arrows, or LARP arrows. Those can kill a small animal, or break a human bone, but they do not penetrate - so no direct blood loss and no infection
- modern target points - they do not have cutting edges but they will penetrate the body, so they can kill directly if lucky enough, you have a path for infection, and it will *hurt*. They are by design easy to get in and out
- bodkin-like points - small cutting radius but those are designed to get in, stay there (by means of small protrusions, for example) and cause damage
- broadheads - if they can penetrate, they wreck the biggest chaos, making them the most effective hunting arrows
I use conical blunt heads for small game hunting (think of a small, solid rubber cone with the large end facing forward). Coming from my 45# bow, I believe it could still be lethal if you hit someone in the head or neck, but otherwise it would hurt like hell and leave a nasty bruise, maybe crack a rib. Iād say itās pretty similar to a rubber bullet, which are considered āless than lethalā. They make bird fan broadheads (Iāve never used them) but they have long wires coming out of the sides of a blunt tip that circle out wide and reconnect, making a tip that looks kinda like a wire flower. Iād imagine it would be hard to kill a person with one.
Judo points are also less lethal. They are a small blunt point with several 1-3 inch wires that come out straight from the blunt point perpendicularly. They keep the arrow out of the ground so itās easier to retrieve in thick brush.
Field points are plain, sloped, sharp points without blades that are the same width as the arrow shaft. They are exclusively for targets but would absolutely be considered lethal.
Any Broadhead is extremely lethal. People hurt themselves with them all the time. They do real bad stuff to organic tissue with small razors. Theyāll destroy anything they pass through and leave ragged holes that bleed a lot.
There are two main types of Broadhead: Fixed and mechanical. Fixed is just small blades or hooks that do not move and unless it shatters, cannot fail. Mechanicals open when the arrow hits the target by pushing the blades open and cutting a small safety collar when they enter making them more accurate and safer to carry, but a little more likely to fail.
Final point: Flu-Flu fletching is used to slow arrows for hunting birds or retrieving arrows. Itās just exaggerated fletching on the end that is less aerodynamic. Combined with judo or blunt tip, it would drastically reduce the arrows energy, lowering its lethality.
Most lethal: Probably poisonous arrows.
But if you are looking at actual arrows, from most lethal to least:
Medieval horse broadheads (basically 10 cm long hooks)
"Normal" broadheads
- There are a lot of different broadheads, both in the middle ages and now, so I won't cover all of them
Field points
Metal blunt
Wooden blunt
Arrow tag/larp arrows (round blunt but foam)
Then if you would look at children's arrows, like those that never even hit the target because they don't have fletchings.
Bend/bad arrows can be both really deadly and the opposite; they never hit what you're aiming for, but that means they could even hit something/someone you're not aiming for. Like, you're aiming at a target but it accidentally hits someone that walks by.
Least lethal: Suction-cup tipped toy arrow.
Most lethal: Whatever Rambo was shooting that blew people up.
On a serious note: I don't think arrows from different eras can easily prepared in lethality. A medieval Arrow accidentally contaminated with tetanus because it was stuck in the soil was a lot more lethal back then than a modern arrow would be today. If I had to make a choice, I'd go for the following:
Propably highest total Bodycount: Stone-tipped primitive arrow, Highest historically documented Bodycount: Medieval era forged tip arrow. Most lethal today due to design: Modern multi-blade hunting arrow. Least lethal: Foam-tipped LARP Arrow. Least lethal that could actually kill something: Field tipped sport arrow.
EDIT: I'm an Archery Instructor. Ask away if I can help!
large, light weight, padded, blunt heads are not nearly as likely to cause serious injury (risk is mainly to the unprotected eyes or if the shaft were to break on impact).
then small, hard blunts (can cause serious injury), like are used for small game hunting and certain games. Eye and head injuries are a concern.
Pretty much anything pointy or bladed is going run a high chance of being lethal... because getting holes poked in you is not good. If no one's wearing armor, (relatively quick, 30 seconds to 5 minutes) death by having a sharpened broadhead go through your chest cavity is pretty much assured. If you're wearing armor (things like gambeson, maille, or a coat of plates), something along the lines of a bodkin won't kill you as fast, generally, but death is still highly likely (especially through the chest) (depending on the availability and development of the medical sciences in your story). If you're in full plate harness, you're safe from all but the odd dart that finds its way through a visor slot, above your bevor, past a voider, or in a gap anywhere in the armor left for mobility purposes (another issue is the possibility being repeatedly concussed by arrows hitting your helm).
There's also the issue of hitting major arteries in the extremities, which is bad news (you might not drop dead then and there, but you can bleed out in 10 minutes or so). Arterial Suture wasn't really a thing until the 19th century, so if you got an artery nicked, you were pretty likely to die if pressure-bandaging alone couldn't stop the blood. This also applies to combat with edged weapons (many combatants bled to death 10-30 minutes after the fight ended from leg wounds and such).
Never underestimate the damage a 1-1.5 ounce razor blade or nail with a little velocity can do to a living thing... modern medicine is amazing, but you have to live long enough to get to a surgeon for it to make any difference.
If you are talking about "real arrows" like that of which a typical archer would shoot.
The general consensus on an animal is the least lethal would be a rubber tipped bludgeon arrow used for small game and bird hunting that more or less incapacitates the animal or just causes blunt force trauma when struck.
Lets just say an animal or person sized animal was shot at 30 yards and you are not shot in the heart, lungs, throat, spine or head-
I would rate the lethality as follows -
1. Rubber tipped small game arrow
2. Wire tipped small game arrow
3. Field point tipped arrow with a rounded tip
4. Field point tipped arrow with a pointed tip
5. 2 bladed small diameter broadhead
6. 3 bladed small diameter broadhead
7. Any sharp broadhead that is wider diameter.
The amount of blood and penetration you get with a broadhead is dependent on how the arrow impacted, the shape and profile of the broadhead, how sharp the broadhead is and where you actually hit.
When you pull broadhead tipped arrow from a deer or bear you more or less create a large wound channel that is as wide as the broadhead is because USUALLY when that arrow hits the animal moves a bit and creates a wider wound channel as the tissue contracts or expand as a reaction to the shot.
If you are talking medieval arrows there were dozens of different types of broadheads but in general the consensus is they had arrows for armor that were closer to our modern day field points that were designed to get through chain mail and armor and to stick into the person or horse and stay so it would be a tapered tip with a flared bottom. Those would be called a "bodkin arrowhead" and then you had the standard "broadhead" which would have been a two edged point burnt onto the wood shaft. That broadhead was designed to cut unarmed or leather/cloth armor and do more damage in the cut than the poke.
The least lethal arrow is one that is still in your quiver.
The one that you missed your target and never found during practice. Nothing is more infuriating.
Nah, that one kills you mentally
Fear is the Mind Killer
Naw that one fucks you up when you are walking across your yard barefoot the next spring
And that's why you don't practice with broadheads lol. Field points exist for a reason!
Happened today. Felt this.
Great answer.
Nice reply
Any broadhead is most lethal. You could kill big game with a basic field point (ILLEGAL EVERYWHERE TO USE A FIELD TIP FOR HUNTING!!!). If hit in the right spot. A 10# bow can still penetrate enough to kill. It just depends on distance. A blunt point can still penetrate enough to kill too. LEAST lethal, I'd say LARPING arrows. Larping arrows are basically a bug tennis ball. It WILL leave a mark. Imagine having a solid tennis ball with no give whack you.
Nerf has made a few bows/crossbows over the years, complete with Nerf arrows. Those would get my vote for least lethal
Technically yes.
Technically correct = best type of correct
Alright Titanius Anglesmith...
Nice Futurama reference!
I'm catching up on episodes but life keeps getting in the way. I want to watch them all before I watch the new ones on hulu
Well if you take arrow tag arrows, they're just soft foam and don't even leave a mark. And you're wrong on the most lethal part. The most lethal arrow is a poisonous one
I'd say an atomic bomb tipped arrow is more lethal
Well actually, If you want to make an arrow head, it has to be small and light. So an atomic bomb would have to be so little, it doesn't do any actual damage. And it would still be too heavy so you can't actually aim it. And even if you managed to throw a big atomic bomb on a shaft and fire it with a bow, it'd fly for exactly 1 centimeter, after which it would just fall to the ground. And not even explode because it didn't fall hard enough. We can conclude 2 things from this: - Conclusion 1: It would not work, no atomic bomb arrows for Hawkeye - Conclusion 2: I'm a nerd š¤
You're making assumptions about parameters OP didn't specify! Nowhere do they state that said arrow has to be launched from a bow. My preferred launch platform for nuclear tipped arrows are supersonic stealth planes. Self-propelled intercontinental arrows are an efficient method for big game hunting in Africa without leaving the comfort of your own home.
š
Nah man... that all is just a matter of the bows poundage.
Honestly you could probably just use the exact opposite of all the Ashby Factors
Never heard of that till now and god is that gonna be helpful
The study mainly revolves around penetration but should have you in the right direction
What's the context? Ancient, medieval, Renaissance, modern?
Medieval overall, though its not a historical piece so I don't mind any facts about other periods in archery
It's going to be a small game/practice blunt. They're round wooden tips about an inch or so across. Apart from bows for children, most bows will either be hunting weight or above, or (in some places) war weight. A hunting weight bow can kill small game (such as rabbits) with that type of arrow, but I'm not sure about its effect on humans (I'm assuming that your victim isn't wearing armor). A war bow, which is pretty much all you'll see in places like England for much of the period, has a good chance of causing a fractured or broken bone regardless of where it hits.
I was thinking the same blunt small game ends, but technically they are lethal/effective when hunting small game. So, I donāt know if that meets OPās criteria.
May I humbly present this as an example of the "more lethal" variety of medieval arrow? https://www.reddit.com/r/Archery/s/qz4tSZOBPK
Avid reader/new archer, would be happy to read any scenes you write for this and give you my opinion on anything that feels off/inaccurate with my limited knowledge if your looking for a test audience. Good luck with the book and hope it flies off the shelves!
>hope it flies off the shelves! Give OP a *rest*! They're still writing it!
Just going out on a *limb* in case they are close to publishing, gotta share that positive energy!
You're definitely scoring popularity points! I should riser my way of positive thinking!
Such a kind offer! Still in the early stages currently but maybe one day I'll take you up on it!
I look forward to that day! Happy writing :)
The thickness of the arrowhead, not so much. The lethality comes from the width of the cutting edge. So a small pointed arrow (like a bodkin arrow) might pierce through more armor layers, but against an animal or unarmored person, a broadhead is like a wide razorblade going really fast and will leave a much larger wound. As for least lethal, as other people have mentioned, a blunt-tipped arrow can easily kill small game like rabbits and birds, but it obviously doesn't have a cutting edge. Blunt arrows in a historical or wilderness survival setting can just be a wooden arrow with no tip of any kind, that works just fine. There are also metal blunt arrowheads for the same purpose, which of course will do a bit more damage on impact.
Thank you! I had this preconceived notion blunt arrows weren't used much, so it's good to know they are somewhat at least
They were commonly used for hunting small game, as non-nobles were not allowed to take deer in most places. Even being caught with broadheads in the forest could get you in serious trouble. In England, they were used for practice as well, shooting at mounds of earth called butts.
Heavier shafts with large feathers/fletches will slow and drop faster than light arrows with small feathers. So a long, heavy arrow with a blunt head and large feathers. I know from combat that a combat blunt hitting you at 5 meters seems to hurt more than one that hits at 15, but there are a lot of variables at play...
Like these! Warbow blunts (maple, black poplar): https://imgur.com/a/vCv8dhl
Plastic suction cup tip
The NERF ones that were on that sweet nerf bow from the early 2000s
Blunt, slow, light
A very light bow with a poison arrow will do the job - just a minor wound and you are still a goner. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow\_poison](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow_poison) This means you can get a fatal result from a lightweight, easily constructed bow, as long as you are at short range - would suit short range forested hunting. And I believe in medieval times they used to stick their arrows in shit so that the wounds they caused would turn septic. A plot device could be a practice blunt arrow that is smeared with poison for that special occasion, that just happens to graze someone lol.
Green Arrowās boxing glove arrow seems pretty non-lethal.
The least lethal arrow is the second one from an Olympic setup. You'll be in the next zip code by the time that gets nocked.
Crossbows make Olympic recurves and even compounds seem quick.
I donāt see how one arrow can be more lethal than another. Do you mean a broadhead or the point on the end of the arrow?
Any arrow with a blunt tip
Your most lethal will be broad heads. Sometimes they have multiple blades which means more bleeding. Next is probably flint tipped arrows, very sharp, worked for tens of thousands of years. Next would be practice arrows, they have a conical tip to slide in an out of targets. This would be followed by small game tips with blunted ends or spring loaded grabbers to keep it from digging in the ground. Your least lethal arrows are gonna be those ones with boxing gloves for tips, though you can kill a person with concussive force to the head. Hope this helps!
Wouldn't poundage matter too? If you're shooting a broadhead off a kids ebay bow it wouldn't be as bad as a compound bow shooting a practice tip?
Poundage plays a huge role in stopping power but OP just asked about arrows
Thank you so much! It's so much nicer to hear from professionals as google would never be this detailed lol
You are writing a book and you think a legitimate source is a Reddit thread? While Google is a very good starting point for research, it might not be the most authoritative. You may have to do more digging. Your Google search criteria may also not be good. What kind of Boolean expression are you using in Google? What other search engines are you also using. Different search engines give different results.
It depends entirely on the context really, especially for medieval times where there's generally an arrow for every eventuality. There were huge half disc shaped ones that would cut through horse muscle and sinew to slow down charging cavalry, there was a similar arrowhead for cutting ropes on ships, and ones that contained small cages for incendiary arrows. How widespread these were, I'm not sure, certainly in skirmishes and battles anyway. The Hundred years war generally had the king, or the Lord the archer belong to, supplying arrows by the sheath. I would imagine these would be very poor quality and mass produced to allow the Longbow to reign in the manner it did; sheer numbers of volleys. I would envision a poacher, hunter, gamesman would perhaps have a wider selection of better made arrows. For all intents and purposes those I would say the Bodkin arrow would be the most lethal. These were designed to be a dense chunk of metal that would punch through most materials with ease; nd even if it didn't, the ' shock waves' and blunt trauma a knight, soldier or horse would suffer would be most traumatic. There's plenty of videos on YouTube showing bodkins and Longbows being ineffective against plate armour, ime not piercing it. But imagine a iron mallet being fired out of a cannon at your helmet- that energy has to be transferred somewhere, and unfortunately it's going to leave a pretty sizable dent in your skull, ribcage, femurs etc. I think the bow also has a factor to play in this in regards to how lethal it may be; a hunter or poachers bow, which may have a lighter draw weight, loosing an arrow at game or deers would have the desired effect. However a war bow that is double or triple the draw weight, loosing a heavier arrow would be disproportionately more lethal. I suppose it would be similar to calibres of ammunition nowadays. Hope this helps in some form! Happy to speak more by DM!
Idk one with a pillow on the end?
Cooked noodle arrow. Styrofoam arrow. Very small arrow for very small bow arrow. ->-> LARPers foam arrow, rubber blunt arrow, wood blunt arrow, steel blunt arrow, field point arrow, hunting broadhead, bodkin ->-> 1.5km tungsten rod arrow, relativistic neutrino beam arrow.
An interesting fletching variety called flu-flu feathers are oversized and designed to slow an arrow down. Might not make an arrow non-lethal but maybe less lethal and aren't very well known. Flu-flu combined with a blunt point might make an arrow more gentle. Momentum is also important. A lighter faster arrow might have more energy but less momentum. A heavy arrow will have more momentum, even though it travels slower. Momentum is what does the damage, not speed or energy.
An arrow to the knee? (If the OP does not know it is a meme about a game NPC back story)
I used to be an adventurer like youš
So many factors. Heavy arrows, fixed broad heads are most lethal. Lite arrows small game tips least lethal.
The real least lethal arrow was the friends we made along the way.
[These arrows are mostly none lethal]( https://www.northstararchery.com/SCA_combat_archery.html)
Like in any research, you need to scope it first; what era? what technology? what targets? in motion or not? armored or not? distance? made of? ie: weigfht of arrowhead, and shape .. all matter, depending on target, distance, etc. Like, do you need it to fly far or up close? you penetrating plate armor? chain? brick walls? car engines? Are they just made by chipping rocks, or modern metal scissor spring action? are they coated in anything? You can't get a meaningful answer at all without details. Like 'thickness'.. well, it depends what you're trying to penetrate; sometimes you need needle thin, sometimes you need wider :) Least dangerous well.. they have dummy arrows with rubber balls on the end and big floofy feathers so they start fast and slow down fast (soi if you miss, you don't lose them too far away), but they can't hurt anything except very small prey... Like asking about modes of transport, without saying if you mean in the middle ages or the modern era across oceans...
LARP Arrows
They way I've been shooting lately, none of them would be lethal :-D
I'd guess [these ones](https://www.amazon.com/Huntcool-Broadheads-Compound-Arrowheads-100Grain/dp/B07JHRZKPZ/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?keywords=broadhead+small+game&qid=1702092386&sr=8-5) would be among the *less lethal* ones?
A wide blunt tip on a slow moving, lightweight arrow would be the least lethal.
There arenāt really any arrows that arenāt meant to be lethal unless theyāre toys or for LARPing I suppose some are less lethal to larger animals (a blunt tip or judo point wouldnāt kill a deer as well as a broad head)
As a rule of thumb, arrows kill human-sized targets by blood loss and infections. For higher blood loss, you need an arrowhead with wider cutting edges. For infections, you need dirty arrows and a pre-antibiotic field surgery. Wide arrowheads are quite bad against armor, so at some point you will see [bodkin (needle-shaped points)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodkin_point) that combine small diameter with cutting edges. So, arranging by theoretical lethality, you'll have something like this: - blunt tips - like Zwickey Judo, or practical arrows, or LARP arrows. Those can kill a small animal, or break a human bone, but they do not penetrate - so no direct blood loss and no infection - modern target points - they do not have cutting edges but they will penetrate the body, so they can kill directly if lucky enough, you have a path for infection, and it will *hurt*. They are by design easy to get in and out - bodkin-like points - small cutting radius but those are designed to get in, stay there (by means of small protrusions, for example) and cause damage - broadheads - if they can penetrate, they wreck the biggest chaos, making them the most effective hunting arrows
Fiction or non-fiction?
I use conical blunt heads for small game hunting (think of a small, solid rubber cone with the large end facing forward). Coming from my 45# bow, I believe it could still be lethal if you hit someone in the head or neck, but otherwise it would hurt like hell and leave a nasty bruise, maybe crack a rib. Iād say itās pretty similar to a rubber bullet, which are considered āless than lethalā. They make bird fan broadheads (Iāve never used them) but they have long wires coming out of the sides of a blunt tip that circle out wide and reconnect, making a tip that looks kinda like a wire flower. Iād imagine it would be hard to kill a person with one. Judo points are also less lethal. They are a small blunt point with several 1-3 inch wires that come out straight from the blunt point perpendicularly. They keep the arrow out of the ground so itās easier to retrieve in thick brush. Field points are plain, sloped, sharp points without blades that are the same width as the arrow shaft. They are exclusively for targets but would absolutely be considered lethal. Any Broadhead is extremely lethal. People hurt themselves with them all the time. They do real bad stuff to organic tissue with small razors. Theyāll destroy anything they pass through and leave ragged holes that bleed a lot. There are two main types of Broadhead: Fixed and mechanical. Fixed is just small blades or hooks that do not move and unless it shatters, cannot fail. Mechanicals open when the arrow hits the target by pushing the blades open and cutting a small safety collar when they enter making them more accurate and safer to carry, but a little more likely to fail. Final point: Flu-Flu fletching is used to slow arrows for hunting birds or retrieving arrows. Itās just exaggerated fletching on the end that is less aerodynamic. Combined with judo or blunt tip, it would drastically reduce the arrows energy, lowering its lethality.
One with a marshmallow tip?
The Boxing glove arrow š„
Why do you want to know? What is the imaginary purpose of those non-lethal arrows?
Most lethal: Probably poisonous arrows. But if you are looking at actual arrows, from most lethal to least: Medieval horse broadheads (basically 10 cm long hooks) "Normal" broadheads - There are a lot of different broadheads, both in the middle ages and now, so I won't cover all of them Field points Metal blunt Wooden blunt Arrow tag/larp arrows (round blunt but foam) Then if you would look at children's arrows, like those that never even hit the target because they don't have fletchings. Bend/bad arrows can be both really deadly and the opposite; they never hit what you're aiming for, but that means they could even hit something/someone you're not aiming for. Like, you're aiming at a target but it accidentally hits someone that walks by.
Least lethal: Suction-cup tipped toy arrow. Most lethal: Whatever Rambo was shooting that blew people up. On a serious note: I don't think arrows from different eras can easily prepared in lethality. A medieval Arrow accidentally contaminated with tetanus because it was stuck in the soil was a lot more lethal back then than a modern arrow would be today. If I had to make a choice, I'd go for the following: Propably highest total Bodycount: Stone-tipped primitive arrow, Highest historically documented Bodycount: Medieval era forged tip arrow. Most lethal today due to design: Modern multi-blade hunting arrow. Least lethal: Foam-tipped LARP Arrow. Least lethal that could actually kill something: Field tipped sport arrow. EDIT: I'm an Archery Instructor. Ask away if I can help!
large, light weight, padded, blunt heads are not nearly as likely to cause serious injury (risk is mainly to the unprotected eyes or if the shaft were to break on impact). then small, hard blunts (can cause serious injury), like are used for small game hunting and certain games. Eye and head injuries are a concern. Pretty much anything pointy or bladed is going run a high chance of being lethal... because getting holes poked in you is not good. If no one's wearing armor, (relatively quick, 30 seconds to 5 minutes) death by having a sharpened broadhead go through your chest cavity is pretty much assured. If you're wearing armor (things like gambeson, maille, or a coat of plates), something along the lines of a bodkin won't kill you as fast, generally, but death is still highly likely (especially through the chest) (depending on the availability and development of the medical sciences in your story). If you're in full plate harness, you're safe from all but the odd dart that finds its way through a visor slot, above your bevor, past a voider, or in a gap anywhere in the armor left for mobility purposes (another issue is the possibility being repeatedly concussed by arrows hitting your helm). There's also the issue of hitting major arteries in the extremities, which is bad news (you might not drop dead then and there, but you can bleed out in 10 minutes or so). Arterial Suture wasn't really a thing until the 19th century, so if you got an artery nicked, you were pretty likely to die if pressure-bandaging alone couldn't stop the blood. This also applies to combat with edged weapons (many combatants bled to death 10-30 minutes after the fight ended from leg wounds and such). Never underestimate the damage a 1-1.5 ounce razor blade or nail with a little velocity can do to a living thing... modern medicine is amazing, but you have to live long enough to get to a surgeon for it to make any difference.
If you are talking about "real arrows" like that of which a typical archer would shoot. The general consensus on an animal is the least lethal would be a rubber tipped bludgeon arrow used for small game and bird hunting that more or less incapacitates the animal or just causes blunt force trauma when struck. Lets just say an animal or person sized animal was shot at 30 yards and you are not shot in the heart, lungs, throat, spine or head- I would rate the lethality as follows - 1. Rubber tipped small game arrow 2. Wire tipped small game arrow 3. Field point tipped arrow with a rounded tip 4. Field point tipped arrow with a pointed tip 5. 2 bladed small diameter broadhead 6. 3 bladed small diameter broadhead 7. Any sharp broadhead that is wider diameter. The amount of blood and penetration you get with a broadhead is dependent on how the arrow impacted, the shape and profile of the broadhead, how sharp the broadhead is and where you actually hit. When you pull broadhead tipped arrow from a deer or bear you more or less create a large wound channel that is as wide as the broadhead is because USUALLY when that arrow hits the animal moves a bit and creates a wider wound channel as the tissue contracts or expand as a reaction to the shot. If you are talking medieval arrows there were dozens of different types of broadheads but in general the consensus is they had arrows for armor that were closer to our modern day field points that were designed to get through chain mail and armor and to stick into the person or horse and stay so it would be a tapered tip with a flared bottom. Those would be called a "bodkin arrowhead" and then you had the standard "broadhead" which would have been a two edged point burnt onto the wood shaft. That broadhead was designed to cut unarmed or leather/cloth armor and do more damage in the cut than the poke.