GEAR HUB
Last October, almost exactly a year after I got my wooden recurve bow, I packed a new quiver for my first archery competition.
I’d put a lot of thought and research into how to attach my arrows and other necessities to my waist ahead of the day-long outdoor shoot, but what would I really need to bring?
Before that competition, I’d used an Easton Flipside range-style quiver—it literally held only my half-dozen arrows. The minimal quiver is all a beginning archer needs and was great for practice on the indoor range in San Luis Obispo. For Central Coast Archery’s spring and summer shoots at Talley Field in Arroyo Grande, I also carried a water bottle and snacks in a fanny pack, which worked great for the couple of hours I was shooting.
Get equipped
Talk to local archery experts about quivers and other gear at Central Coat Archery, 12334 Los Osos Valley Road in San Luis Obispo, or check out centralcoastarchery.com.
But for the Bug Shoot in Pacifica, I needed to prepare for eight hours of hiking and shooting alongside my husband and daughter. I bought the Kuiu field-style hip quiver, which sits flat against my thigh and points the arrows toward my back. It doesn’t flap around when I walk, which was a must for me.
The Kuiu quiver also came with a water bottle pouch, a release pouch (which I gave to my daughter), and a waist pack that all attach to the quiver’s belt. There’s a slot for my phone and a clip for keys, but I usually keep those in my pants pockets.
Now I was able to carry more—which as a woman and a mom, I’m pretty used to.
For indoor practice and shorter outdoor shoots, I don’t bring the waist pack. I just fill the quiver with archery necessities: arrows, bow stringer, leather tab for my fingers, bow stand (which acts as legs for setting my bow on the ground), bar soap (cheap, non-liquid arrow lube, which in theory makes arrows easier to pull from targets), and extra nocks (slotted plastic pieces that attach arrows to bowstrings). I’ve since added an arrow puller—basically a rubber gripper for grabbing the shaft of an arrow stuck deep in a target—and a finger sling, which keeps the bow from launching out of my hand.
There’s also plenty of room for the stuff I normally carry in a purse or adventure bag: pens, lens wipe for my glasses, lip balm, hand sanitizer, bandages, hair ties (super important), snacks (fruit leather, gummy fruit snacks, and mini beef sticks), ibuprofen, and a small notebook.
For the day-long competition, I attached the water bottle pouch with a 16-ounce Nalgene and filled the waist pack with more snacks like cheese sticks, Corn Nuts, and trail mix, plus another water bottle and sunscreen. I also attached a small first aid kit.
I didn’t regret anything I brought. But I’m still relatively new to the sport and shoot only one type of bow, so what do other archers carry?
I started with my 16-year-old daughter, who for the last year has been shooting a compound—the higher-tech, typically more powerful bows with cams, sights, and stabilizers. In addition to the basics, she carries a pouch of powdered resin, which she uses to absorb sweat from her hands.
On a sunny Monday in early June, I sat down at the counter in Central Coast Archery’s shop and chatted with several archers about the contents of their quivers. SLO resident Josh Erquiaga, who’s been into archery for about two years, had just finished shooting on the connected indoor range and walked me through his gear.
He shoots both recurve and compound bows, and most of his supplies were similar to mine—bow stand, pens, snacks, arrow puller—but he also carries a release. Compound shooters clip this small tool to their bowstring to hold their draw instead of putting their fingers directly on the string.
Erquiaga also has a small clipboard for scoring sheets and tournament course maps, an Allen wrench/multi-tool, arrow lube, target pins, a screwdriver set, a resistance band for warming up, and a counter (for counting arrows shot in practice).
His arrow puller is connected to his quiver on a retractable leash, and also dangling from his quiver is an Ironman plushie, which Erquiaga said is better than a towel for absorbing sweat from between his fingers.
Behind the counter, Scott Wilson, owner of Central Coast Archery, led off his list of quiver contents with plenty of arrows.
“Don’t show up to a six-arrow tournament with six arrows,” he said. “I usually have a dozen.”
Chris Garcia, competitive archer and Central Coast Archery’s pro shop technician, chimed in from behind the counter.
“I’ve seen a lot of people putting unnecessary stuff on their quivers,” he said, like decorative keychains and doodads. “It’s actually affecting how they’re getting arrows out of their quiver and walking down the range.”
He and Wilson both said they carry serving string in case something goes wrong with the tough thread that binds parts of the bowstring. Fellow archer Gary Lyman of Los Osos noted that he carries dental floss for similar repairs.
Garcia and Lyman both said they carry a knife, and Garcia added that a Leatherman tool can come in handy for retrieving arrows stuck in logs or wooden target frames.
“It’s much better just not to miss,” Lyman quipped.
Of course. But even the pros occasionally have arrows go astray.
“I always like to be prepared,” Wilson said. “What could go wrong?”
This article appears in Get Outside – Summer/Fall 2026.