Arrow Holder / Carrier From an Old Shoe Rack – DIY

backyard archery arrow holder

For this project, I made an arrow holder by re-using the base and carrying handle of a shoe holder. This was something my wife was ready to throw out and I quickly saw the potential for re-using several pieces.

This is an arrow holder project I made about 5 years ago, so I won’t have all step-by-step in progress shots for it unless I happen to come across some old photos.

From shoe rack to arrow holder

Previous Arrow Holder Setup

Rather than having to put arrows back into the holster on my bow after each round, I had a piece of PVC mounted in the ground that was near one of my shooting locations. While this worked, it caused another area that needed to be weed-eated. Having it outside all the time would lead to bugs and debris getting inside, along with mud buildup during wetter seasons.

Inspiration for the Portable Arrow Holder / Carrier

One day my uncle came over with my dad for some archery. He brought one of his impressive long bows, but also had a portable arrow holder he made out of wood. This quickly gave me the idea to come up with my own solution.

Material Used

The only material I used for this was some leftover PVC pipe I had, spray paint, an adhesive, and some caulking. Of course, there was also the remaining pieces of the shoe rack. I just removed the “basket” areas and everything else was re-used.

Assembly of the Portable Arrow Holder / Carrier

This was a fairly quick project, these are the steps I used to build it.

  1. Cut four sections of PVC to the same length
  2. Prep, prime, and paint the PVC sections
  3. Glue the four pieces of PVC together (I can’t remember what type of adhesive I used, but it’s been holding up over all these years.
  4. Apply some calking for a smoother finish between the cylinder (mine wasn’t perfect, but it gave a more finished look than without. Apply additional paint over the caulking (and PVC while you’re at it)
  5. Glue the edges of the PVC onto the base of the stand.  In my case, I had to remove the handle to slide the PVC tubes onto the base.  Let it cure and done!
arrow-holder with PVC caulked
A bit rough over the years, but nothing a fresh prep and coat of paint won’t fix

Advantages of a Portable Arrow Holder / Carrier

  • No need to leave something outside weathering, getting debris/mud, etc.
  • Nothing in the way when it’s time to mow the lawn
  • Hold more arrows than a traditional holster (plenty of room and segregation for multiple shooters too)

More Design Ideas

These are some arrow holders our local archery store had in the shooting range. A fairly basic wood base with PVC.

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