Nephi's Bow Alternative

One of the coolest things I ever heard about this particular scripture story was an explanation about Nephi's arrows. The scriptures make a point that Nephi not only built himself a new bow after breaking his steel* one, but an arrow out of straight stick. Why would Nephi construct an arrow when he likely had a whole shaft of them left over from his previous bow and arrow set?

As it was pointed out in some random Sunday school class I attended, Nephi's homemade wooden bow would have required a lighter arrow to function properly. I had no idea. This information came from someone expert in archery. More important, though, I doubt Joseph Smith would have any idea. This story, then, becomes another small confirmation of the divine source of the Book of Mormon. (It also makes for a pretty gag!)

*Probably not steel (since that particular alloy hadn't been invented yet), rather it was probably the same metal as that called steel in 2 Samuel 22:35 and Psalms 18:34.