Joe Gibbs, 190lb @ 32in laminate warbow, English Warbow Society

Joe Gibbs, 190lb @ 32in laminate warbow

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Howto & Style

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• archery

[MrBagginsEsq]

Why do you need such a heavy bow? 50lb is enough for deer. 190 lbs? Man i'd hate to be the knight hit by that during the hundred years war!

[40bowyr]

@MrBagginsEsq You've answered your own question. If the French employed an army of deer then I suppose a 50lb bow would be enough. If you're trying to engage armoured men and horses you'd need a bigger bow. It's like saying why do you need such a big rifle to hunt elephants when a .22 is enough for a rabbit? True 190lb is probably upper end but there is a bow estimated to be close to this weight that was recovered from the wreck of the MR

[Androandroandrica]

holy shit. 190# are you serious? altough i think you are because that bow looks very thick and your back are looking as if they will snap any secon when you full draw it. great job man!! btw whats the heaviest bow you have seen someone full draw? thanks

[40bowyr]

@Androandroandrica It's serious enough. It's his training bow. Another EWBS member Mark holds the record at 202lb @ 32in and the fotos are out there although I didn't witness it personally. The heaviest I've seen shot while I was there was by Joe. It's not just strength, its technique, tendon strength, body geometry etc and I'd say its a pretty rare combination and both Joe and Mark fall into this category. I'm just too gangly and 140lb is my limit.

[40bowyr]

@robbieatvic And the point in doing it is beacause you can. If you go through life only doing things because there's a point to them it leads to a pretty miserable existence. One thing I've found is that every person who can't see the point in using heavy bows is always someone who can't do it. I've never met a single genuine Warbow archer who can't see the point, even when it's someone who can shoot heavier than them.

[40bowyr]

@robbieatvic One of the Mary Rose bows has been estimated at 180-85lbs and thats from only a small section of bows made at the time and 100 years after its height. How you know this is historically innaccurate? Personaly I believe the weights were averaging between 120-160lbs with some lower and some higher, but the truth is I don't know for certain and nor do you or anybody else until proved otherwise with evidence to the contrary.

[40bowyr]

@DrKrunkNasty Or the bow that they were issued with. The making of bows was fairly industrialised and controlled by guilds etc so a lot of archers would probably have just been issued with a bow. That's not to say that some didn't swap bows or make or buy there own but many would have just had to make do with what they were given.

[DrKrunkNasty]

@40bowyr this is pure speculation.... but i'd say back in the day warriors would make the strongest bow that they themselves could draw, so yeah it would vary greatly from bow to bow. im sure there were some badasses out there toting 180lb bows or even greater

[Androandroandrica]

how?

[nidrinr]

@Dagonet29 hehe, I see I'm late to comment on this one, but I just thought I'd clear up a couple of things. First, Joe has not ordered a 250#'er from me, at least not yet :P

Second, as mentioned, Joe made this bow himself. I made him a +/- 210# wytch elm bow that he pulled just after this video was published, but it's no longer on the yt. It's still on our website though

[40bowyr]

@robbieatvic So that's the 'Right Stuff' attitude that inspired Chuck Yeager is it? So we're going to stop sports because of the propensity for physical injury are we? Right then-that's bike racing out, mountaineering, parachuting, etc. Where do you want to draw the line? It's this sort of finger wagging that most people in the EWBS try to avoid. I know your comments are well intentioned but to be fair I don't think we need nannying-we're all grown ups and capable of making our own decisions.

[robbieatvic]

@40bowyr I do understand what your saying, its just that i know of a few guys that have busted up their shoulders coz they keep going for the extra poundage. After you can safely draw 120 2 140 that should realy be ample. Dont even try 190 at home boys and girls. (Joe gibbs is the man tho)