The LongBow part 4 of 12

The Long Bow

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Archery

[rattyarchery]

omg, somebody show him how to shoot a warbow please lol

[goat60804]

It's the bow shifting the clamp. Watch the clamp and it shift's to the right. It's clamp that makes the sound, it can be hard to tell because of the frame rate, but it is clear.

[Patchyman253]

GAH GIANT SPLINTER 2:32!!!

Scary moment right there.

[Wingsfan7]

@LotusDragon09 English LONGBOWS were what were found later on, in the Victorian era, and they were much flatter on the belly and the back, and were generally shorter than their older counterparts. These bows were for target shooting mostly. But, an English WARBOW is a much different animal. They were "wrist thick armour piercers", drawing anywhere from about 90-160 pounds. I imagine some would have been lighter in draw weight also though. These bows sometimes were as long as 80'' long.

[Wingsfan7]

@LotusDragon09 Ah, if the martial aspect is what you're interested in I'd probably go with heavier than 55 pounds. However, I'd also choose a bit less than 110 pounds, as you will likely not be able to draw it (I know I couldn't!) and you could get a bow in the 80-90 pound range. Those are still immensely powerful weapons, and maybe you could work your way up to an even stronger warbow later on down the road. But an ELB isn't just one set type of bow.

[LotusDragon09]

@Wingsfan7 Oh im not a hunter. I consider myself a medieval archer since im interested in the martial aspect of traditional archery. I mentioned 110lbs because warbows had huge draw weights. Im not sure of other cultures, but ELBs are estimated to have reached 150lbs on the upper end. I can get a bow with any draw weight I want, 55 and 110lbs were just the two I was considering. Yeah if I had the space, id go for the 110lbs but all else considering, its probably best for me to go for 55lbs.

[Wingsfan7]

@LotusDragon09 Are those the only two weights that the bow is offered in? The lower weight is great for hunting, it's similar to my hunting weight bow, (56lbs) and I've found it to be good at target shooting as well. If you can't hunt where you live, and can only do targets I'd probably go for the heavier weight, and you could do distance shooting, which is a lot of fun. But I'd go with the 55lb bow. It's PLENTY of power for killing even large North American mammals like moose or bison.

[LotusDragon09]

@Wingsfan7 No, thats alright. You just seem just as enthusiastic about bows as I am sometimes :). Thanks for the help! Now the next question is whether I should go for 55lbs or 110lbs. Though considered ive never pulled a bow near 110lbs, it would be safer to build up strength on a 55lb bow. I dont even have a glove that could handle that kind of draw weight...or a large enough area to do proper distance shots. I have a 35lb bow and drawing that is easy as pie.

[Wingsfan7]

@LotusDragon09 Recurve bows are overrated in my humble opinion. Just get your longbow, and get it reflexed for better speed/autherntic looks that aren't really present in a recurved English longbow. The longbows of England varied a lot over the years, but the Mary Rose is quite specific and of sound design for target shooting and hunting. I hope I helped a bit, message me if you're curious about the straight bow vs recurve topic. Tim Baker has written extensively on that topic, and is my source

[Wingsfan7]

@LotusDragon09 I apologize if I seemed condescending, I wasn't sure how much you knew about bows. What you say is true, to an extent. A straight bow, if made of proper design, can outspeed a recurve by a fair bit. But, the best straight stave bows (speed wise) are often reflexed - specifically perry reflexed. But if you're talking a Mary Rose style longbow, that's not an option.

[LotusDragon09]

@Wingsfan7 Well, I know what set is. Wooden bows are far more prone to it than fiberglass so thats why they discourage you from holding at full draw. So what about reflex vs recurve?  Its all about how fast the limbs move and both reflex and recurve produce faster arrow speeds than a straight limbed bow can, but I never figured out which increased arrow speed more. Like if there were two of the same bow, but one with recurve and another with reflex.