Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Bows - A basic guide to different types
25 September 2011, 11:15,
#1
Bows - A basic guide to different types
Bows and Archery are a particular interest of mine and as there were no posts in this section I thought I would post some basics about the various types of Bow commonally available which may help anyone new to the subject who is looking at purchasing one from a prepping/survival point of view.

Before I get into the various types of Bow, just a note to remind anyone thinking of purchasing a Bow that hunting with any type of Bow or Crossbow is illegal in the UK. There is a strong tradition of Bow Hunting in places like the US and Australia though so if you did want to look into it further for research then forums based in those countries would be a good place to start.

In the event of a total breakdown, owning and knowing how to shoot a Bow could help in many ways from hunting to defence, with the added advantage that the ammunition (arrows) can be reclaimed or made from scratch with a little knowledge. Although an Air Rifle would be better for taking bunnies, for anything larger than a bunny a bow could be a lot more effective.

Bows have been in existence for thousands of years and range from the very basic "Self Bow" (a bow made from a single piece of wood) to the modern day Compound Bow. As there are so many different types of Bow around the world I will just describe 3 of the main types you will find in the UK, the Longbow, the Recurve Bow, and the Compound Bow.


The (English) Longbow

A quick bit of history. Originally developed by the Welsh it was soon adapted for use by the English and probably reached it's peak of military use in the late 1300's to early 1400's as an Artillery weapon. It could be a devastating weapon when used in the correct situation by trained archers but only in certain situations. Generally they were made from a single piece of Yew but even in those times we had used most of the good Yew in England and had to resort to importing staves from places like Spain and Italy. With the introduction of cannon to the battlefield the Longbow gradually fell out of favour. It the Victorian period people started to rediscover the Longbow as a hobby and development continued. The Victorian Longbow was often made of laminates (two or more pieces of wood glued together) and also had to conform to strict dimensions and build criteria which wasn't so much the case with the original Longbow used for war.

The advantage of a Longbow (or any Self Bow) from a survival point of view are their simplicity. One piece of wood, a string, and an arrow and you are good to go, very little to go wrong other than the bow itself cracking. It is not as accurate as a Recurve or Compound but can be made without access to modern tooling and materials.

A good wood for making a very simple "Self Bow" in an emergency is Ash, it wont last very long unless you are skilled at making a Bow but it will help in the short term in a survival situation. Making a decent, long lasting Longbow or Self-Bow however is a skilled art and there are still some very good Bowyers building them today


The Modern Take–Down Recurve Bow

A direct decendant of the American Flatbow (AFB), it is the type of Bow you will see in the Olympics. These days they can be made from various high tech materials but originally they were made from either wood or metal. The original AFB was developed in the early part of the twentieth century when investigations took place to examine why the Longbow was so effective. What they actually found was that a flatbow was a better profile for a bow than the "D" shaped Victorian Longbow so bow development went off in a new direction.

The advantage of a Recurve in a survival situation is its ease of use, power, accuracy (better than a longbow), and also the option of breaking it down into it's parts for easy storage and transport. You can also store spare limbs that can be attached to the riser in the event of a breakage so you don't have to throw the whole bow away if a limb breaks. Not as simple to make in a survival situation but still possible with the correct skills and knowledge but probably beyond the skills of a general lay person..


Compound Bow

The type of Bow you might see in some modern war films, generally shorter than a Longbow or Recurve with a complicated arrangement of string and cams. They are in the main more powerfull and accurate than both the Longbow and Recurve and seem to be favoured in the US and Australia by Bow Hunters (although all the other types of Bow are used as well)

As I mentioned earlier their advantage in a survival situation can be their power, accuracy, ease with which the arrow can be held in the drawn position (due to the eccentric cams), and their size. The downside of the cams and string arrangements is that there are more things to go wrong and a lot of things to adjust.

Without modern tooling and materials a Compound Bow would be extremely difficult to make in a post fall environment



From a purely personal perspective (and many people will have an equally valid but different opinion) I would favour having a Take-Down Recurve Bow which is a good compromise between power/accuracy and simplicity, a spare Riser (Handle) and a couple of spare Limbs. Also the knowledge to make a faily decent Self Bow would be very advantageous as you never know when you could be separated from your stores.

I don’t see Bows as a replacement for Air Rifles or other tools but more as a compliment to them. In some areas an Air Rifle is the best option, in others a Bow will be superior.

Just make sure you do some research on what sort of Bow suits you, what size, the draw weight etc and don’t just buy the meanest looking thing you see on the internet.
Reply
25 September 2011, 19:07,
#2
RE: Bows - A basic guide to different types
JD

Excellent article. That was very interesting. I have an interest in bows myself although I am not very good with them. Although you just blew my purchasing tactic out of the window. I like the meanest looking things.

Any hints and tips on choosing and using the differnt bows?
Skean Dhude
-------------------------------
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change. - Charles Darwin
Reply
26 September 2011, 05:51,
#3
RE: Bows - A basic guide to different types
Thank you JD, I will need to carry out research on bows. I've never really considered bows in this way. I've made bows in the past, but of course, they were not up to much. I can see now that they would be good for taking Deer and other animals and of course, they are reasonably silent, which would be of great use in a survival situation where other people are close by. Kenneth Eames.
Reply
26 September 2011, 11:53,
#4
RE: Bows - A basic guide to different types
I'm glad you found it helpful

Quote:Any hints and tips on choosing and using the differnt bows?

It does vary depending on what type of Bow you are looking to purchase, but there are some general things you need to know before you buy one.

In a way it is similar to buying an item of clothing, before you buy an item of clothing you try it on to see if it fits, or if buying on the internet you need to know what size waist or chest etc you are so that you will be pretty sure that the item will fit you.

With regard to Bows some of the main things you need to know before buying include the following:

Length of Bow

With Recurves the following is a guide to what length Bow you should be looking at based on your height, they are not fixed in stone but will give you an idea of what you should be looking at:

under 5' 6" = 64" Bow

5' 6"-5' 10" = 66" Bow

5' 10"-6' 2" = 68" Bow

6' 2"& over - 70" Bow


Draw Length

Knowing your draw length is important. You might see Bows for sale with a draw weight of 36lb which will have been measured at a draw length of say 28". If your draw length is 30" or 26" then you will be drawing more or less than the advertised weight respectively. Draw length is also very important when purchasing Arrows, too short an Arrow can be very dangerous.

There are many ways to measure your draw length and they quite often give slightly different results. One way is to stand with your arm extended horizontaly to the side (as if you are drawing an imaginary Bow) with your hand clenched in a fist (imagine you are holding the Bow). Standing side on but looking at your fist measure the distance from the centre of the fist to the side of your chin. This is where it is difficult if you have never used a Bow before because the exact point on the side of your chin that you measure to should be where you would normally draw the string to (your anchor point). This will vary a bit between individuals but as a rough guide measure to the front of your chin and add 1 1/2 inches.


Draw Weight (Poundage)

Draw weight is how much weight is required to draw the Bow to your Anchor Point. A problem you often find with people who have never drawn a Bow is that they will often over estimate the Draw Weight that they can handle. You need to remember that although you may be able to draw a 50lb Bow once or twice, the main thing you need in archery is a consistent draw to a consistent Anchor point. If you are struggling to draw the Bow on your 5th or 6th attempt you will not be able to be consistent in your Draw which will affect your accuracy. With practice and correct technique you will be able to increase the poundage but as a beginner (using a Recurve) you really wouldn't want to go above 36lb max to start with. On some Bow Hunting sites you will often see Deer / Elk taken with Bows of around 36lb by an experienced Archer but it requires (as with all pondages) stalking skills to get within close range, knowledge of the animals anatomy, and the accuracy to put the arrow in the desired location.

One advantage of a Take Down Recurve Bow is that as your strength and technique improves you can replace the limbs for stiffer/heavier ones to increase the poundage.


Arrow length

Arrow length is very important. Too short an arrow may slip off the rest or your hand at full draw can be very dangerous. A rough guide to Arrow length is to take your Draw Length and add 2"


If you buy from a shop like "Quicks" etc they will be able to measure all the above for you and give you advice, if buying off fleabay or somewhere similar then it really is a good idea to know the above before making a purchase.


With regard to shooting well it is all down to consistency, consistent Draw to a consistent Anchor Point, a consistent Release, using consistent arrows (different weight arrows or arrows made from different materials will have different flight characteristics). As an example, a 2mm difference at your Anchor point could result in a 2 foot difference at your target (depending on the range)
Reply
26 September 2011, 16:40,
#5
RE: Bows - A basic guide to different types
JD,

You should make this a series on the main site. Interested?
Skean Dhude
-------------------------------
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change. - Charles Darwin
Reply
26 September 2011, 19:54,
#6
RE: Bows - A basic guide to different types
JD thank you for all of this information. I will study this carefully and see if I can find a supplier in my area. Can you make a series on site as SD suggests. I am keen to find out more. I would like to find out more about crossbows as well. I believe there were crossbows that had a mechanism for widing them back because of their great power. Kenneth Eames.
Reply
27 September 2011, 01:24,
#7
RE: Bows - A basic guide to different types
SD, I'm happy to do something for the main site if you like, let me know what sort of thing you want and I will give it a go.

Ken, I dont know too much about crossbows i'm afraid, but there are quite a few systems to help with drawing them. I did look into buying one a year or so ago and asked for some information on a crossbow forum about a particular cheapish 150lb model (£100 - £150). I was told not to bother with either the pistol type or the normal ones at the cheaper end of the scale as they wouldn't last and to spend around £300 + on a decent one. That was out of my price range so I gave up on the idea.

I do like the portability of crossbows and also a beginner will get better results with a crossbow than with a normal bow as there are less variables to take into account.
Reply
27 September 2011, 10:05,
#8
RE: Bows - A basic guide to different types
My son bought a crossbow a year or so ago, I think it cost about £250 and I tried it out recently.
It was very hard to cock (you can get a pulley system which reduces the effort significantly and only costs a few pounds) but I was surprised with the accuracy and power it delivered. Zeroed-in at 40 metres the grouping was less than 2 to 3 inches, as far as I could determine shooting free handed and the trajectory was very flat over that distance. The energy at the point of impact was also quite impressive - we were using aluminium bolts about 12cm long with target tips which easily penetrated 20mm ply. Other tips are easily obtained for fishing, game hunting etc but one of the problems with aluminium bolts is that if the bolt hits something too hard it deflects and becomes bent and is difficult to straighten. Carbon fibre shafts are supposed to be better but I haven't seen these in use.
Overall I think a crossbow would be a fine hunting weapon and useful for self defence but is unwieldy and slow to reload - you certainly wouldn't want to be on the receiving end though, that's for sure.
Brian
Advice is what you seek when you know the answer but wish you didn't
Reply
27 September 2011, 10:10,
#9
RE: Bows - A basic guide to different types
JD,

I'll email you later.

Brian,

I have a couple of crossbow, one for over 20 years, and they are great for accuracy. The biggest problem I found was losing the bolts. They simply disappear, much worse than socks in the washing machine. You see where they go but when you get there you can't find them.

I much prefer a crossbow to a bow although I will admit that is because I cannot use a bow properly. I need to practise.
Skean Dhude
-------------------------------
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change. - Charles Darwin
Reply
28 October 2011, 14:28, (This post was last modified: 28 October 2011, 14:31 by NorthernRaider.)
#10
RE: Bows - A basic guide to different types
I'm selling my 30 lb Recurve bow kit if anyone wants one.
Skean your local archery club SHOULD be running intro courses for about £30.

Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)