Recurve, no question.

If you break a compound bow it's useless.

But if you break a recurve you still have everything you need to rebuild it.

I have 3 extra strings for my old Bear Kodiak recurve, great bow.

Originally posted by susej
Yea I was wondering if I could craft arrows for a Compound bow. I was also considering a air gun but I don't think one under $300 would kill someone or larger game.

Actually a $300 pellet will give you around 1200 fps, more than enough to hunt small game

Don't get a CO2 or multiple pump, get a break open single.

I paid around $275 for my Gamo, and it is deadly under 50 yards.

I wouldn't want to be shot by it.

Thanks guys but I'm still not fully convinced. Some of the recurves that I've seen are big and look kind of hard to carry unlike the compound bows I'm wielded/shot. Also how long do you think a compound would last without that much maintenance.

P.s
I've also heard that you have to unstring recurvers when your not using them. Is it hard to string and unstring them.

long bow or Recurve bow for survival.

Its dangerus to fire wood arrows from a compound bow the can breakup on release.

With a long bow you can use homemade arrows.

With a compound when you run out of metal or glass arrows your out of ammo.

You can make strings for long bows and recurves from gut or parachute cord.

I just got a 45# fiberglass recurve bow from a thrift store for $5

It will be a back up for my long bow and a bow for behind the seat of my truck just in case.

Originally posted by visualmiscreant
Have you ever seen anyone straighten wooden arrows through a method I believe is called "sympathy"? One of my friends is a world-class archer; he shoots a long-bow. He moved down to the Florida Keys several years ago because he works as a marine carpenter, building and remodeling boats. Once while I was visiting him, there was a show on television he was watching where they took a straight wooden arrow and rubbed it lengthwise down the shaft of a warped one. After several minutes (I think), the warped arrow straightened. I thought it was BS, but the guy told me he's seen it done before. I'm not sure how many times you have to rub them in that fashion, and I've never tried it myself; I just thought you might find it interesting. It could save arrows in a survival situation as well...

I think it works by the friction creating heat. Had someone straighten out a golf club using the same type of method once. It was pretty amazing. Guess it would work for anything that wants to pop back into it's old "memory".

Or should I try to get a air gun

I wouldn't count out crossbows. Historically speaking, they allowed a peasant army to all of a sudden be a formidable force. They require less training and skill than a bow (and less strength)..

Using a bow stringer (a length of para chord a bit longer than my unstrung bow, with a loop at each end), I can string my bow in under 5 seconds. You loop each arm end, and then stand on the stringer and pull upward on the belly of the bow. Once the "drawn" bow is shorter than the string, you slip the string into place, and can then release the stringer. Odysseus uses one in the Odyssey, to string an "impossible" bow, back in 1000 BC.

But yes, it needs to be stored unstrung.


For actual stalking, I greatly prefer a recurve. Like I've said before, dragging a compound bow through actual brush, without knocking a sight out of alignment, or getting grass caught in the cams is a real chore. Yes it can be done, but nobody does it. They only hunt from blinds, like a crossbow. Why is that?

Additionally, most archers cannot draw a compound bow in true silence. Stand next to one, and you'll hear a cam creak, or the arrow scraping across the shelf, or the string whisper as it winds out from around the cam. The owners of such bows will always swear that the deer can't hear from that distance....

A thought provoking post. I was at Wal Mart the other day and saw a youth compound bow on sale with a 30lb draw. It was well made, light, and according to a friend of mine that's into archery, would have an effective killing range of 15-20yds. That's not far, but it's a realistic distance I think for most people. I plan on purchasing a couple to go with my other survival gear. I already have a 150lb draw crossbow, but it's very difficult to re-cock once it's been fired. After a few week of starvation and constant exertion I think most people would be unable to load it alone.

Have a nice compound, but after reading these replies I will also get a recurve. Because making your own arrows and repairs on a recurve is far easier. And if/when TSHTF, getting parts for a compound will be harder.

Originally posted by susej
Thanks guys but I'm still not fully convinced. Some of the recurves that I've seen are big and look kind of hard to carry unlike the compound bows I'm wielded/shot. Also how long do you think a compound would last without that much maintenance.

P.s
I've also heard that you have to unstring recurvers when your not using them. Is it hard to string and unstring them.

The recurve I have is small, only about 50'' tall, and I can put a rifle sling around it and carry it on my back unstrung when traveling. It weighs less than 2 lbs, and when stringing it, I use the ''step through'' method, simply bending the bow using your 2 legs and stringing it up. Takes 3 seconds.

Also, I dont think I read anything regarding this yet, but NEVER - under any circumstances - shoot a wooden arrow through a compound bow. The speed of the compound moving the string will split the arrow at the knock and you'll injure yourself greatly.

All in all, like everyone here has said, the compound will only last so long. Think of it like an hourglass, each time you shoot the compound, another bit of sand falls through the hourglass. The sand represents the eventuality that you will need to repair the compound at some point, and since you'll only have materials from the bush, it will be useless to you and you'll have no backup plan. *hint hint**** unless you make a sling ;-)

Another edit to add: Remember Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring? When they were in the Mines of Moria and about to be attacked by the army of goblins and cave trolls, both Legolas and Aragorn had unstrung bows on their backs. You cant travel for weeks at a time with a strung bow chilling out on your back. Although its just a movie, you can imagine how fast and easy it was to take it off their back and string it up like a madman about to die... lol I never thought LOTR would allow me to teach someone a lesson about survival.

I'd take a Longbow, it doesn't need to much attention and it's perfect for survival, its made of one piece of wood so its strong, you can shoot heavy arrows with it to kill big game and small for small game.

But you have to be fairly strong.

+ you can make your own arrows.