How to make a longbow.

reply to post by Evolutionsend


A medieval warbow (English longbow) was around 150 lb draw. but then again, every man was required by law to practice for 3 hours on the village green each Sunday and their skeletons show huge deformity in the shoulder and upper arm, wrist and lower arm. I've shot bows for the last 20+ years and I can't even imagine drawing, never mind aiming, a bow with a draw equivalent to the weight of a full grown man with one hand. 6 times per minute for the duration of a battle.
The modern longbow has a average draw of around 60 1bs and even that is hard going to draw, aim and cast proficiently.
Both flatbows and longbows have been used since the stone age (the choice of which usually depended on availability and suitability of the wood). Most modern primitive hunter gatherer societies do not rely on power but on the arrow inflicting a mortal injury on the prey, then they track it and wait for it to die or to be sufficiently injured where they can finish it off, sometimes days later.

reply to post by Aestheteka


More power would help him or anyone really. The slower the arrow, the more likely a small animal like a squirrel will have time to move.

It's pretty common for physical training to result in abnormalities if it's done over long periods wrongly.

I'm not even sure where that guy's bow falls, but it doesn't look like 60 lbs even. I found some other videos showing how native Americans used deer sinew on the bow's back, to increase the pull and durability. They did a really bad job of explaining it though.

reply to post by Evolutionsend


The best way to hunt small game is to trap it/
I watched an episode of bow hunting on the Fishing and Hunting channel were a bloke took down an elephant with a compound bow ith one shot to the heart. That man had balls, I'll give him that - and the elephant only managed to run a few yards before keeling over so it was a clean kill.
I've seen videos of Asutralian Aborigines (they have a huge amount of strength) lob spears straight through kangaroos - literally passing through their bodies

reply to post by Evolutionsend


The sinew is a form of laminate (check out Asian and Middle-Eastern recurve bows as an example). There are very few woods which can survive as self bows (one piece stave) for any period of time (which is why only the male yew was chosen for the longbow). Often, recurves and flatbows had several laminate layers made from linen, sinew, leather or another wood (or fibreglass nowadays)

reply to post by Aestheteka


Yep, but a simple sinew backing, or just a bow like he showed you is easier than trying to layer a bow. I looked those methods up as well. They look difficult, even with a full "jig" in a shop.

My Dad taught me to shoot both a compound and a recurve bow, when I was younger. I like bows or crossbows better than guns.

reply to post by Evolutionsend


The laminate is to make the wood stronger to stop it from breaking more than to make it stronger as in more powerful. I wouldn't know where to begin to personally make a multi-layered bow.
I much prefer bows to guns. I like the art of it. I'd love to study Kyudo but spending 3 years just to reach the nocking phase is a tad extreme. At college I used to donate some of my time to teach mentally handicapped teens and adults archery but that was an adrenaline sport in itself. I spent most of my time pleading with them not to turn around and chat with their friend with the bow armed and fully drawn.
I used to have a compound but after having problems with the jig I'd recommend anyone (for a survival situation) to get a take-down recurve. Being English I love the longbow but the sheer amount of attention it requires to mainatin makes it useless as a survival weapon - plus its size and the years of practice to get used to it.
I currently have a completely manmade recurve (no worries about it drying or getting damp), competition style. It's not romantic but it's accurate and reliable. I'm currently looking to upgrade foot poundage to something around 55 to 60 lbs as I think it might be necessary soon.
At present I am obssessed with a much simpler weapon, the Slingbow. On Youtube, Dave from Dual Survival claims to have invented it but I remember people making versions of it with Barnett Black Widows when I was a kid. I'm looking for a uitable alternative to the whisker biscuit (a metal ring just destroys the flights). As a survival weapon it seems ideal and in a combat survival situation it only needs to be fired well once...

Here's Dave Cantervury doing his thing -



And here's a commercial version actually being used for pig hunting in Hawaii -

Very well done videos. Whether survival or simply a good woodworking project.

I enjoy the quietness of working with wood using hand-powered tools, taking my time (it is a hobby for relaxation, not a money making enterprise). The videos reminded me of a web site (Vintage Projects)with instructions (in pdf format) to download from old Popular Mechanics which I had found years ago-- several on bow-making. I am pleased to see it still exists.

These are the pages related to archery: each page has a link to download the fuller pdf original.

Build a Long Bow

Flat Bow

Recurve Bow

Hunting Bow

Flight Bow

Repeating Cross-Bow

Metal Cross-Bow

Addressing the survival issues, I was struck by the truth of the comment on this thread that counting on supplies to feed a firearm is folly. Also true is that counting on the availability of tools. Hand tools requiring only muscle and skill should not be overlooked if an extended self-reliance is necessary.