I have always been a difficult fit in any peg-board. I frequently ask maverick questions that amuse or baffle some people and irritate others. If there is a different way of doing something, I will probably find it and embrace it. Conventionality is a near-fatal disease to me, usually contracted by running with crowds. Yet, I am a primitive (conservative or even regressive by nature) who dances to the beat of a different hollow log. I believe that “there is nothing new under the sun” and that many of the greatest truths are time-tested, having their roots in the distant past not the future. Study the history of our species and you’ll see what I mean. Isn’t that a radical idea in today’s progress-crazed society? I do believe, at least minimally, in progress, but where humanity is headed ain’t necessarily it! I’m not sure that I understand all of this either, but I say it as a preface for what follows. If there is any common curse in primitive archery, it is acquired string follow. We have all learned to hate it, haven’t we? A bow with significant deflex is “doggy” and “lazy” and beneath our dignity, nagging empirical evidence of a flaw in our character. Right? I understand the feeling, I really do. We will try anything and go any distance to defeat it. Historically speaking, however, most of us have ancestors who at one time or other hunted or went to war with lazy bows, often rather successfully. Millions, I suspect, both human and animal, have met their end impaled with arrows launched from lazy deflexed bows. However, dead is dead, “more” dead is not possible. Only the distance, and perhaps the brevity with which mortality could be inflicted, were in question.

As an anchor point for this treatise, perhaps I should ask the rhetorical question: What is deflex, anyway? Briefly stated, it is the tendency of a bow to remain bent toward the string after the string is relaxed. Very often the tendency is unavoidably present in staves. When over-stressing causes it in bows, it would more correctly be referred to as “string-follow,” but for the purposes of this article the two tendencies will be mostly treated as one. Does that satisfy everyone? Anyone? Perhaps string-follow is just the bow’s way of telling us that it is weak in compression and has been over-strained, or simply that the belly wood must compress so much before its density becomes great enough for it to resist further compression.

We self-bow types tend to see this as a problem to be solved when in fact it may be more of an instance of trying to prevent dogs from barking or roosters from crowing. Certainly there are processes that can lessen or delay the onset of string-follow and there are woods that seem largely unaffected by it (Osage, cherry, red cedar, ash, and mesquite come to mind), but often nothing can eliminate it entirely. Tillering a bow from a naturally reflexed stave gives us an obvious head start. Crowning the belly to increase its compression mass is another semi-solution. Heat-treating the belly or perhaps the whole bow definitely helps to give the bow a preset profile by hardening its compression mass. Recurves put more mass within the confines of a given string length (there are other factors as well). A “bend thru the handle” design does the same thing with less hassle, but possibly with less grace. “Stuffing the wood” as in salt water curing also helps (see PA Dec./Jan. 07). This promising treatment apparently works by infusing the wood’s internal fiber and especially its cellular structure with crystalline molecules suspended in water which then resolidify as the wood dries out. The cell walls should be reinforced with an encrustation of tiny crystals, if not actually filled to some extent, as a result. For a brief example, sit on an empty cereal box and it will collapse. Fill it with salt or sand and try again; it will not collapse. The presence of crystals inside the cells takes up the space that would normally be filled with air, thus preventing them from compressing as much. Somewhere in my memory are recollections of cardboard boxes of rock salt which became wet and then dried out, transforming the unit into something resembling a brick— learn from it what we may. At any rate, bows thus treated will retain more memory of their original dimensions and, consequently, acquire less string follow. This induced form of semipetrification should also increase density and mass. Stradivarius violins were made from wood which had been floated down river over long distances, soaking in mineral-rich water apparently imparting to it an unusually vibrant and harmonic nature.

Though, all this a very plausible theory in my mind, hard scientific evidence of exactly how it works is presently in short supply. Aside from the disadvantage of a long treatment cycle, salt-water treatment may turn out to be a major cure, especially for white wood deflex. I have not tried it yet owing partly to the fact that there are presently no oceans in the Ozarks although the eventual mega-quake scientists are predicting could change that. However, a salt and water paste applied liberally to the bow’s belly, sealed with plastic sheeting and left to soak in just might, hmmm? Work? I wonder if substituting sugar for the salt might make a really “sweet-shooting bow”? Or even using a pressure chamber to force the liquid chemicals in as some tanneries are presently doing to speed up the tanning process? But, I seem to be indulging myself in flights of fancy here so allow me to rejoin by mentioning that belly laminations of high compression wood can also help stringfollow, especially as a last resort. It is, however, generally more work than my tired old hands want to do. Finally, just allowing the stave or bow to dry thoroughly before shooting it can be beneficial. It does seem that we have tried everything to defeat our old nemesis except, perhaps, the most obvious.

Indians did use heat-treating and some of the other cures mentioned, but they also practiced what is to most of us unthinkable by using a no- or lowtension brace. “Gasp! How horrible and savage! Surely you don’t mean just a stick with a limp string attaching both ends?” Yes! (maniacal chuckle) that’s exactly what I mean! “Why would they ever do such a ghastly thing?” Well, (regaining my dignity and composure) for starters, the bows almost never broke, the string often lasted until it rotted off, and because the bow was under tension only momentarily when it was actually drawn, it developed little string-follow. If it eventually did, all you needed to do was to shorten the string a little. Talk about low-maintenance! You could even get by with a much less robust string. Being continually strung and free from that necessary chore, the bow was also ready at a moment’s notice to defend family or take unexpected game. Heck, you could even install a spear point on one end as some of them did to defend yourself after you ran out of arrows. Wow! A spear that shoots arrows—the birth of multi-tasking! After divorcing myself temporarily from our commonly held, present-day traditions and considering these advantages, I came to believe that they were onto something good or at least very practical. In spite of all these worthwhile advantages, however, the concept still drives us totally mad. Go ahead, admit it. I did it and I feel better now. Well, at least I did after venting my protest in loud guttural moans, primal screams, and highpitched quavering vocalizations that made it necessary to wipe the foam from my lips after I regained the use of my mind. Physical transformation in the shape of one’s brain does not come easily.

Amazingly, such weapons will still propel very lethal arrows. Even though the cast is somewhat reduced, it is still deadly at ranges where most of us can truly hit what we shoot at. Try it if you want a real surprise—I’m serious. About ten years ago, I took a scrap twig of Ash Juniper from Central Texas and made a small (33- inch) bow about as big around as an index finger. It is tillered only enough to be somewhat balanced and is round in cross-section. I braced it at about 5 inches while it was still green and set it aside to dry, planning to make a decorator wall hanger. That ridiculous, hopelessly crooked little 15-pound bow, strung at very low tension, will now shoot a 28-inch arrow over ninety yards! So, for us guys who must have a traditional looking curved bow, why not deliberately induce a pronounced deflex into a short stiff bow and then brace it at minimal tension? Even simpler, just tiller it from a naturally deflexed stave to begin with. Even a short bow can come to anchor this way and still not be over-stressed. We don’t call them “bows” for nothing! Ha! Okay, that was a bad joke, but can you imagine nearly 100% usage of staves?! No rejects? We can now use anything that grows to make a bow! Well, probably not sunflower or Poke sallet, but you get the idea. No matter how you slice it, it is over-stressing that breaks most bows, yet this type of bow would only be as stressed at full draw as a regular bow is at brace. Yes, I know you’re still underwhelmed, but why is that? It is only because we are still so performancedriven and proud of our traditional bowyer skills that we have a problem. And those are good things indeed. I would never ask or hope that anyone give up the essence of our sport. I love that essence, too. And yet, is there no cleverness that we can distill from these applications, time tested under primitive conditions as they were? After all, every type of bow has certain design parameters and distinctive traits that allow us to assign it a category and a name. Perhaps we should just revive this category of archery equipment and give it a catchy name. Intentionally deflexed bows, ultra-primitive archery or something of the sort, just not “Miller bows” or Terminally Relaxed (which sounds to me like a moniker for The Grateful Dead). Such bows might make a great home defense bow, knock-about, keep it behind the pick-up seat, woods wandering, stump-shooting survival bow.

Or you could challenge yourself to create a truly savage-looking work of art. One that a head-hunter might use on his sorties complete with crude tool marks, patination, and your choice of ornate savage decorations and esoteric “medicine” symbols. Add a gnarly-looking self-made string, and it would make one cool and exotic wall-hanger or conversation piece, especially if African, extra-long, daggerpointed arrows were included in the display. How’s that for primitive? It would also be ready for instant use against a dangerous intruder. Imagine yourself a burglar unexpectedly bumping into a wildeyed homeowner pointing the business end of a cannibal arrow at your abdomen. Oh yeah! Big-time reality check! “Please don’t shoot mister, I must be in the wrong
house, but before I go let me check my mouth? I think I swallowed my teeth!” Yes, I know I’m obsessed with sticking arrows in humans; it’s in my aboriginal genes just like whooping and yelping while dancing around bonfires or skulking at the edges of civilization. You got a problem with that!? Anyway, if it still seems too weird for you, consider that if we do something on purpose in order to comply with a particular design requirement, then that procedure is, of necessity, correct. So, if a bow must be made a certain way to fulfill its particular design requirements, then it is correct in and of itself when made that way and is to be judged by those criteria alone. We do not condemn a horse-bow just because it is not a longbow. Perhaps we are merely
“bowing to the inevitable,” but the application described herein does, after all, solve the problem of deflex, does it not? Just redefine the problem so it is no longer a bad thing; spin it as a real benefit. Governments do it. Most professions do it. Even salesmen have learned to do it… let’s do it, let’s fall in love (with deflex). Isn’t there a song that goes something like that? Take it away Dean-o....

You could at least try it with that impossibly crooked stave that you can’t seem to throw away. Hey, I’m in quicksand here! So throw me a rope, not stones. Hey, that looks like good flint! Okay, go ahead with the stones, just try to miss! This is an easy project, after all; a refreshing change of pace and a chance to “lighten-up” (dare I say relax?). Come on, work with me on this; after all, crazy “alternative” styles of all sorts are becoming more and more respectable. No, I did not cause it! It was like that when I got here! Besides, being
open-minded enough to do something crazy may be the only path to respectability that some of us have. Now, that makes sense doesn’t it? Hmmm? I can tell by the glassy stares that I’ve driven you into a stupor, haven’t I? Okay, paw the ground once for yes…. Aw! What’s the use! I once performed extensive tests with alternate fletching designs and materials including spirally grooved shafts on featherless arrows. The results were little that I could use directly, but I did learn exactly why fletching must be the way it normally is in order to work properly and that is satisfying to me.

Okay, one last try. I bet you will learnsomething new, possibly something that few others presently know. If this doesn’t make the project worthwhile, I give up. Or instead, maybe I should “give down” or possibly “give diagonally.” Or perhaps with a rotational motion or…. Okay! Okay! Don’t shoot! I’m outta’ here!