Bow length

[Kegan]

It seems that I have been spending alot of my time shooting a variety of the bows I've made off and on. Well, for a few days I had been shooting longbows (68+") and then switched form the traditional flatbow to a simple little hickory D bow. What a difference. The longbows were forgiving and nice shooters, but even with matched or underspined and light arrows the were slow.

The short bow, however, even with overspined arrows, shot with great speed, at a shorter draw. The bow was much farther from center shot as well.

It seems that little bows don't get as much attention as they should . They seem like top performers to me.

[Ryano]

Bows of all different lengths have there advantages and disadvantages it just depends on what you want to do with it.. If designed and tillered properly a long bow can shoot equally as fast as a short bow and vise versa....its more the design, tiller, type of wood. Some wood needs to be longer/wider to store energy some can get away with shorter narrower designs.

[Kegan]

Bows of all different lengths have there advantages and disadvantages it just depends on what you want to do with it.. If designed and tillered properly a long bow can shoot equally as fast as a short bow and vise versa....its more the design, tiller, type of wood. Some wood needs to be longer/wider to store energy some can get away with shorter narrower designs.

Ahhh... makes sense. I was just comparing two hickory  bows, and the longer one, despite having the heavier drw weight, seemed to shoot slower when compared to the short bow. I was just eading an old article in Primitive Archer, "A tale of Two Bowyers" where they described the use of 22" draw bows or 43" as "screamers", which got me and thinking about the many short bows of the Native Americans. I klnow they took what peices they could get, but maybe the weren't "settling" for the shorter peices?

[Auggie]

It could also have somrthing to do with wether the stave is from the reaction part of the tree or one stave just may have better properties for being a bow than another. All bows are good, some just better than others.

[Justin Snyder]

I would suggest that the long bow was probably overbuilt.  It is possible to get 170 fps out of a bow at 24" then draw it to 28" with a higher draw weight and shoot 170 fps. Different bows have different ideal draws.  Like Ryan said, tiller etc..  You certainly can make a 68" bow that shoots fast. Justin

[Ryano]

The longbow is most likely over built for your draw length(to long with excessive mass for your draw length) but may perform better at a longer draw. For a straight stiff handled bow for my 27" draw length I prefure around a 64" bow at the longest. Although if you recurve the tips and or make a bendy handle I can go much shorter. Ive made a few as short as 50"ntn.

[gpw]

However slower , the longer longbows seem much more accurate(stable) ... and shoot a heavier , more lethal arrow..  We shoot eyebrow high LB's and seldom miss....

[Kegan]

What Justin said made sense- the shorter bow IS closer to maximum draw than the longbow, which seems that it is drawn quite far under it's potential leaving it with extra mass on the limbs, which also means that it, despite not beoing as fast, is much more durable, and as gpw said, more stable- correct? Hmm, these sticks are complicated things, aren't they ?

[DCM]

Very generally speaking longer bows have a geometric advantage, solely in terms of potential for cast, no amount of engineering can replicate in a shorter bow.  But I agree with the general concensus that lots of other factors weigh for and against long or short bows.  When you really get down to brass tacks, there ain't a nickle's worth of difference in any bows and in the grand scheme of things, assuming all well designed and crafted.  Don't get me wrong, you can make a bad bow which performs significantly below a good bow.  But all good bows are pretty darned close to each other.  I tend to prefer to judge a bows merit on things other than cast, for this reason.

[Kegan]

Okay, then how about this- from what I have been reading and what not about short bows in the back issues of PA, what are eervyone's thoughts about these methods for increacing perfromance of a shortbow?

1. Stiff tips- less stack

2. Wide flat limbs(2") with narrowed handle- distribution of stress and concentraiton of bend in handle and to mid-limbs

3.highly reflexed/recurved- more bending/farther capabilities

4. D-style- more overall working limbs

I have a short locust stave that I want to sinew and turn into my next hunting bow. Around here the brush can form a virtual wall and last year my longbows kept gettign caught up while stalking. From what I gathered, a good layer of sinew and the above steps should help increase the odds of a good shootin' shortie?

[Pat B]

On shorter bows I like to kick the tips up a little(static tips) to help increase draw length without loosing the string, decrease finger pinch and add a little extra zip. When I do this, I want the working parts of the limbs to come into the fades so there is more working limb. I can't help with locust because I have bad luck with it but others will recommend about locust for you. I would recommend flat belly, or almost flat for locust.   Pat

[Kegan]

The peice is dried into a relfex, then I'll use heat to bring it isn some more and use the sinew to help in the end. This should also fight set. But the peice is all sapwood with a flat belly and decrowned back (because of the use of sinew). I am getting anxious though, I keep thinking this is gonna be alot of fun .

[DCM]

1. Stiff tips- less stack

Effective.

2. Wide flat limbs(2") with narrowed handle- distribution of stress and concentraiton of bend in handle and to mid-limbs

Effective.

3.highly reflexed/recurved- more bending/farther capabilities

Tends to add stress to already heavily taxed limbs in my view.  Adds mass on the outer limbs.  Theoretically justified, hard to demonstrate in practice.

4. D-style- more overall working limbs

Sacrificies string angle.

It's all a giant circle, one trade off leading 'round the mulberry bush to the next.  Quality of materials, craftsmanship weigh pretty heavy in the grand scheme of things.

The best short bow design I've used so far, among four distinct variations I've tried in 6 or 7 specimens incorporates 1. and 2.  Other less desirable ones used 3. and 4. and some others, deflex in the handle w/ modest recurve for example.  I'm currently enamoured with a mild r/d in a backed bow but haven't tried it for a shorty.

http://home.midsouth.rr.com/ddmims/abc0704.JPG

http://home.midsouth.rr.com/ddmims/abc0705.JPG

What do you consider short?  This one is 58" for 63# @ 28".  Makes 3# per inch from 24" to 28". 

[George Tsoukalas]

Longer bows are good for hunting on foot. Generally speaking they will show less stacking and better accuracy at longer ranges. Short bows are good for hunting from horse back. Of course there are always exception to the rule. How short is short and how long is long? I like bows 62-66 in long for my 26 inch draw. Jawge

[Justin Snyder]

I have to agree with George.  Long for hunting on foot, short for horses.  Short also works for blinds some times, but longer is more stable as a general rule.  I also like 62-66", but I draw 29.  Justin