Lol Mike ok, what i meant to convey is at best it's an opinion (ie linen is useless) and at worst it's just flat wrong. Anyone who denies that linen is a useful backing is blinding themselves to the facts.
The whole reason for the test was someone charged that "linen and titebond as a backing is a myth" and strongly contended that linen does nothing. That is just false, there's too much anecdotal as well as direct evidence to the contrary.
I know that this wasn't scientific in the sense of having a broad sample set and controlled variables, etc. BUT, common sense and experience come into play here as well. (A great deal of science is done outside of the "cookbook" method you all were taught in school. A 1000 controlled tests can never prove an idea absolutely right, but it only takes a single test to prove an idea wrong. I think this is very close to that instance.)
A new bowyer is just that, NEW! The advice given to back with linen on your first few bows is sound advice because a NEW bowyer may mistakenly make less than perfect choices in wood selection. They are still learning what to look for, what can and cannot be worked with, etc. , so backing with linen, silk etc "just in case" DOES provide the added security. Will it hold a bow together that's destined to fail? NO, but will it hold a bow together after lifting a splinter (or several!) YES!.
The real safety here is NOT the safety of the bow, but rather the safety of the person shooting it!
