British Longbow Society ELB definition?

[Phil Rees]

B.L.B.S. bow specs
 
Rule 8... Bows shall be the traditional 19th century recreational long bow made from wood.

Bows over 70lbs weight at full draw are not allowed for target or clout shooting.

Self and Backed Bows .. the profile of self bows and bows backed with a single laminate shall be governered soley by the unaltered natural shape of the staves or billets from which the belly of the bow is made. The depth of the back shall generally not be not more than one third of the total at any point.

Laminated bows may be made of wood or bamboo  and may contain from three to six laminations from back to belly inclusive. When braced the profile of each limb shall be a simple curve from handle to nock.

The horn nocks shall completely surround the tip of each limb. For all bows the string may contact the braced bow only at the nocks and shall not touch the limbs.

Extra laminates at the nocks to thicken the bow or to help seperates the  string from the bow are not allowed.

Hope this helps ...

[Del the cat]

B.L.B.S. bow specs
 
Rule 8... Bows shall be the traditional 19th century recreational long bow made from wood.

Bows over 70lbs weight at full draw are not allowed for target or clout shooting.

Self and Backed Bows .. the profile of self bows and bows backed with a single laminate shall be governered soley by the unaltered natural shape of the staves or billets from which the belly of the bow is made. The depth of the back shall generally not be not more than one third of the total at any point.

Laminated bows may be made of wood or bamboo  and may contain from three to six laminations from back to belly inclusive. When braced the profile of each limb shall be a simple curve from handle to nock.

The horn nocks shall completely surround the tip of each limb. For all bows the string may contact the braced bow only at the nocks and shall not touch the limbs.

Extra laminates at the nocks to thicken the bow or to help seperates the  string from the bow are not allowed.

Hope this helps ...

Well there ya go.
My Longbow doesn't qualify... too heavy, no horn nocks...bonkers.
Del <slaps furry head with paw>

[Phil Rees]

Del .... read the first line of rule 8....
19th century recreational target bows had horn nocks....

[markinengland]

Horace,

Thanks. The BLBS definition appears to be less clear than it used to be, but at least now I can tell my friends that this is the case.

To what some others have said, primitive archers shooting in NFAS are simply trying to get a workable open definition agreed that allows us to make and shoot primitive bows be that wide and flat or narrow and deep without getting into an arguament about whether they are longbows or not (as these have a seperate class).

Not slapping down anyone, just trying to keep it on track. Thanks for all the interest, even if it was heated at times!

[dragonman]

I genuinely hope it all gets sorted ,and all wooden bowmen can shoot together, its especially needed here in uk.

[Phil Rees]

I genuinely hope it all gets sorted ,and all wooden bowmen can shoot together, its especially needed here in uk.

ABSOLUTLEY 100% right

This may be of interest www.fieldandrovingarcherysociety.co.uk

[backgardenbowyer]

There's a very interesting definition for ELBs at: http://www.longbow-archers-association.org/definitionlongbow.html

Although this might look a bit long winded its actually designed to include as wide a range as possible of the tradtional styles of English longbow - horn nocks are optional, all kinds of proflies are included provided they can fit within a 8:5 proportion.  The BLBS definition is really concerned with victorian target bows and excludes the medieval style bows.

In the UK bows with wide flat limbs are simply not referred to as longbows but as either flatbows of AFBs (American Flatbows).  They are very popular with field archers it's just that we don't call them longbows to avoid confusion with the traditional narrow limbed European style.

[Del the cat]

Del .... read the first line of rule 8....
19th century recreational target bows had horn nocks....

Hmmm (you really think I didn't?)
I'd suggest the society's title is somewhat of a missnomer... maybe 'Late Georgian Longbow Society' would be better, it seems it's rather narrow snapshot of history and hardly representative of the bows main use.
Del

[Del the cat]

Horace,

Thanks. The BLBS definition appears to be less clear than it used to be, but at least now I can tell my friends that this is the case.

To what some others have said, primitive archers shooting in NFAS are simply trying to get a workable open definition agreed that allows us to make and shoot primitive bows be that wide and flat or narrow and deep without getting into an arguament about whether they are longbows or not (as these have a seperate class).

Not slapping down anyone, just trying to keep it on track. Thanks for all the interest, even if it was heated at times!

A worthy aim indeed, my personal view is that a longbow can be a subset of primitive, I don't see why this should be a problem, it would mean you have a choice of category if your longbow is a self bow and you are shooting 'primitive' arrows.

I have a keen interest as I shoot in both categories.
Del

[bobnewboy]

Horace said:

[/quote]
This may be of interest www.fieldandrovingarcherysociety.co.uk
[/quote]

MIght be.  But there is no mention of insurance, nor any details of forthcoming shoots on the web site.  Also how to join?

[markinengland]

Del,

Personally I think much the same. Problem is that NFAS Committee and shoot organisers have a bee in their bonnet about primitive bows that are like longbows shooting in longbow class, even if primitive archers themselves don't mind. I'm sure we'll end up sorting some kind of wording out that is an acceptable if not perfect compromise.