I need some traditional info!

[elk4me]

Hey guys as ya know I am going back to College and have to take academic classes. One class is Public speeking , I am planning on giving and informative speech on the Differences between a Longbow,Recurve and a Compoundbow . I have never shoot a Longbow or a recurve,I was hoping to email back and forth with some of ya Traditional guys in order to get tech info, pics ,and historys of these 2 kind of bow's. I hope ya'll know what I am trying to say cuz I don't

[BT]

The Longbow was most notable as the bow that allowed england to retain it's sovereignty.

It made a strong come back in America when Howard Hill and Hollywood teamed up to make Robin hood.

In the sixty's Fred Bear (called the father of modern archery) brought the recurve to it's ultimate position as the bow of choice as tens of thousands flocked to try this reborn sport while the longbow slipped back into the darkness.

The recurve provided more brace height and a shorter overall length which people favored and the sexy curves and exotic woods were pleasing to the eye's of most , as is the case to day.

The recurve stayed as the top shelf weapon of choice until the Allen patent was developed and the combination of Allen and Jennings bows (which made archery easier) pushed the recurve back into the darkness along with the longbow.

Recently though , in the '90's , the traditional equipment has come back into style with more and more people picking up these beautifully crafted and light weight bows each year in an attempt to test their true ability's as archers

[FlyinCedar]

How long do ya have elk? I have some info for ya, but its at my ouse,and I am at my girlfriend's house....I will look up my stuff and try to post some help for ya.

[elk4me]

The speech is not due till ;)March 23rd so I am just starting it and getting a handout made with Pics and a brief discription of the 2 different bows

[BT]

Hey F.Cedar....put it up here as well , for others
( if possible)

[flatbowMB]

In comparing the classic longbow to that of the classic recurve. The longbow tends to be, less speed efficient (at a given draw weight), but more forgiving of a less than perfect arrow release. The longbow tends to be lighter in mass, but have more vibration (handshock) on release.

Also keep in mind that in addition to the more classic recurve and longbow designs, the differences between them have been blurred with 'hybrid' style bows. These designs attempt to maximize the advantages of each design while minimizing the disadvantages. For example, the 'classic' english longbow typically has limbs that are straight when unstrung and create a D shape when strung (much like the one in Bowtech's picture).

Much of the recent surge of popularity of longbow is due to reflex/deflex limbs which have some curvatures in the unstrung limbs. This limb curvature becomes much less noticeable when the bow is strung. What the reflex/deflex design does for a longbow is increase arrow speed at a given draw weight AND reduce handshock, all without adding any mass to the bow.

A big part of the appeal of traditional bows over compounds, aside from the aesthetics and sentimentality, is that in many hunting situations, they may be more effective than compounds. If one travels on foot a fair distance throughout a hunting day the lightness of a recurve and especially a longbow can be a huge benefit. The 'stickbows' also tend to be quicker to draw and aim on a target. This can provide a huge advantage for jittery small game that doesn't stay in any one place for more than a couple of seconds.

Another practical benefit of stickbows, especially as barebows (no sights), is their simplicity. No wheels to go out of tune, no sights to knock out of alignment if the bow is dropped etc.

The 2 main disadvantages of stickbows to compounds are that it generally takes much longer to learn shoot a stickbow accurately. Furthermore, the maximum distances which most people can shoot a stickbow accurately tends to be much less than with compounds.

[smj]

The differences... For a paper on the subject, you will want to trace the history and development of each, which there are a lot spots on the web to get that information. You might also wish to include the atlatl, which is recongnized as being around prior to the bow and arrow. (Spear, or dart, and thrower...) Basic differences between all is one of speed or energy transfered to the arrow and accuracy/repeatability. Take three bows all the same draw weight, draw length, shoot the same weight arrow and the longbow will be slowest, compound fastest. A longbow has little preload. Pluck the string and you get a low note! As you pull back you can feel that the energy curve for it starts out really flat. (Energy curve: plot a graph of draw length vs draw weight in say 1 inch increments of draw distance.) As you add curvature to the limbs, you tend to increase preload on the limb. Pluck the string, the tone goes higher as preload increases. If you take the integral of the force curve over the draw length, you come up with the amount of energy available to impart to the shaft being shot out of the bow. The efficiency of the bow determines how much of that energy gets transfered to the arrow when you shoot it. SO - between the three in question, what you gain is available energy to transfer to the arrow, and better efficiency doing it as you go from longbow to recurve to compound. To find the best efficiency of a bow, shoot different weight arrows through a chronograph and calculate the energy transfered to the arrow. Typically, longbows like heavy arrows, I believe recurves do as well. Compounds can be different depending on the wheel or cam design. I have seen compounds that do not like light weight arrows, they errupt in vibration and noise - all energy being waisted and not transfered to the arrow. The bow I shoot now is very efficient, to be honest, I am not sure how they transfer the amount of energy to the arrow that seems to be there! Where some fast shooters fall short, and this is a huge debate, the light weight arrow at high speed may have good energy, but lacks in momentum. The thought being that without good momentum, you risk loosing penetration because you have no mass! I like an arrow heavy enough to be durable, with 12% or better FOC - they seem to be better in high wind... Another issue for light arrows. However, what everyone likes about light arrows is that they are fast arrows, they tend to not drop as fast so they shoot flat. On my compound, I don't have a 30 yard pin. The 20 and 40 yard pins are so close that there is not room. So I guess at the distances inbetween. It works very well because it shoots so flat! There are no sights on my longbow or recurve. You guess at arrow angle or where the point is at full draw. Also, the compound and recurve both allow for a center shot through the middle point of the bow. What this means is that the when you release an arrow, the shaft passes through the center line of the limbs. The arrow can be more stiff, or heavier spined. I shoot the compound with a release and a stiff arrow. This puts the least disturbance on the arrow when shot and increases accuracy. With the recurve, I shoot fingers. The string is disturbed as it rolls off of my fingers, this tends to impart to the arrow and shows up as some tail wagging as the arrow leaves the bow. The fletching brings it back on line. This roll is quickly controled. With the longbow, there is no center shot, the arrow actually flexs around the handle when shot. If not, then the arrow hits way to the left. Stiff arrows tend to shoot left. In the old day, the arrow was shot off of the top of the hand, and had to flex totally around the handle part of the bow. Maybe an inch to the left of the center line of the limbs... (or right, depending on which hand you shoot with!) So, the arrow had to flex a lot. Many longbows now have a shelf on them, this is as much to keep the fletching from cutting in to your hand when you shoot the bow as give some relief to the flex required. One last thought, the longbow is typically shot while canted to one side. This puts the arrow flex along the Y axis, which is good since you are dealing with up and down anyway. A compound or recurve with sights is usually held straight up and down along the Y axis. The arrow suffers no center shot offset therefore no canting of the bow is required. Accuracy wise, a compound with a release, you have to be a bit carefull of not shooting your arrows at 20 yards. With a longbow, unless you are Howard Hill, probably not a huge consern! I've hit tenis balls at 60 yards with my compound, three in a row my best day. With the longbow, I can hit one once in a while at 20 yards! Draw length is very consistant with a modern compound. They use clickers on recurves. You draw the same length, hold the same, you hit the same spot every time. Shooting a longbow (or sightless recurve) is a bit more of guess and a prayer!

That should give you something to chew on, and think about as you do your research. I suggest you shoot all three, and see for yourself. If I have led you astray in any way, it was not intentional! Good luck!

[FlyinCedar]

It all sounds good to me....I don't think my input is really required on this one Elk...

[elk4me]

Thanks alot guys I had a hard time sifting and filtering thru the info. great stuff. I have got the speech prepared and a Awsome handout too . I have a longbow ,recurve and of course the BlackKnight 2 for visiual aid's. The speech will be done tomorrow 3/23/06 at aprox 11 am MST wish me luck

[flatbowMB]

Good luck! Let us know how it all goes!