World Of Swords

People have been practicing archery for a minimum of four thousand years, but almost certainly for a lot longer than that. Parts of composite recurve bows have been found dating back to the second millennium BC, but the parts that were found were the non-wooden, composite parts, typically of horn.

The wooden parts usually rotted away thousands of years previously, but a wooden longbow from the same era was discovered in Somerset. Presumably, people had been using all wooden, single section bows long before they started constructing complex composite recurve bows.

The skillfulness of archery has always fascinated mankind and, despite the fact that guns have made archery outmoded, it still fascinates people today, although nowadays archery is almost exclusively used for sporting purposes. It is a thriving sport and hobby and is the national sport of the Kingdom of Bhutan.

If you are interested in practising archery, you will first have to make your mind up which type of bow you prefer. Among other varieties, there are the longbow, recurve bow, reflex and decurve bows, deflex bow, pyramid bow and crossbow.

To a certain degree, the arrows are not intercompatible either. For instance, a longbow can cast a three foot, heavy-gauge arrow, whereas a crossbow shoots a six inch bolt. The bows also had distinctive uses although there was a certain amount of common ground.

For instance, longbows were the heavy, rapid-firing artillery of their day, being able to lob a heavy, armour-piercing arrow hundreds of yards; whereas a short recurve bow was perfect for attack from horseback. Crossbows took less skill to operate but were slower than a bow.

There are diverse kinds of arrow too. Historically, arrows were made of wood with a sharp metal tip, but these days arrows can be made of aluminium or carbon fibre. The arrowheads are different for different applications as well. A simple brass tip is sufficient for everyday shooting whereas a ferocious, slashing broadhead is used for killing.

The majority of people who take archery seriously use carbon fibre arrows these days which is the typical arrow shaft in use at the Olympic games. The flights are usually of bird feathers and are used to stabilize the arrow in flight to minimize wobble. Plastic flights are also available as they are less susceptible to damage.

The Welsh (and English) longbow was perhaps the most powerful hand bow extensively used. These longbows were typically six feet or more in length and made of one piece of seasoned yew (or other woods). The draw weight of a Welsh longbow at the time of Henry VIII was between 160 -180 lbf and that would cast a heavy three ounce arrow up to about 280 yards.

An explanation of the damage that one of these arrows could inflict was given by Gerald of Wales in the 12th century:

"... in the war against the Welsh, one of the men of arms was struck by an arrow shot at him by a Welshman. It went right through his thigh, high up, where it was protected inside and outside the leg by his iron cuirasses, and then through the skirt of his leather tunic; next it penetrated that part of the saddle which is called the alva or seat; and finally it lodged in his horse, driving so deep that it killed the animal".

It took years of practice to draw and shoot one of these longbows bows accurately.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on various subjects, but is currently involved with archery recurve bows. If you would like to know more or for special offers, please go to our website at Kids Archery Set.

Tags: recurve bows

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