cold fatigue?

[fishfinder401]

i was just wondering if the cold has anything to do with either your strength and or endurance when shooting a heavy warbow, as i was shooting today in which the temp was much lower than it has been recently and i noticed that i became fatigued much quicker than for instance when i shot that video last week which was a warm day.
im just curious if this was a coincidence or something that is normal
thanks
noel

[Amatol]

my 2 cent...As it gets colder the bow getīs heavyer. Cold weather usualy makes the air dryer and hence the bow increases in draw-weight.
As I live in a rather cold area, I some times have to put the tools down and just wait for the weather to get warmer, as tillering a bow gets hazardous...
Hope this helps.

Sorry for any spelling errors....long time since school...
 

Lars.

[Ringeck85]

Yeah I remember that too, both with archery and with sword practice with a wooden sword.  When it's colder out, the wood literally feels denser and heavier (I don't know how much it actually is, but it is noticeable how much heavier a stave is when it's cold and dry versus warm and humid).  Also, your body's probably focused on staying warm, so naturally your energy is going to feel sapped sooner than normal.  So, the bow is heavier (or feels that way, can anyone chime in on the science behind this?), and you get tired faster as well.

That just gives you more of a challenge in your workout though Embrace it and feel the burn!

[criveraville]

Ringeck85 since you asked for someone to chime in I will post what little I know

The law of conservation of mass states that matter is neither created or destroyed. So if your bow is properly sealed it will not gain any noticeable "matter" IMO.

As far as the cold that may have more to do with it than the actual weight. When we get cold our body in an attempt to maintain proper body temperature circulates more in in your trunk where the vital organs are. Because of the lack of optimal blood flow to your extremities your arms tend to weeken sooner and objects "appear" to weigh more.

Cipriano

[fishfinder401]

that makes sense, especially since it was around 30ish, and i was in shorts and a t shirt

[mikekeswick]

When things get cold they get stiffer. Your bow may well have gained a little weight through this effect.

[adb]

Wood does not become heavier with colder temps, but it does become more brittle. Don't forget, finished bows still contain up to 10% moisture., and we all know what happens to water when it freezes. For this reason, I don't shoot any of my wood bows below freezing temps.

Noel, I think if you want to shoot heavy bows when it's cold, you should probably dress appropriately if you want your muscles to work properly.

[mullet]

 I've had bows blow up when our temperatures drop a lot fast. Just last week our temperature went from the 80's to the high 30's. Humidity in the high % range 80, down to 50% overnite. I was just warming up a hickory/boo bow that was almost finished when the top limb blew apart. Had the same thing happen to a yew bow and a bamboo/osage I had shot 4 targets with before it blew on a cold morning.

[fishfinder401]

i guess i shouldn't do any warbow shooting when its really cold

[JW_Halverson]

Wood does not become heavier with colder temps, but it does become more brittle. Don't forget, finished bows still contain up to 10% moisture., and we all know what happens to water when it freezes. For this reason, I don't shoot any of my wood bows below freezing temps.

Noel, I think if you want to shoot heavy bows when it's cold, you should probably dress appropriately if you want your muscles to work properly.

I built an osage bow for a fellow that lives up in Noatak Alaska (I had to Google it, wow, it's waaay up north).  He was going stir crazy one day and went out and shot the bow at -57 F.  He says he lasted about half an hour and before he was done half a dozen kids came out to watch what the crazy white guy was doing. 

Your mileage may vary.

[criveraville]

Yes amigo. Put a coat on. Eddie is right too. The colder it is the less the woo is limber and flexible. Chemistry again... Molecules move at a much lower speed at colder temps which could explain otherwise good working bows breaking and blowing up when the weather changes drastically.

Cipriano

[ChrisD]

Wood isn't the only thing that stiffens up in the cold - so do your muscles.

In the winter, most people wear more clothes which limits movement and adds effort to drawing up a bow. Your muscles rely on chemistry too - and being slower to warm up up in the winter, they won't work so well. If you don't warm up and wear little clothing - you'll stiffen up so much quicker. You'll also be more likely to injure yourself.

C

[Jude]

I've had a lot of experience exercising in the cold and I can tell you that it's important to warm up your muscles and keep them warm.  At 30-40 F quite a few guys in the Army will run in shorts, with their jackets on.  I always preferred to run with the pants on and shed the jacket, as that kept my legs warm and allowed me to run faster.  In Alaska we ran outside as long as the temps were -25 F or above, so there were quite a few precautions we needed to take up there to keep from injuring ourselves.

Mullet, I'm surprised you had a hickory bow blow up like that on you.  I've used mine well below freezing in Alaska and New York.  Might be it had a higher than optimal moisture content and didn't like the sudden drop to below freezing.  I had two of my older hickory bows fail in compression last spring, after being stored in my unheated garage all winter.  I attributed that to the high humidity of upstate NY, since they both did fine in AK, regardless of the weather.  We started storing our bows in the house after that, and in humid weather I like warm them up with a heat gun and regrease them often to avoid them taking set.  I want to build a big hotbox that fits all our bows on a rack inside.  Might make it solar powered, with a backup heater on a thermostat, just to save on my power bill.

Julian