Robin Hood

[JeremiahVires]

The way I see it, there's no point talking about how he was a myth, a half myth or a real person.  We don't have any hard facts.  What I'm asking is what do YOU guys think he was.  What do YOU think his equipment was?

Anyways...  I don't see robin hood having a really heavy bow, because remember, he was a very good shot (to the point where if you were to shoot an arrow and completely split it, you robin hooded the arrow) and I don't think many people can shoot a heavy bow accuratley.  But then again, back then, that was normal.  But I think that maybe he would have used the lowest weight you can do and still have it called a warbow? 
And shooting in the forests may or may not hinder your ability to shoot, it just matters where you are.

[JeremiahVires]

And I think that he could not have used an asaitic recurve, being that it is very reliant on hide glue.  And, as we all know, hide glue doesn't like water.  England gets alot of rain.  ALOT of it.

[WillS]

Out of interest, why do you think he would have called it a warbow?  When you consider that a "warbow" was a military-issued rocket launcher designed to send massive arrows a long way, what use is that in a forest?

I always saw Robin Hood as a sneaky, silent, quick and deadly ambush hunter.  Primarily hunting animals, occasionally getting into scrapes with lightly armoured patrol units/rangers. 

There was a fairly poorly made BBC show about Robin Hood released a couple of years ago.  I'm sure you can get it online somewhere, but it shows Robin Hood (played by Jonas Armstrong) using a lovely little Asiatic style recurve.  Here's a pic or two







That looks right to me.  And it being the latest (as far as I'm aware) production of Robin Hood, I would imagine all the latest research has been used for it. 

P.S. You guys need to actually come to England before saying it's very wet.  We get some rain, yes.  So does the rest of the world.  It's a bit of a myth that we live in a constant state of being underwater 

[JeremiahVires]

 
I may have to do that some day, WillS.  Come down there and get me some of that nice english yew you guys got!  Hope you people keep an eye on your forests though.  I may take it all!   

Do you guys happen to know the first book ever written about Sir Robin Hood?

[WillS]

I don't know the book, no.

You'll be here for a long time before you find English yew good enough for bows mate! If it was easy to find I wouldn't be using ash now 

[JeremiahVires]

 
I live in the midwest of the US, so... No yew here at all.  We have Osage, I guess, but I've never seen it anywhere but fenceposts 

[Marks]

WillS, didn't they film Waterworld in downtown London?

[JeremiahVires]

Hahahahaha!

[WillS]

WillS, didn't they film Waterworld in downtown London?

Dammit. 

[darodalaf]

The evidence that crusaders brought back, adapted, adopted, or otherwise imitated Asiatic bows is, as far as I know, zilch. On the other hand, the vast majority of what we consider western musical string instruments from violins to guitars are indeed an import from that place and time. From that, one could conclude that the conditions for preservation of information on period bows is reasonably complete enough to say that post-Crusade Englishmen used longbows and not any sort of composite Asiatic style bows.

tl;dr There is a lot of evidence of what Crusaders brought back from the Near East. Asiatic bows are not present in any of that evidence.

Also, the Robin Hood television program certainly did not use the latest research on material culture any more than the latest Viking program has. Nevertheless, that bow is hot as hell!

[JeremiahVires]

That's the jist of what I was thinking Darodalaf.
But then there's the weight of the bow, since A: It HAS to be light enough to be able to shoot accuratley and, B: Has to be heavy enough to pierce through chainmail with a bodkin tipped arrow.
What's the happy medium between these two?
So far, I've settled on making a ash bow (If I can find a good piece) with dog rawhide on the back. 
I'm also going to be making a dozen razor broadheads, and a few bodkin tipped arrows, as I'm assuming that Robin Hood would have likely done that, being that he was a hunter/gatherer.

And lets refer to Robin Hood as though he was real?  There's no point saying he may or may not have been real.  So lets just say that he was a extremely skilled archer outlaw, because there were likely many of those...

[Marks]

WillS, didn't they film Waterworld in downtown London?

Dammit. 

I can't say much. Here in Alabama it has been raining constant lately. The river is flooded and everything is completely saturated. I'm getting tired of it. Supposed to rain again this weekend.
A quick Google search shows us in Alabama getting 58.28" on Average while London pulls a soaking 25.6".  Wait.......I guess we win!!

 Now back to Robinhood. Are you gonna wear tights when you get this bow made?

[JeremiahVires]

Hell yeah I will!

[JeremiahVires]

I'm sitting here thinking this:
"You should TOTALLY make a green contruction paper hat!  And just put a turkey feather in it and BAM!  Robin Hood."

[JW_Halverson]

And it being the latest (as far as I'm aware) production of Robin Hood, I would imagine all the latest research has been used for it. 

There is an  award winning documentary made by a German film company that explodes the myths of what really happened when European culture interacted with North American cultures.  In the documentary you will see several adult Lakota teaching a Lakota youth how to shoot a bow.  The setting is the 1600's representing Jamestown Colony.  The bow is an amalgam of eastern woodlands designs in hickory with a Dacron b-50 string. The "father" draws the bow in a classic Mediterranean three finger/split finger draw, but with the arrow on the wrong side of the bow (UNCOUNTED takes before he got it drawn without the arrow falling off his hand).  Off camera is the production company's armorer/bowyer desperately trying to coach the poor Native American that has never shot a bow before that morning.  But the director is not having any of it because what does Whitey know about Native American archery? *sigh* At least I got paid for the day. 

Even in our enlightened times, never let the facts get in the way of what you already "know"! 

My favorite Robin Hood film is still "Men In Tights".  At least someone with a real English accent finally got to play Robin!