Classification Madness

[E. Jensen]

Recently I've seen a PVC bow called a "norse bow", a laminate recurve called a "longbow", the same bow also called a "plains bow", my pyramid board flat bow has been called a "longbow", bamboo backed hickory called a "selfbow" and on and on and on.  Is there any method to this madness?

[JonW]

I only use distinctions when trying to do a historical replication. It matters a lot to some to some not much.

[E. Jensen]

And I mean how long does a bow have to be to be a longbow?  I made an "english long bow" yew bow with horn nocks, but its 63".  63" isnt what I'd call long, even though it is ELB style

[Pat B]

Bows used to be designated either longbows or recurves. I guess any bow that has straight tips would be considered a longbow. If the string touches the limb below the string nock it would be considered a recurve.
 A bamboo backed anything would be a backed bow but it can be a longbow or recurve. An ELB style longbow would be longer but a shorter version would still be considered a long bow, just not an ELB.