High gear/low gear

[DC]

I've been reading this old thread https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/paleoplanet69529/a-quick-study-of-the-stiff-limbed-hickman-thought--t16901.html  that PatM gave me a link to. It talks a lot about high low gear bows. I understand the concept, I think, but can someone tell me about the hardware. What are the physical differences between the two?

[DC]

I think maybe Alan is explaining at least some of it in this thread https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/paleoplanet69529/longbow-airbow-virtual-build-along-t16569.html

I'm still reading it.

[DC]

I've finished reading. Interesting stuff. Now what is a high gear bow and what is a low gear bow?

[PatM]

You find lots of gearing info on other threads on that forum.  There was some debate as to whether gearing truly exists. 

[DC]

I've bookmarked it and am slowly reading my way through it. It hasn't been very active in the last 2 years. As a ratio between tip movement and nock movement I would say it exists but whether it's of any use, I dunno.

[PatM]

Dan Perry is adamant that it does.  Tim Baker  does not believe it does.    Dan has or had all the records though.

[loefflerchuck]

high gear bow bends more near the handle and less at the tips. Low gear is more "whip ended". Think about leverage. Tip bending is not maximising the length of a bow unless it's really short. More bending near the handle and less in the tips= more leverage and power delivered to the arrow.

[DC]

Thanks Chuck, I've had a few thoughts about what might change the gearing but that wasn't one of them. It is now

[Woodely]

And who used the analogy of high low gear.  Kind of silly I think.. 

[sleek]

Dc, gearing is why i was saying you want the fades to bend only in the last 3 inches of draw on your bow you just made. Last to bend is first to straighten on release. The inner part of the bow is all torque, and the outter limbs is all horsepower. It takes torque to get a car off the line, it takes HP to get it there quick. So ideally,  on release, you want the limbs to lool like they are doing the wave, starting at the fades and moving toward the tips.  The inner third gets the arrow moving, mid limb is mid range, and outter is top end red line.

[sleek]

And who used the analogy of high low gear.  Kind of silly I think.. 

Makes perfect sense to me... but, im a car guy.

[DC]

Dc, gearing is why i was saying you want the fades to bend only in the last 3 inches of draw on your bow you just made. Last to bend is first to straighten on release. The inner part of the bow is all torque, and the outter limbs is all horsepower. It takes torque to get a car off the line, it takes HP to get it there quick. So ideally,  on release, you want the limbs to lool like they are doing the wave, starting at the fades and moving toward the tips.  The inner third gets the arrow moving, mid limb is mid range, and outter is top end red line.

I'm not sure about last to bend, first to straighten. When you pull a bow, even just an inch or so, the whole limb bends. The outers bend more, of course, but the inners bend too. Same on release, I think, the bow doesn't unwind, it all starts to move at the same time. I'm not so sure if it finishes at the same time

[sleek]

Dc, gearing is why i was saying you want the fades to bend only in the last 3 inches of draw on your bow you just made. Last to bend is first to straighten on release. The inner part of the bow is all torque, and the outter limbs is all horsepower. It takes torque to get a car off the line, it takes HP to get it there quick. So ideally,  on release, you want the limbs to lool like they are doing the wave, starting at the fades and moving toward the tips.  The inner third gets the arrow moving, mid limb is mid range, and outter is top end red line.

I'm not sure about last to bend, first to straighten. When you pull a bow, even just an inch or so, the whole limb bends. The outers bend more, of course, but the inners bend too. Same on release, I think, the bow doesn't unwind, it all starts to move at the same time. I'm not so sure if it finishes at the same time

The arrow keeps a load on the bow limbs, keeping them from sprining loos all at once. The heavier the arrow the more effecient and thays why.

[DC]

And who used the analogy of high low gear.  Kind of silly I think.. 

[DC]

And who used the analogy of high low gear.  Kind of silly I think.. 

This is all my take on this so far, opinions will vary.
If you accept that the nock can move differently than the bow tips. Say at the beginning of the draw the string moves 5" for every 1" that the tips move but at the end of the draw the string moves 2" for every 1" the tips move. (I picked the numbers out of the air) That's a 5:1 ratio and a 2:1 ratio. It's not a real stretch to compare that with changing gears in a car. Some bows will be closer to 5:1 through the whole draw-- a low gear bow, and some will be closer to 2:1 through the whole draw-- a high gear bow. I think I would have chosen "high ratio bow" rather than "high gear bow" but that's just semantics.
Oh, I don't know who chose to use that term to answer your question