Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: misfitxnet on June 16, 2009, 06:42:56 pm
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Does anyone have any preference towards bows with arrowrests?
Is an English Longbow only considered an English Longbow if it has no arrow rest?
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Can't answer the question about english longbow style, but i sometimes shoot without an arrowrest.
What i did, was add an arrow-PASS to the bow, so that i could shoot with consistency. I made 2 bows like this, actually, but i made a big mistake with one of them: I drilled too deeply into a SLIGHTLY bendy-handled bow. It was my son's bow. When he shot up 6 inches and his arms got longer, the drew the thing to his chin and it broke. LOL
nobody got hurt...
but you could...
you could also just indicate a spot in some other way. For example, my yew holmegaard (wherever it is!) had a knot in a place in the handle, where i was able to clean it out, fill it with epoxy, and use it as an arrow-pass...
wear thin gloves...
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A true English longbow would have no arrow rest-it's shot off the knuckle. I put leather glue-on or floppy rests on some of my bows, and some I shoot off the hand.
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I make a lot of my bows with either a glue on rest or a cut in, center shot rest on the laminated bows. But I'm more accurate and love the simplicity of shooting off the knuckle. I just have to wear a glove to do it now. After an arrow came apart the skin is too sensitive.
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Though I make almost all my bows fro shooting off the knuckle, I recently put a small leather shelf onto two I'm working on as they're both shorter than I'm used to and I figured I needed all the help I could get for accuracy. However, in taking the shorter one stumping yesterday, I realized that it also made shooting for spit a bit easier, as the sfot leather was already close to my hand, but if I moved it wouldn't need adjusting before I began to draw. Go figure :).
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I shoot both with an antler burr glued on for a rest. Make sure your fletching is smooth and tight to the shaft or you'll cut your knuckles, just ask El Destructo aka "bloody knuckles".
Tracy
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I shoot bows both with and without shelves. I find that I am a bit more accurate which bows that have shelves. That being said I prefer to shoot without a shelf. I love the history of the bow and shooting without a shelf seems to appeal to me more.