Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: colejack3 on August 13, 2010, 01:17:45 pm
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Which one do you guys use?
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depends on the type of bow i am building. if im building a selfbow then i add a floppy rest, which isnt really much of a rest at all more of a "dont have to worry about fletchings going through your hand". if im building a bow for say my sister, cousin or any other new shooter i add a shelf. it gives them one less thing to have to deal with while learning good form. sometimes i will build a rest into a laminate, however im more likely to build it off of the handle with layers of leather and superglue, or wood rather than cutting into the handle.
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I use leather rests and off my hand too. If you are going to shoot off your hand be sure you skyve the leading edges of the fletching. I also wrap the feather front and bak and through so I really don't shoot off my hand. :) Jawge
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I shoot off the hand, and if I'm gonna shoot more than a handful of arrows, I wear a fingerless glove to avoid feather splinters.
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Cool I have been shooting off the hand and all the "traditional archers" at the bow range say that bows are no good with out a rest. Thanks guys I thhink ill stick with my hand
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Don't ya just love the way people will generalise some thing, like "trad archery", into their own, sometimes narrow point of view. Shoot what ya want, how ya want and leave others be.
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Being from the UK I shoot off the hand as that's the longbow tradition, it also seems more 'primitive' to me.
I don't think any native bows have arrow rests do they?
Mind if I was making an AFB I'd do it with a rest.
(I generally use a fingerless leather glove on my bow hand)
Del
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Shoot what ya want, how ya want and leave others be.
couldn't have said it better
rich
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I use a small glued on leather shelf. Lets you be lazy about the grip on the bow :D
Off the hand is equally effective though. Hill shot that way, and your buddies from the range would be able to shoot half that well ;)
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Thanks everybody! I agree that shooting fiberglass bows is hardly traditional... Kegan could you please explain how you make the leather arrow rest? Thanks
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Off the hand (finger).....only way.
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im using a floppy rest as of now. I like it ;D
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However you feel comfortable, it doesn't matter what everyone else thinks. ;) I like shooting with a rest.
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I use two or three small pieces of thick top grain leather. I glue them together, adn then glue them onto the side of the handle, where I want the arrow to go. Serves as much for a locator as an arrow rest, since I cut them so low. When the glue dries, I carve the bottom down so my hand slides up snug, and round the top for less arrow contact.
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In the beginning, I always put on a shelf or rest (like walkabout said, one less thing to worry about), but the last couple of bows didn't have them, one for someone who wanted to shoot off the hand, the other for me and I just never got around to fitting the rest. To tell the truth, I think I prefer off the hand now.
Frode
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I'm a restless shooter, too. My mentor gave me the choice when I was building the first bow, and I went the simplest way I could. He showed me some tricks to help me put my hand in the same spot on the grip each time, eliminating another of the uncountable variables. To this day when I finish a bow, I add something to the grip to help me hit the same grip time after time.
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I use a leather rest. I use a real thin leather strip about 1/2 inch wide and about 3 1/2 inches long. I fold it in half and glue the middle then back fold each end as tabs to glue or wrap to the bow.
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Wrapping the front of the fletch sure helps from getting fletched hand syndrome ;D
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"To rest or not to rest, that is the question." When I have a bow nearly completed, but not yet finish, but to the shooting/testing phase, I shoot off my hand, because I haven't put an arrow rest on the bow yet. I don't really think about it one way or the other. I just do it. I enjoy shooting the bow this way. So I guess I like shooting off my hand. I do find myself "thinking" about hand placement on the handle more. So, an arrow rest of some sort would eliminated that issue. But, as some have responded there are othe ways to make sure your hand is in the same position each time you shoot.
The real reason and advantage I see to an arrow rest because I make all my bows with the intent to hunt with them is to keep the arrow steady when you're NOT shooting. In a deer stand, in a tree or on the ground, I often find a need to set the bow down or lean it against a tree. Without a rest the arrow slides down the bow, maybe releasing from the string and falling. Either way the arrow is going to make noise doing this. With an arrow rest I can just lean the bow against a tree while reaching in a pockets for a snack, getting a drink, grabbing my grunt call to coax a deer closer... An arrow rest give more freedom of movement without creating more noise and more movement. So, I find them to be very practical.
Most of the time I do as Kegan suggested, glue a little triangular piece(s) of leater to handle which is covered by the leather handle wrap: effective and not obtrusive to the eye.
Here' the handle of a bow I'm almost completed for a friend. I think the handle is too pretty to put leather around it. But, my friend is a newby and a hunte so it needed an arrow rest. But, I thought a triangle of leather glued to the side of the bow would look ugly. Here's what I came up with as a combination strike plate, arrow rest. It took me two attempts to match it up to the curve in the handle and about 6 hours, but I think it looks pretty good.
[attachment deleted by admin]
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Ahhh, I like that bone arrow rest idea. Great combo of primitive material and modern design.
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If I ever find a need for an arrow rest I will use one.
That's a nice looking handle, Dave. Can't wait to see the rest of the bow. ;D
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So what are some ways to grip the bow at the same spot everytime without gluing anything too the bow? Thanks
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I only own one Bow with a rest....and the Blank was given to Me a s a Gift...otherwise it would be restless too............ ;)
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I shoot bare handed also (bow and string) I usually file a bowyers mark on the "ungripped" bows or skive a mark into the grip material if the bow gets some of that.
rich
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I don't know what it is, but I shoot better off the hand than I do off a rest. Just my personal experience and the only advice along those lines I can give is to wear a glove to prevent a fletching injury. Seems no matter how much I effort I put into the fletchings,it is still better to wear protection. Okay that sounded a little too much like a safe sex ad..., oh well. :D
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I use both.
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Thanks Prof and gmc.
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I just bring the leather wrap up to where the arrow sits, simple and works for me
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I shoot off the hand, and if I'm gonna shoot more than a handful of arrows, I wear a fingerless glove to avoid feather splinters.
Ken, if that is necessary other than on cooooooold dry winterdays, something is wrong with either nockpoint placement and/or feather quill gluing/wrapping. I shoot 120 to 150 arrows per practice round and you won't be able to tell from the skin of my left hand. And so it will be with any of my bows.
I have shot bows with arrow rests only a few times, and I don't like it. It's like missing the best part to me...
JMO.
PS: A little leather thingy for consistant arrow placement (a locater) I do have on some of my bows, and that is very useful; I make these bigger sometimes to help the beginning archers.