2013 Plans

[vtsnowedin]

I would give the Scots my portion of the Haggis on Burn's night but would be glad to have any of the "Ladies from Hell" on left or right flank when faced with a formidable opponent.

[kenneal - lagger]

..........

I must admit, though, I'm thinking of a crossbow as I get older because of the strength issue of having to hold the tensioned bow steady. With a crossbow, even if it is a manual draw, once notched, it holds itself steady till the trigger is pulled.

Just need to find a buyer for the bow.

You don't hold a long bow tensioned. The traditional long bow had a draw weight of 120 to 150 lbs and it couldn't be held, even by a man who had been practising daily since he was a child. It was a question of take aim, draw and loose in one go. That's how English bowmen could get three or four arrows off in a minute: but they were still aimed shots.

A bowman will "kiss" the string when taking aim with a modern bow but a longbow is pulled back to the ear and released immediately.

[vtsnowedin]

..........

I must admit, though, I'm thinking of a crossbow as I get older because of the strength issue of having to hold the tensioned bow steady. With a crossbow, even if it is a manual draw, once notched, it holds itself steady till the trigger is pulled.

Just need to find a buyer for the bow.

You don't hold a long bow tensioned. The traditional long bow had a draw weight of 120 to 150 lbs and it couldn't be held, even by a man who had been practising daily since he was a child. It was a question of take aim, draw and loose in one go. That's how English bowmen could get three or four arrows off in a minute: but they were still aimed shots.

A bowman will "kiss" the string when taking aim with a modern bow but a longbow is pulled back to the ear and released immediately.

Sounds plausible but I expect it is much easier to do on a PC keyboard then it is to do on an archery range. Have you ever tried it?

[Catweazle]

Old style longbows did have huge draw weights, but that doesn't mean they were more powerful than a modern bow. Arrow speed is an important factor, and that is governed by the recovery rate of the bow, not just the draw weight.

The first composite bows were made centuries ago from laminated strips of sawn animal horn and sinew, a real step forward and genius. They had a good recovery rate and were light enough, and small enough, to be used from horseback.

[Little John]

..........

I must admit, though, I'm thinking of a crossbow as I get older because of the strength issue of having to hold the tensioned bow steady. With a crossbow, even if it is a manual draw, once notched, it holds itself steady till the trigger is pulled.

Just need to find a buyer for the bow.

You don't hold a long bow tensioned. The traditional long bow had a draw weight of 120 to 150 lbs and it couldn't be held, even by a man who had been practising daily since he was a child. It was a question of take aim, draw and loose in one go. That's how English bowmen could get three or four arrows off in a minute: but they were still aimed shots.

A bowman will "kiss" the string when taking aim with a modern bow but a longbow is pulled back to the ear and released immediately.

You do hold a recurve (and, I suspect, a longbow) bow tensioned, though, if you wish to attain any significant degree of accuracy. The long bow, in the context of armed conflict between large numbers of men was never intended to be a particularly accurate weapon. It relied, instead, on many men firing a huge volume of arrows in a given direction. That's because it was a weapon of warfare. Using a bow for stealthy game hunting or for target sports is an entirely different matter. That requires pinpoint accuracy and that will not be easily achieved by drawing and letting fly in one motion. Of course, though, there is a balance to be drawn. Holding too long also reduces accuracy due to fatigue.

I speak from personal experience as well as the experience of fellow bowmen

[vtsnowedin]

My first compound bow came to me as a Christmas present some twenty five years ago. Simple by todays standards it was a "Bear" Blacktail stalker" had round cams and a 50% let off and about a 60 lb. pull. No aluminum arrows came with it but I had one cedar shaft with broad head left from hunting with a recurve bow. Armed with that I stepped out on the porch took aim at the broad side of my barn some fifty yards away and let fly expecting the arrow to hit the ground somewhat short of the barn based on re curve experience. The arrow flew much flatter then I expected and struck the barn just under the eves and drove through a 100 year old barn board then lodged threads deep in a hand hewn wooden beam. The cedar shaft wasn't up to the shock and shattered all the way back to the feathers. I later learned that I could hole the side of a steel drum with cone shaped steel practice points on aluminum arrows. I still have that bow. I should get it tuned up and a dozen carbon fiber arrows, add a peep sight in the string then practice to proficiency with it.

[JavaScriptDonkey]

I was also taught to pull back so that the base of the thumb brushed my ear and then loose.

All in one.....nock then draw by using both arms, radius below the target and lift up in time with your breath and loose....one fluid movement that is poetry to watch a master do.

[featherstick]

My most accurate nock point is when the cock feather tickles the end of my nose. I'm scunnered if I ever start using different arrows!

[Little John]

I was also taught to pull back so that the base of the thumb brushed my ear and then loose.

All in one.....nock then draw by using both arms, radius below the target and lift up in time with your breath and loose....one fluid movement that is poetry to watch a master do.

It is true enough that the less time held in tension the better. But, when one is attempting to accurately pinpoint a target, to not spend any time in tension at all is not feasible in my experience. Of course, there may be master bowmen of extraordinary talent who can both draw and release in a single, swift, uninterrupted motion and be simultaneously highly accurate. He/she, though, is not going to be representative of normal people

[vtsnowedin]

What I was taught was the full draw position had your left arm fully extended and the middle finger of the right hand pulled back to the corner of your lips with the string held by three fingers, two below and one above the arrows nock. This put your right eye in line down the shaft of the arrow from knock to arrow head to target. If you have a long bow etc. which is hard to hold you would not draw it until the target was in position and after you drew the bow to full draw the less time you spent getting the sight picture right before you released the arrow the better. Today most archery hunters use an arrow release that takes the place of the fingers and has a trigger that works faster and more uniformly then you can snap forward three fingers. With practice an observer would think the long bow was just pulled to full draw and immediately released but in reality it was drawn and placed on target within a split second and then released.

[JavaScriptDonkey]

It's probably similar to the difference between using a shotgun and a rifle.

With shotguns it's a case of picking up the target, mentally plotting its arc, mounting the gun, swinging through and firing......very little aiming goes on at all and sight picture memory rules.

With rifles much more time is spent squinting at the target but then as already mentioned there is a difference in expected accuracy.

[UndercoverElephant]

2013 is going to involve lots of planning for me. After an insane two year legal battle (and I mean it defies belief) I am finally about to inherit about £100K. I have a small amount of savings, and I've decided to move to Hastings, which is the only place within 50 miles of Brighton where one can buy a 3 bedroom house with a decent sized garden for less than £110K (would cost me almost twice this in Brighton.)

The two I'm looking at tomorrow both have blank slates for gardens, so I'm going to have to design the whole thing - polytunnel, fruit cage, veg plot, chickens, bees, pond and a victoria plum tree!

I'm going to be asking for a lot of advice on here, I expect.

[extractorfan]

2013 is going to involve lots of planning for me. After an insane two year legal battle (and I mean it defies belief) I am finally about to inherit about £100K. I have a small amount of savings, and I've decided to move to Hastings, which is the only place within 50 miles of Brighton where one can buy a 3 bedroom house with a decent sized garden for less than £110K (would cost me almost twice this in Brighton.)

The two I'm looking at tomorrow both have blank slates for gardens, so I'm going to have to design the whole thing - polytunnel, fruit cage, veg plot, chickens, bees, pond and a victoria plum tree!

I'm going to be asking for a lot of advice on here, I expect.

Superb!

[emordnilap]

Great news UE, the best of luck to you.

[biffvernon]

A really interesting project, quite a challenge, would be to see how many fungi could be established in one garden.