Recurve Bow
A recurve bow has tips that curve away from the archer when the bow is unstrung. By one technical definition, the difference between recurve and other bows is that the string touches sections of the limbs of recurve bows when the bow is strung. A recurve bow stores more energy than an equivalent straight-limbed bow, potentially giving a greater amount of cast to the arrow. A recurve will permit a shorter bow than the simple bow for a given arrow energy and this form was often preferred by archers in environments where long weapons could be cumbersome, such as in brush and forest terrain, or while on horseback. By contrast, the traditional straight longbow tends to "stack"—that is, the required draw force increases more rapidly per unit of draw length as the string is drawn back.
Recurved limbs also put greater strain on the materials used to make the bow, and they may make more noise with the shot. Extreme recurve may make the bow unstable when being strung. An unstrung recurve bow can have a confusing shape and many Native American weapons, when separated from their original owners and cultures, were incorrectly strung backwards and destroyed when attempts were made to shoot them
Recurved limbs also put greater strain on the materials used to make the bow, and they may make more noise with the shot. Extreme recurve may make the bow unstable when being strung. An unstrung recurve bow can have a confusing shape and many Native American weapons, when separated from their original owners and cultures, were incorrectly strung backwards and destroyed when attempts were made to shoot them
One piece recurve
Takedown Recurve
Longbow
The longbow was first accepted as a formal military weapon in 1252. The longbow has a very narrow limb and a thick core. The longbow is extremely stable and can be easily shot when canted or tilted. These bows can be made to shoot varying draw weights and are surprisingly fast shooters. Longbows are light in weight and generally hand made. They are shot without sights.
Longbows were not as elaborate as other weapons of the time, especially those commonly used by the wealthier members of society such as the nobles. Swords, axes, shields &c. were built to last, and were often elaborately decorated. An archer, on the other hand, would generally work through several bows during his life, and at most may have painted his bow, or attached some carved nocks to keep the bowstring in place. Younger archers were usually more likely to decorate their bows than were the grizzled veterans, and occasionally a wealthier archer would have some extra armor, or maybe even a full set of armor, but his bow was never significantly fancier then the rest.
A longbow was usually full of knots and bends. A great deal of patience had to be put into tapering these imperfections to produce a usable bow. Every knot and knobble had to be either followed carefully to eliminate weak spots, or ‘raised’ without causing any weakening of the bow. Although the longbow was a work of great artistry, it had none of the frills that you might see on a crossbow, with a complicated mechanism to fire the arrow, a fancy grip, and a fancy arrow-plate to prevent the arrow from wearing a groove.
Longbows were generally self-nocking, meaning that the nocks for the string were an integral part of the bow. Some of the fancier bows had horn or ivory nocks fastened to the end, but otherwise the nock was part of the wood of the bow. The bowstrings were generally made of good quality flax or linen, and were impregnated with beeswax to repel rain and dew. “The bowman would watch his string carefully and if it showed signs of fraying, especially at the loops, he scrapped it before it broke. With a good yew bow, a broken string often meant a broken bow. Spare strings were always carefully broken in at practice - a new string never shot at first in the same way as the old one; archers were required to carry two spare bowstrings.
Longbows were not as elaborate as other weapons of the time, especially those commonly used by the wealthier members of society such as the nobles. Swords, axes, shields &c. were built to last, and were often elaborately decorated. An archer, on the other hand, would generally work through several bows during his life, and at most may have painted his bow, or attached some carved nocks to keep the bowstring in place. Younger archers were usually more likely to decorate their bows than were the grizzled veterans, and occasionally a wealthier archer would have some extra armor, or maybe even a full set of armor, but his bow was never significantly fancier then the rest.
A longbow was usually full of knots and bends. A great deal of patience had to be put into tapering these imperfections to produce a usable bow. Every knot and knobble had to be either followed carefully to eliminate weak spots, or ‘raised’ without causing any weakening of the bow. Although the longbow was a work of great artistry, it had none of the frills that you might see on a crossbow, with a complicated mechanism to fire the arrow, a fancy grip, and a fancy arrow-plate to prevent the arrow from wearing a groove.
Longbows were generally self-nocking, meaning that the nocks for the string were an integral part of the bow. Some of the fancier bows had horn or ivory nocks fastened to the end, but otherwise the nock was part of the wood of the bow. The bowstrings were generally made of good quality flax or linen, and were impregnated with beeswax to repel rain and dew. “The bowman would watch his string carefully and if it showed signs of fraying, especially at the loops, he scrapped it before it broke. With a good yew bow, a broken string often meant a broken bow. Spare strings were always carefully broken in at practice - a new string never shot at first in the same way as the old one; archers were required to carry two spare bowstrings.
Longbow