Bow and Arrow types

There are various varieties of bows that are used to shoot several types of arrows or bolts. In early times bows were used primarily in battle and hunting, but today they are most often used for sport target shooting as well as for hunting. Archery competitions, which use all kinds of bows and arrows, have become a well-liked sport. As I said, there are many types and brands of archery bows offered on the market today, from vintage straight bows to the super high powered crossbows and compound bows. This article gives some general information about the basic kinds of archery bows.Following are the varieties of archery Bows;

Longbow:

Longbows are tall, thus the name. In actual fact they are taller than the user’s height. They have relatively narrow limbs which have a D shaped cross section. As compared to other bows, they are not drastically recurved, but powerful just the same.

Traditional English longbows are made in such a way that their thickness are around 5/8 or more of its width. If it is less than the precise width, then the bow is banned from long bow competitions. In battle the Longbow was a better weapon that a crossbow because you could shoot more arrows in a shorter amount of time with the longbow.

If you want to take part in long bow contests, then it is necessary that your long bow meets the desired specifications. At the handle, the long bow should be at its widest.

Longbows have been commonly used for combat and hunting by numerous very old cultures of the earth. All through the era of Middle Ages, English longbows were the most regularly used bow. The English long bow was on average 6.6 feet i.e. approximately 2 meters long. The Scot, Welsh and Scots used it as a war weapon. It was used in various battles such as battle of Crecy in 1346 and battle of Agincourt in 1415.

Flat bow:

Flat bows are non-recurved flat bows, and have relatively wide limbs. Most contemporary flat bows are very comparable to classic longbows, and are what we think of most often when we think of traditional bows of past history.

Shortbows:

Shortbows are a shorter type of a flat bow or longbow design. An important quality of the short bow is that they are extra maneuverable than flat bows and longbows. Some people call them brush bows for this reason. The arrow cannot be drawn very far as the bow is short. Therefore shortbows store less energy; hence their maximum range is not long as compared to longbows. Shortbows were previously used for hunting purpose by various American tribes and by African Bushmen.

Recurve Bows:

Recurve bows are the only bows that are used at the Olympics. As they are extremely light in weight various Olympic players prefer these bows. Its working principle is similar to that of traditional longbows. Limb ends, curve forward which assists to smoothen the draw.

Compound Bows:

A Compound bow considerably reduces the force that various archers have to hold. As less force is required to hold compound bows at full draw, the user can more focus on the target. Overall energy is also stored by this bow. Compound designs use elliptical or cam wheels on limb ends to optimize leverage that is exerted by the user.

Crossbow:

My personal favorite of all is the crossbow. Crossbows are a modification of a general bow design, but are also like a gun. Here the limbs are mounted horizontally. The limb design is either a recurve or a compound but the idea of shooting remains the same. The user manually pulls the string either with a windlass or manually and then locks it into the place.

The string is held through mechanical means in the locked position. The energy that is stored in it limbs is then released with the help of trigger mechanism to launch the loaded arrow.

Any of the kinds of bows mentioned above can be used for hunting or target shooting. Archery is a great sport for folks of all ages.

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