Choosing the type of bow you want to use can have a big impact on your archery experience. For instance, if you’re a compound bow user, traditional archery is probably not something that you’ll be participating in. So what type of bow is right for you? Ultimately it comes down to your own preferences and what you want to do with your bow. All I can do is tell you about the major bow types and let you decide for yourself.
For those interested in traditional archery especially there is the humble longbow. Longbows are the most basic and simple form of bow dating back thousands of years to the initial invention of the bow and arrow. While they have come a long way from their simple roots longbows are still the least complex bows around and truly capture the essence of traditional archery. They also require a higher level of physical strength to pull back than other types of bows making them perfect for those wanting to get an arm workout from their archery experience. Because they are more difficult to draw and hold often times you’ll find that longbows are crafted to have lighter draw weights and thus are used primarily for hunting small game or for bow fishing. Never the less, longbows can still perform just fine in most archery events, though they may be outmatched by other bows in these events.
Next up is the recurve bow. Recurve bows are the natural evolution of archery technology and utilize mechanical advantage to take an otherwise heavy draw weight bow and make it easier to pull back. Because of this additional advantage, recurves are frequently used by those who have injuries that prevent them from exerting much force with their shoulders (rotator injuries especially) or those who haven’t yet developed strong archery muscles (like those new to the sport). More often than not archers will learn the principles of archery on a recurve bow and move from it to other styles should they decide to do something different. One of the great benefits of recurves though is that they can be used effectively in almost every version of archery and styles exist to suit almost every need (even the Olympics use recurves for their events).
Compound bows are the technologically enhanced version of the bow using pulleys and tensioning cables to create a huge amount of force while still being easily held at full draw, even for those with weaker muscles. This is not to say that compound draw weights cannot increase to such a level that they can be hard to pull back for some users, but rather that they’re easier to pull back than a longbow of the same weight would be and can be held at full draw without excessive muscle fatigue. Compound bows deliver projectiles with devastating force making them perfectly suited to hunting, though they are frequently used in other archery events. Compound bows are more difficult to maintain, however, requiring oiling of axels, occasional replacement of moving parts, and replacement of strings and cables as they stretch out from the high levels of tension. Modern materials help prevent the deterioration of these things, but eventually, parts can fail especially with such high tension on them. What’s worse is that in the field, a compound bow is difficult if not impossible to repair regardless of what breaks and the tools necessary to fix them are generally not reasonably portable. If you’re hunting with a compound bow and it’s important that you come home with food you may want to carry a collapsible style recurve bow with you as a backup.
Finally, we have crossbows. Essentially an intermediate step between compound bows and guns the launching mechanisms are essentially a bow laid sideways on a gun stock. These make the use of bow technology easily accessible to those who haven’t spent years learning how to use a bow. This is not to say that crossbow use doesn’t have its own challenges, just that they’re different from many of the challenges of a traditional style bow. Crossbows allow for more force to be delivered with greater accuracy and longer hold times than you could ever get with a normal bow. They also tend to have a greater range as a result of the much higher draw weights. Crossbows are primarily used for hunting and most archery events do not have crossbow divisions, though I’m sure exceptions apply. Field repair of a crossbow presents challenges similar to those of a compound bow depending on what breaks and generally, a failure in the field can mean the end of a hunt unless you have a backup piece of equipment.
With so many options available it’s clear that there is a piece of archery equipment perfect for your situation and preferred style of archery. Whether you’re in it for the thrill of the hunt or just for fun there is a bow type that is just right for you.
Research for this article was conducted at the following sites:
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