New Projects!

[Manveruon]

Yeah, I definitely think the twenty-inch arrow thing is a bit ridiculous. I mean, regardless of whether he's Numenorian or not, no normal sized man would be able to pull a 20-inch arrow and feel comfortable. And Viggo's a pretty tall guy, I think. So yeah, suffice it to say, I'm not planning on using that measurement as a guideline, but it's interesting to know. And sadly, nope, I don't have the Weapons and Warfare book. Got all the "art of" books, but not that one, I'm afraid.

In the end, I'm not looking to make an exact copy of his quiver, just something quite similar. And in order to do so, I've been trying to figure out generally how his was constructed. The main things that are bugging me are: A) Is that a seam up the front? And if so, how is it sewn? B) What exactly are those metal buckle-looking things that seem to hold the "X" straps together, and how exactly do said "X" straps function? And C) What exactly are those end-caps on either end of the quiver, and how are they constructed/what's their purpose?

In the end, I'll probably end up just fudging most of it (even if I CAN figure out how they did it in the first place), but I was hoping to get a better idea of what the prop department did to let me know if any of it is actually feasible for my skill level.

[Mirimaran]

Just to give a little perspective:

http://www.plainsindianbows.com/

Ken

[Manveruon]

I take it this would call for a different style of shooting though, right?

[E.MacKermak]

I take it this would call for a different style of shooting though, right?

Very different shooting style. But then in the books Strider only carried his sword. Since Tolkien was using a lot of English history as a basis for his writing, I doubt the bows he was writing about were plains bows. It is a pain to carry a longbow through the woods though.

[BrianGrubbs]

It is a pain to carry a longbow through the woods though.

That is true, thought I just made a leather endcap for mine and use it as a walking stick.

Brian

[Ringulf]

Just to give a little perspective:

http://www.plainsindianbows.com/

Ken

OK that is pretty amazing! I never realized that the Plains bow was that powerful or effective! And yeah entirely different shooting style.

I do remember reading that the Plains indian pulled his bow the legnth of his arm but never realy thought about it and most of the artwork you see shows native americans bareback on pinto's with a normal sized bow pulling to the cheek at least, this site is an eye opener to be sure,....a pass through on a bison from 20 yards,with a 50lb shortbow and a 20 inch arrow? Damn...just...damn!

[Mirimaran]

I'd love to have one of those!

Ken

[Mirimaran]

So, imagining a dwarven shortbow, and it's estimated poundage with an arrow crafted by the weaponsmiths of the Lonely Mountain...

Ken

[Ringulf]

Made of springsteel like the numinoreans only flat! (they used holow tubing supposidly a construction method known only to them.) and tightly woven thin metal cable for the string.... Hmm, I may see a project in the works!

I had initially invisioned Ringulf making a Dwarven War bow that resembled a beefed up Yumi bow, with short lower horn and tall upper, highly carved and decorated,Dark wood, heavy draw to take advantage of Dwarven upperbody stregnth but short bottom yolk to allow for short legs, putting most of the legnth of it abouve the waiste. was an idea I got from my use and instruction of the Yumi in Kyudo or Kyojutsu as my instructor called it.

[Peter Remling]

Bike brake or gear cables should work for the string.

Sounds like an interesting project!

[Greg]

I, personally, don't really think that dwarves would go to such lengths (if you'll pardon the pun) to make something short on one end due to their stature, yet ridiculously long on the other. Carrying a Yumi, particularly while traveling (I'm not even talkin in the woods here, though if you want your Dwarf to be a Ranger, this should be glaringly obvious) is a small nightmare in comparison to something more like a short horsebow, which has always seemed more dwaven than any other bow I've come across, to me. Just a thought.

On the subject of palins indian's short draws, the discussion begs me to dig up an image of Ishi, shooting off the right side, drawn right-handed, with the bow held horizontally. I'll do some digging...

[Jonathan B.]

On the subject of palins indian's short draws, the discussion begs me to dig up an image of Ishi, shooting off the right side, drawn right-handed, with the bow held horizontally. I'll do some digging...

Like this?

[kaelln]

I, personally, don't really think that dwarves would go to such lengths (if you'll pardon the pun) to make something short on one end due to their stature, yet ridiculously long on the other. Carrying a Yumi, particularly while traveling (I'm not even talkin in the woods here, though if you want your Dwarf to be a Ranger, this should be glaringly obvious) is a small nightmare in comparison to something more like a short horsebow, which has always seemed more dwaven than any other bow I've come across, to me. Just a thought.

Well, Ringulf did call it a "war bow" not a "Ranger bow". In other words, made for something like the Battle of Five Armies, not for tromping around in the woods. For a Ranger bow, I agree you want something like a small bow, useful for hunting. For a war bow, you want maximum power and penetration. Besides, if he likes it and wants to make it, how is that not like, totally cool, Dude?

[Ringulf]

That would be the big differentiation and why the plains short bow with a very heavy draw and small arrows looks intruiging to me. Building it Dwarven style could be a lot of fun and Ringulf being a Dwarven ranger would want to reduce size for just the reasons you suggest Greg.

Kealin, You hit the nail on the head! the original concept was for my other charactor Aribjorn who is a Warrior not a Ranger and was why I went into designing such a bow in the first place.
Being a nice tall guy with a rangery build you may not have had the difficulty Greg! Hee hee, but invision for a moment having a massive bear-like frame from the waist up, then putting that on a strong but bandy, short little pair of legs.
Hieght is the only disadvantage to shooting a powerful long bow (if you have the stregnth). in the Yumi design (originated for horseback, but surprisingly efficient for the commonly smaller japanese frame) it lets someone that is 5 foot or less, comfortably shoot a 6-7 foot bow without standing on a big rock,

"Can you see everything alright? Or shall I get you a box to stand on..." Legalos

[Willrett]

I just found this http://rasherquivers.com/home/blog.php? ... ger-quiver might be helpful.