Considering a new bow...

[Aaron]

Hey all, currently in a bit of a predicament deciding on a new bow...

I currently have an English Longbow I purchased from Rudderbows years ago (hickory-backed ipe) and it's a wonderful bow. I have always been passionate about ELB's. But they were designed for open warfare, not dense woodlands, and I find the bow rather unwieldy in the brush. So I decided I needed a much shorter bow. Plenty of options, but most of which have the hitch of only drawing the bow to a certain length, and I'm not interested in snap shooting. I want a short bow that I can draw to my full draw length (31") so to minimize any adjustments in shooting style between my bows.

And that generally presents a problem. I know Greg has (had?) that 48" osage bow, not sure what the draw length is on that but I couldn't find any info on CHris Lewis to see if he could make a bow. Cruised Rudderbows (since I've had great experience with them) and found this bow:
https://rudderbowsarchery.com/shopping/ ... vnee5ro426

Not thrilled with the bamboo nodes but overall it's a good looking bow, a foot shorter than my ELB and I can get it in decent weights along with my standard draw. But then I found THIS bow:
https://rudderbowsarchery.com/shopping/ ... 757s0hicm4

This bow is 55" tip to tip, no nodes on the bamboo as far as I can tell, and otherwise has all the benefits of the other bow. Did I mention this thing is short? I never saw it before because it's under their horsebow section, which I never enter because I generally dislike the designs of horsebows greatly. This one, however, doesn't have a reflexed handle nor are the siyahs large and obvious. The design is very subtle and looks very close to a recurve. So thumbs up from me, it's a perfect woodlands bow for what I want.

I'm posting this (aside from just showing the bow in case any other longbow fans need a shorter bow) because I'm not sure how well the siyah design (however subtle) would fit into ME. My reasoning is that it seems very elvish. I try not to rely heavily on the films but the bow gifted to Legolas in Lothlorien definitely has siyahs present (though is really kind of a longbow/horsebow hybrid), so I don't think my interpretation is totally lost.

And I know that, since it's my interpretation, I can go ahead and do whatever I please and stick my tongue out at anyone who disagrees ( ), but I would greatly appreciate some diverse opinions and maybe some evidence here or there that I have missed.

Thanks for sticking with me through this long-winded exposition.

[Jonathan B.]

Good looking bow. I see no problem with using it for Rangering. I don't believe Tolkien gave any real descriptions of the bows used in his world (I could be wrong).
I found this though.
"Legolas turned and set an arrow to the string, though it was a long shot for his small bow"
"To Legolas she gave a bow such as the Galadhrim used, longer and stouter than the bows of Mirkwood, and strung with a string of elf-hair".

[kaelln]

Well, personally I think horse bows are totally cool, and, as you said, elvish. That said, I tend to like the fantasy aspect more than the "Dark Ages period correct" aspect.

[Aaron]

I just shot them an email after double- (and triple-) checking my budget. Not sure if I should stick with #45 so I can use the arrows I have currently, or go with #55 and buy a half-dozen arrows...

I figure if the elves would use something like this, and seeing as the Dunedain had such a close relationship with the elves of Rivendell, it would not be too farfetched to think some Rangers would use bows of similar style. Ithilien Rangers I see as strictly using English Longbows, since they are decreed by Gondor.

[Mirimaran]

That's a great looking bow! I wouldn't get too caught up in interpretation; bows and such are just tools of the trade. Who knows where you may have traveled and needed a new bow? The Ranger himself never changes

Ken

[Manveruon]

I agree with the above, and have to say that I also really like the look of that little bow.

I've looked at Rudderbows' stuff before and have always been drawn to their imitation-yew English Longbow. Got the right look to it without the extreme pricetag of real yew.

[Aaron]

Good to see my interpretation of this isn't so far off base. I emailed them to ask if it was possible to stain the bow prior to applying their finish to the bow. Bamboo is really light colored and it would look rather out of place otherwise. As soon as he emails me back I'm going to place my order, decided to go with #55@31" after all and just buy new arrows. Will probably be a couple months before I receive them but I'll be sure to grab pics when they show up. Thanks again, guys.

[Manveruon]

good call! Can't wait to see the inevitable review!

[Greg]

You made a good choice. The 48" osage bow I have is a terrible shooter, to be honest. Arrow speed was best described by a snail. Stacked horribly. Osage is, for the most part, not springy enough to be used un-backed in such short lengths. Especially at such a high draw. It just sets up and loses its functional qualities. Chris lewis sells strictly through ebay, so if you were to search for self-backed Osage bows there, you'd probably find him. I wouldn't bother, though. It was a fun bow when I shot it, but I woudn't wish it on anyone here. It'd just be begging them to develop bad form.

[Manveruon]

Interesting. I've heard Osage is a very good bow wood, but the ones I've seen have all been longbows.

[Aaron]

Interesting. I've heard Osage is a very good bow wood, but the ones I've seen have all been longbows.

It is. It's got awesome compression strength, but I'm fairly sure its tensile strength is lacking. With a bamboo backing, it's right up there with yew as far as making a quality bow. Greg's bow might have been much better if it had a backing to compensate for that.

Thanks for the heads up, Greg. What's that recurve you're shooting these days?

[Eledhwen]

I have a bow from Rudderbows; longbow, so not what you're looking for really. It is bamboo backed epee and hickory and a sweet, very powerful bow. I personally like the look of bamboo and since I am a Ranger who has been to places such as Far Harad, where the stars are strange, having it isn't really out of place. I simply do not use it for my St. Hubert's activities.

I have never seen a bamboo short bow so have no idea how that would work. I do have a composite bow of Magyar type. Again, perhaps I was far off in the East of East and got it there; it is smaller, being about 50" strung, and good in thick brush.

As far as Middle Earth goes, you can plausibly use most bows I should think; the Numenoreans had hollow steel bows in the 2nd Age and the Elves seem to use reflex-deflex bows as well as recurves. If it is medieval periodcity you are after you are more constrained.

Fortune smile upon you.

Eledhwen

[Aaron]

Thanks, Eledhwen. I've also got a longbow from Rudderbows that I have had for ~8 years now, hickory-backed ipe ELB.

Not too worried about strict historical accuracy, since ME is primarily a fantasy world with historical influence, but I wouldn't want to use something that seems wildly inaccurate or can't be supported by the canon.

[Aaron]

Bow showed up Friday while I was out of state. Missed the delivery by one day, otherwise I'd have been able to shoot it all weekend! Alas....Got it strung and broken in, fired my first arrow through it and zing, all the way through the center ring of my target. Should have expected that considering my 45# ELB will bury an arrow to the fletchings. Time for a new target, but that means I won't be getting practice until then since I'm about broke.

And here she is. 54" strung, 52" nock to nock, pulls #55@31". Good velocity, no chronograph but it seems faster than 150fps.

[RangerKellen]

That bow looks fantastic!!