Citizendia
Your Ad Here

Modern recurve bow
Modern recurve bow

A recurve bow is a form of bow defined by the side-view profile; in contrast to the simple longbow, a recurve bow has tips that curve away from the archer when the bow is unstrung. A bow is a Weapon that projects arrows powered by the elasticity of the bow To see other senses of this word see Longbow (disambiguation. 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, 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 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. Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States [1]

Contents

Historical and current use

Recurve bows made out of composite materials were used by, among other groups, the Scythians, Hyksos, Magyars, Huns, Turks, Mongols, and Chinese. A composite bow is a bow made from disparate materials laminated together usually applied under tension The Scythians or Scyths (Σκύθες Σκύθοι were an Iranian speaking people of horse-riding Nomadic pastoralists who dominated the Pontic The Hyksos ( Egyptian heqa khasewet, "foreign rulers" Greek,, Arabic,) were an Asiatic people who invaded the eastern Nile Hungarians (or Magyars, magyarok are an Ethnic group primarily associated with Hungary. The Huns were an early confederation of Central Asian equestrian nomads or semi-nomads with a Turkic core of aristocracy The Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern central and western Eurasia who speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family The recurve bow spread to Egypt, much of the rest of Asia, and the Middle East countries in the second millennium BC. Presumably Greek and Phoenician influence would have introduced the recurve form to the rest of the Mediterranean region. The standard weapon of Roman imperial archers was a composite recurve, and the stiffening laths used to form the actual recurved ends have been found on Roman sites throughout the Empire, as far north as Bar Hill on the Antonine Wall in Scotland. Bar Hill is a purpose-built village with a population of 4000 about 4 miles (7 km northwest of Cambridge, England on the A14 road. The Antonine Wall is a stone and turf Fortification, built by the Romans across what is now the Central belt of Scotland Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. [2] During the Middle Ages composite recurve bows were used in the drier European countries; the all-wooden straight longbow was the normal form in wetter areas. To see other senses of this word see Longbow (disambiguation. Recurved bows depicted in the British Isles (see illustrations in "The Great War Bow")[3] may have been composite weapons, or wooden bows with ends recurved by heat and force, or simply artistic licence. Many North American bows were recurved, especially West Coast bows. For indigenous peoples in the United States other than Hawaii and Alaska see also Native Americans in the United States. Recurve bows went out of widespread use with the availability of effective firearms. Self bows, composite bows, and laminated bows using the recurve form are still made and used by amateur and professional bowyers. A self bow is a bow made from a single piece of wood Extra material such as horn nocks on the ends or built-up handles would normally be accepted as part of a self bow A composite bow is a bow made from disparate materials laminated together usually applied under tension A laminated bow is a bow in which different materials are Laminated together to form the bow stave itself [4]

The modern recurve bow

The unqualified phrase "recurve bow" or just "a recurve" in modern archery circles will usually refer to a typical modern recurve bow, as used by archers in the Olympics and many other competitive events. It will employ advanced technologies and materials. The limbs are usually made from multiple layers of fibreglass, carbon and/or wood on a core of carbon foam or wood. A laminated bow is a bow in which different materials are Laminated together to form the bow stave itself The riser (the handle section of the bow) is generally separate and is constructed from wood, carbon, aluminium alloy or magnesium alloy. Several manufacturers produce risers made of carbon fibre (with metal fittings) or aluminium with carbon fibre. Risers for beginners are usually made of wood or plastic. The synthetic materials allow predictable manufacture for consistent performance. The greater mass-weight of a modern bow is itself an aid to stability, and therefore to accuracy.

The modern recurve is the only form of bow permitted in the Olympics (though the Compound bow is permitted in some categories at the Paralympic Games) and is the most widely used by European and Asian sporting archers. The Olympic Games is an international Multi-sport event established for both summer and winter games A compound bow is a modern bow that uses a levering system usually of cables and Pulleys to bend the limbs The Paralympic Games are a multi-sport event for athletes with physical and sensorial disabilities

The modern Olympic-style recurve is a development of the American Flat Bow, with rectangular-section limbs that taper towards the limb tips. A flatbow is a bow with non- recurved, flat relatively wide limbs that are approximately rectangular in cross-section Most recurves today are "take-down" bows—that is, the limbs can be detached from the riser for ease of transportation and storage, and for interchangeability. Older recurves and some modern hunting recurves are one-piece bows. Hunters often prefer one-piece bows over take-down bows because the limb pockets on take-down bows can be a source of noise while drawing.

Modern recurve bow terminology

Other equipment

Recurve archers often have many other pieces of equipment attached to their recurve bows, such as:

See also

Bow construction techniques

Other bow forms

References

  1. ^ American Indian Archery. A bow is a Weapon that projects arrows powered by the elasticity of the bow A crossbow is a Weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles often called bolts The modern Mongol bow is a recurved composite bow used by the Mongols and renowned for its power accuracy and range The English longbow, also called the Welsh longbow, was a powerful type of medieval Longbow (a tall bow for Archery) about 6 ft To see other senses of this word see Longbow (disambiguation. A flatbow is a bow with non- recurved, flat relatively wide limbs that are approximately rectangular in cross-section Archery is the practice of using a bow or Crossbow to shoot Arrows Archery has historically been used in Hunting and Combat and has A bow draw is the method used to draw a bow Currently the most common method is the Mediterranean Draw long the usual method in European archery A self bow is a bow made from a single piece of wood Extra material such as horn nocks on the ends or built-up handles would normally be accepted as part of a self bow A compound bow is a modern bow that uses a levering system usually of cables and Pulleys to bend the limbs A laminated bow is a bow in which different materials are Laminated together to form the bow stave itself A composite bow is a bow made from disparate materials laminated together usually applied under tension Reginald Laubin, Gladys Laubin. University of Oklahoma Press 1980. ISBN-10: 0806114673 ISBN-13: 978-0806114675
  2. ^ Coulston JC. 'Roman Archery Equipment', in M. C. Bishop (ed. ), The Production and Distribution of Roman Military Equipment. Proceedings of the Second Roman Military Equipment Seminar, BAR International Series 275, Oxford, 1985, 220-366.
  3. ^ The Great War Bow. Hardy R, Strickland M. Sutton Publishing 2005. ISBN-10: 0750931671 ISBN-13: 978-0750931670
  4. ^ * (1992) The Traditional Bowyers Bible Volume 1. The Lyons Press. ISBN 1-58574-085-3
    • (1992) The Traditional Bowyers Bible Volume 2. The Lyons Press. ISBN 1-58574-086-1
    • (1994) The Traditional Bowyers Bible Volume 3. The Lyons Press. ISBN 1-58574-087-X
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic