Any experience with english longbows?

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I've been thinking about getting into archery and with my tax refund I have a little extra cash. I've always been drawn to longbows and after reading about Howard Hill I decided to get an english longbow like he used. This will be a starter bow for target shooting so i wanted a low draw weight and something relatively cheap. My questions are;
Is the english longbow that 3rivers archery sells about what Hill would use? http://www.3riversarchery.com/Bows+Primitive+bows++Medieval+War+Bow+English+Longbow_c44_s138_p0_i8550-1_product.html
The bow they sell seems to come in one size, can I just order it or do I need to get measured?
What kind of arrows should I get? I'm thinking premade cheapy ones to start out with but I'm guessing that arrows are the most complex issue in the deal and I know almost nothing about the subject.
Also, is there any special care for linen backed bow I should know about?
 
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I can't answer your Hill question. However, I have a custom 72" longbow and that seems like a reasonable and fairly standard size. My bowyer made the cedar arrows to match the bow. As long as a good archery shop knows the type of bow and draw weight, they ought to be able to recommend an arrow with an appropriate spine stiffness. You'd want to have your draw length measured so you can get arrows that are the correct length. My draw is greater than 28" so I use somewhat longer arrows.

You are smart to start off with a lower draw weight. My bow is around 45 lbs @28" but it takes considerably more pull to get to my longer draw length.

DancesWithKnives
 
dig out yr yellowpages and look under sporting goods or archery. you may very well find a knowledgable shop right near where you live. typically the best ones ive found have been a shed outbuilding at some farm somewhere countryside. some dude been bow hunting fer yrs, possibly even a bowyer himself. ifn yr new to the bow. have someone measure yr reach and try out several weights to determine what you need. ya might wanna less weighty one for now to practice with. so you can shoot some length of time and not wear yrself down. get yrself a dozen arrows too. might get a few blunts(rubber blob on end so it wont stick into anything but good for target practice in town). you will spend less money in the longrun and enjoy yr purchase more if you deal with someone who knows what they are doing instead of popping for something over the net. thse guys will have a place for you to shoot each bow ya wanna try out. show ya how to string a bow, and unstring it too. ask lots of ?s. let em know just what yr thinking regarding bow hunting. you can gain a wealth of info from an experienced shooter. the martin stick is an inexpensive well made long bow for starting out. available in a variety of weights. there are others too. often long standing bow shops will have some used ones around. just depends on if they have any in the weight you need. get an arm guard whatever ya do. a few good nicks to the soft inside of yr forearm will make ya whimper.
your gonna have some fun now-and possibly a new obsession...
 
have a look at some of the Fred Bear and Martin offerings. both make a lovely longbow.

one thing to be careful of: do not "overbow" yourself. longbows have no "let off" at peak draw, so with a 50lb bow, you have to hold that 50lb at full draw. be realistic with yourself about how much you can draw and hold.

personally, i prefer a compound.

Yorkshire Boy said:
Amazing that the English war bows had a draw weight of up to 180lb.
Click to expand...
yup.
bows of that weight are almost unavailable these days and would definatly be a custom job.
 
sambo. said:
have a look at some of the Fred Bear and Martin offerings. both make a lovely longbow.

one thing to be careful of: do not "overbow" yourself. longbows have no "let off" at peak draw, so with a 50lb bow, you have to hold that 50lb at full draw. be realistic with yourself about how much you can draw and hold.

personally, i prefer a compound.


yup.
bows of that weight are almost unavailable these days and would definatly be a custom job.
Click to expand...

I can't imagine that there are too many men who have the strength and skill to use one either!

When archeologists dig up skeletons from medieval battlefields they can quite often tell by the bone structure who was a bowman. Through all the years of practice they developed thicker and stronger arm and shoulder bones.
 
I saw an anthropologist on TV talking about graves of English soldiers. They could tell the longbowmen because of irregularities in the upper parts of the skeletons from years of training with immensely heavy draw weight bows.

DanceswithKnives
 
I remember reading the notes in the Bernard Cornwell Grail Quest books and saying the longbow would of still been the dominant weapon of war if men would of kept training with it. It was just easier to train men with muskets as you didn't have to start training at age 5 to be proficient.

Could of made a different outcome to the revolutionary war:eek:
 
I don't know your situation regarding Archery Clubs, but may I respectfully suggest that if there is a club near enough, you pop along.
Most clubs have 'club bows', and you can try out several types
before you buy your own.

When I learned to shoot, we trained on lightweight take-down-recurve bows,
i.e. between 22 - 28 lbs draw weight, until we were accurate enough
to shoot with the general club members.
After a while, (several years and coming 4th behind our national champion in competition with just 60 points between us)
I tried the club 'English' longbow at 90 lb, and got used to it
i.e. shooting without sights, arrow shelf etc, and it was a different
experience altogether. I really like the simplicity of a bare bow,
and at the risk of comment from the compound guys, there is more 'art'
to shooting a bare bow too - if a little more varience in accuracy :D.

One of the club members had a 112 lb hunting bow (IIRC a Samick) in the American longbow style,
another had a 70 lb Hungarian laminated bow, another a Korean Hunter - another laminated bow - at 55 lb.
I liked the 112 lb, but being realistic, it was too powerful for my needs,
and I settled on a Grozer Hungarian Scythian type bow at 70 lb - which I have used for the last 6 years - shooting 'instinctively'.

Try several bow styles is my advice, before opting for the English version longbow.
IMHO there is too much romance and nostalgia surrounding the trad' English Longbow.
Also they need more care than laminated bows, and if neglected e.g. left for a year or so in a shed or attic, turn into 6ft sticks
that are useless for shooting, whereas a laminated bow would still shoot.
 
I have both a compound(40 pound) and a couple of longbows (30 and 55 pounds respectively).I tend to use the compound for fun and the longbows for both hunting and re enactment.Funnily enough the man who made my bows also made the primary bows for the Lord Of The Rings movies, so I'm thinking of retiring them from hunting.
 
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