Primitive Bundle Bow !

pitdog

pitdog

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Apr 13, 2007
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As I hiked today I wondered if it was possible to make a bundle bow in a reasonable amount of time and using only natural materials.

I struggled to find ideal roots but went ahead just to see what was possible with what I had.

My Breeden Woody went through the finger sized bow material ( Ocean spray ) like a hot knife through butter. I lashed it all together and then tried it with a test stick......to call it an arrow would have been exaggerating but at least it would give me some idea.

The bow fired about the same as the toy wooden bow sets I had as a kid. My stick landed pretty much where I wanted it to. I think that with a little more time spent finding materials and putting one of these together you would end up with a viable game getter for use at close range. Add this to other primitive weapons such as Rabbit sticks, Apache throwing stars and Atlatl's and you have yet one more tool for securing game in a survival situation !!!!

P2040002.jpg
 
Very cool Pit, I have recently gotten into shooting Recurve bows. I am going to have to try this.
 
Here's one of my favourite Youtubers showing how it's done !!!

[youtube]AzchNUkecco[/youtube]
 
That is very cool. Going to give that a try.
Did you use the roots for the bowstring as well?

Thanks
 
pitdog said:
I did !
Click to expand...

Very interesting.
I think I will give this a shot (haha) with a couple of maple saplings and inner bark for string/binding.
If you hadn't made posts like this, I would never even have thought about even attempting something like this.
I appreciate it.
 
Hey pitdog, I've made bundle bows before and they work ok. The secret is in the "tillering" and this is accomplished in a bundle bow by having different lengths of saplings. Another way to describe this may be to designate the saplings as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 - all of them being the same length. Leave 1 & 2 full length, cut 3 " off each end of #3, then cut 6" inches off each end of #4, 9" off each end of #5, etc. The lengths I picked are arbitrary but I think you get the idea.

If you look closely in the video, you can see this

Doc

ETA: I should have mentioned that the sticks must be dead and dry.
 
Last edited:
DOC-CANADA said:
Hey pitdog, I've made bundle bows before and they work ok. The secret is in the "tillering" and this is accomplished in a bundle bow by having different lengths of saplings. Another way to describe this may be to designate the saplings as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 - all of them being the same length. Leave 1 & 2 full length, cut 3 " off each end of #3, then cut 6" inches off each end of #4, 9" off each end of #5, etc. The lengths I picked are arbitrary but I think you get the idea.

If you look closely in the video, you can see this

Doc
Click to expand...

Yeah I did see that in the video Doc, next time I'll spend more time on it and see just what they can do !
 
Used to make bows like that out of the fibreglass fence pickets for temporary electric fences as a kid , never thought of using bamboo or anything tho , serious idea :)
 
Definitely awesome bow Pitdog!!!

Would you mind commenting on the strength of the spruce-root bowstring? I'm presuming Spruce b/c it's the only root i've worked with as cordage - could very well be other species.... In any event, I've never made a bowstring from root before - this is new territory for me!!!

How well does it shoot? Does the string suffer any permanent "strectch" after being drawn? Did you place the 'thicker end' of the root on the upper or lower limb-tip?

BTW, your commitment to using just your Woody knife made by Bryan Breeden is commendable. I bet your overall skill level with a knife is improving! I believe the discipline you're imposing on yourself to use just one knife will yield benefits beyond assessing the affectiveness of just that particular knife - "Beware the man with only one rifle because he knows how to use it."

Well done!!!
 
That is friggin' awesome Pit.

First you turned me on to the Apache Throwing Star, and now the Bundle Bow. I think primitive weapons are very cool.

I've been thinking about making a bow and actually have a big piece of Hickory to make one drying out right now.

But with the Bundle Bow, instead of waiting a year, I can go out and make one tomorrow!

Thanks!!
 
fmajor007 said:
Definitely awesome bow Pitdog!!!

Would you mind commenting on the strength of the spruce-root bowstring? I'm presuming Spruce b/c it's the only root i've worked with as cordage - could very well be other species.... In any event, I've never made a bowstring from root before - this is new territory for me!!!

How well does it shoot? Does the string suffer any permanent "strectch" after being drawn? Did you place the 'thicker end' of the root on the upper or lower limb-tip?

BTW, your commitment to using just your Woody knife made by Bryan Breeden is commendable. I bet your overall skill level with a knife is improving! I believe the discipline you're imposing on yourself to use just one knife will yield benefits beyond assessing the affectiveness of just that particular knife - "Beware the man with only one rifle because he knows how to use it."

Well done!!!
Click to expand...

Thanks buddy.

The Cedar root appeared plenty strong for the string, the only weak point is created when fastening it to each end so take care when doing that and try to avoid any tight kinks which will then be a weak spot. The next one I do will probably just be pulled between the bundle and lashed using more smaller roots.
 
pitdog said:
Thanks buddy.

The Cedar root appeared plenty strong for the string, the only weak point is created when fastening it to each end so take care when doing that and try to avoid any tight kinks which will then be a weak spot. The next one I do will probably just be pulled between the bundle and lashed using more smaller roots.
Click to expand...

Thanks bud -

So you used Cedar root - cool. Yea, the weak part of every cord/rope is the knot....

Please post up your next innovations with it!
 
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