Introduction:
In September 2010 the President of Evagauy took up archery.
I had the option of a new fangled recurve, sights etc.,
but being a pompous and arrogant dictator decided i did not require
such wizardry. So after undertaking a beginners course with the very
helpful Purbrook
Bowmen at Fort Purbrook I moved onto a 28lb American Flatbow,
shooting bare-bow, whilst trying to decide on a Longbow to purchase.
I was drawn to the hobby by the history of the Longbow
and care not a jot for recurves, compounds or any other form of
archery, this may be sad and narrow minded, but as i've found out there
is enough in Longbow shooting to keep a man adequately occupied!
I am now a member of the Portsdown Archery Club
which is great club with great facilities, and a member of the AI Forum -
which is a great place to pose questions on-line and seek advice etc.
Now if you're interested read on...
Bows:
I currently have two Longbows and am deciding on what i want from the
next. All i now is that it will have to have a minimum draw of 70lb and
either be a selfbow or look like a yew bow.
Pictured below is me with my first Longbow - when reasonably
fresh - It is from the very nice Lee Ankers of
Heritage Longbows. Lee
is a great chap and I'd recommend you give him a call regards any
longbow needs you have.
She draws 45lb at 29" and has a back of Hickory, centre of Purpleheart
and belly of Lemonwood, shoots smoothly and when unstrung has recurved
tips and lovely small horn nocks.
At the time the picture was taken it was new, i was poo and my form was
shocking, since then i have steadily improved!
My other Longbow was kindly donated to me by my brother. It is an Ash
(i think) selfbow of about 35lb draw, shoots well and is still used.
Below is a picture with the 28lb American Flatbow - Legolas learnt
everything he knew from me!
More stuff will be added as and when.
Arrows:
All my arrows from part way through the Beginners course have been
home-made. If you have not tried this then it is a thoroughly
satisfying past time - even if you never intend to shoot them!
I am currently making a dozen traditional arrows (50/55lb, 11/32) with
hand cut feathers, horn nock inserts, bound with linen and pseudo
bodkins.
Next up will be a dozen
EWBS
spec beauties (70/75lb, 3/8).
Arrow supplies and sundries are from numerous places but for
traditional stuff i can heartily recommended the
LongbowShop,
Richard Head and
Quicks -
who
happily
let
you
sift through your wooden shafts until you have a
matching set of straight, spined and weighted shafts.
Oh, and if you shoot traditional arrows then you may have to get used
to some of this...
Fletching:
Currently i've gone all traditional so am hand cutting long feathers
and may have even sourced a supply of fresh (very) feathers.
My fletching jig although being very funky and able to perform the task
of sticking three feathers to a stick at once was sadly not long enough
for traditional six plus inch feathers. So i had a go at knocking up a
chunky large fletching jig from some old MDF, a strip of Aluminium, two
small ball-bearings, some bulldog clips and some elastic bands. Again
she's not pretty but works well... also in the picture are my first set
of traditional arrows.
Cresting
(or
painting
wobbly
lines
on sticks):
My first set of arrows were simple wood with 4 inch white fletchings.
These did the job, but then i got seduced by spangly arrows and went
for white painted ends, red 3 inch fletching and red and gold
cresting. To crest them i knocked up a jig from some offcuts of wood,
an old model boat motor and a trusty 25 year old Hornby train
controller. The set-up worked well and saved a few bob.
Bow
Stand:
I didn't like the idea of my bow lying in damp grass while i trudge
around looking for lost arrows so again from offcuts i knocked up a
collapsible bow stand - i am not good with wood - but it serves its
purpose! :)
In use...
![Bows stand - in use. Bows stand - in use.](../images/bowrest.jpg)
...and collapsed...
If you have any questions please get in touch and
e-mail me.
Cheers
Ev