Longbows and recurves safety moment!! Please listen

[@bonniegallagher2131]

Hello Tim. First off my name ìs Jim. I'm watching your video on my wife's phone because mine gave up workin and I haven't bought a new replacement yet. Anyway very good advice in this video. I'm 74 years old this May if I make it. I live in Montana now, moved here back in 75 from New Jersey. I've been shooting trad archery since it was just called archery lol. Well back in 1967-68 there was an indoor archery range with automated target lanes, sorta like a bowling alley only the target moved back and forth up to 20 yards, it was in the town of Mt. Ephraim NJ about 5 miles from my house. I had been shooting there since I was a kid. It was called Bourquins Archery Range and they were the east coast's largest stocking Bear Archery dealer. I worked there part time after school an summers. Both Bruce and his wife Jane were great people and often let the kids shoot for free and gave free lessons. I got to meet Fred Bear there during the range's anniversary where he showed 16mm movies of some of his world hunts. He was a great down to earth guy. But to make a boring story shorter I'll get to my point. One fall evening the range was having a warmup shoot to the upcoming bow season and the place was real crowded, now they had a wall mounted bow stringer there for anyone to use but most guys did it their own way and the push pull method was pretty common for recurves back then. I was heading back to the lanes to shoot and there was a guy stringing his recurve behind the shooting lanes. He was bent over his bow and I guess his hand slipped off the upper limb and stuck right in his eye socket in front of me. The guy way laying on the floor bleeding and screaming. A short time later and the ambulance crew arrived and took him to the hospital. I didn't know the guy but Jane later told me they managed to save his eye. Jim

[@bowhuntingsoul2149]

Tim, I literally posted a very similar today on this very topic about how to properly use a stringer. Good info 👍

[@caseysmith544]

I once in 2021 had the recurve bow when struggling to string it using the step though method I did with all bows including longbow mainly based on my size, hit my nose and I have since on bows over 32--33 pounds will always be stringing them with a stringer of some kind all but the crappy stringer that has these mini pockets and loops as I have always had issues with those if they are not made exactly for the bow you are using or fixed to fit the exact length of bow if too long a stringer.

[@markhopkins4272]

Thank you sir.

[@rkemp3118]

Awesome video, thank you

[@johnd7215]

Good stuff.

[@freidelkyle]

Ive only ever used the step through method or a stringer. And even after working an archery dept for 3.5 years it never even occurred to me that someone would try to string a recurve this way. Folks come up with new ways to hurt themselves all the time I guess.

[@longbowarcher1900s]

Yes and it is ALOT more common than you would think.

[@ralfgrosser4443]

One thing that accrued to me the last few days. I see more and more people, online, who ask questions, about how long they can leave a bow strung, or if they need to unstring a bow at all. This clicked,. Could it be, they are terrified of stringing a bow? Stringers panic?

[@longbowarcher1900s]

I don't think that is or would be a huge percentage of why these people ask that particular question. Probably and more likely, people may think or worry about leaving a bow strung might cause the bow to "take a set" or reduce its draw weight.

[@caseysmith544]

@@longbowarcher1900s Or they are coming from compound/most lever bow and think they can leave a bow strung forever with no issues, even some laminate wood limb lever bows you want to unstring when done as the leaving the string stung can ruin the bow limb.

[@longbowarcher1900s]

Ralf, i am not aware of "stringers panic" being a wide spread problem. Not saying it doesnt exist because anything is possible. My thoughts on this is probably more often than not, a person newer to the sport thinks the bow looks nicer strung when hanging on the wall. Hence the bow is stored this way. These folks have not been instructed properly by no fault of there own. That is why people like myself make videos to help people along thier journey in traditional archery. Thats for the question and i have added this to the list of subject matter for another video. Shoot straight

[@caseysmith544]

@@longbowarcher1900s I also think as I said before the person coming from compound or most lever bows thinking they can leave the bow strung with no issues at all and asking these questions becuse they honestly do not know.

[@ralfgrosser4443]

I use a stringer on my Hill style bow, and on my English longbow. It works. And it's safe. Heard to often all that macho stuff, about real archers don't need a stringer.

[@caseysmith544]

Tell the majority of them they need to use a stringer with bows they are over bowed with in the process trying to sting up. Not overbowed in drawing the bow but in sense of stringing up the bow.

[@ralfgrosser4443]

@@caseysmith544 I can string all my bows without a stringer, but if you have a tool to get the job done, safe and easy, why not use it?

[@MONKLJ]

I always use a proper bow stringer, never any other way NEVER !!!

[@questioneverything6489]

Don’t put energy towards your face

[@lbhunter6341]

Huh?

[@longbowarcher1900s]

Not exactly sure what your comment means but if you have a question or a comment about the video, feel free to do so.