RAMBLING VLOG newcomers guide to buying a traditional bow

[@Bushcraft-xz6xd]

Take the advice on not being over bowed seriously. Especially if your out of your prime years. Injuries from pulling heavy draws and more so with poor form can very quickly lead to strains or more serious injuries that can put you out for weeks/months or sometimes you will never be able to fully draw a bow again unless you go to a very light weight bow. Remember muscles grow quick giving a false sense of strength. Tendons and even bone/joints take much longer in that order to strengthen to take heavy strains.

[@Jazzman-bj9fq]

Yup, you're totally right... The tendons and other connective tissues don't get nearly the same blood flow as muscle tissue and thus don't adapt to the stress overloads as quickly and when injured take much longer to heal if you're lucky enough to not suffer a major tear.

[@f1pitpass]

Cheers for the great advice! I'm off to find the video on measuring your draw length...

[@longbows]

Glad it was helpful!

[@fancymcclean6210]

Hi Phillip, this information is gold. Certainly the 'caveat emptor' is sage advice and novice archers should always practice due diligence. I'd love to own mine of your beautiful works of art. I've got a windfall soon and would certainly be interested in one of your trilaminate.

[@DaytonaStation]

Long and detailed and EXTREMELY informative. Thank you "old chap" I am American so i can say that.

[@longbows]

Thanks

[@NemarusNetwork]

Your videos are truly great. You're right, I like yew just because it is yew. It's like the luxury car of bows.

[@longbows]

***** Thanks.

[@chrisbutlersmith9970]

Fantastic video and has answered a lot of questions for me . I am going to our local club ( oxford archery) for some lessons . When I enquired I mentioned I wanted to follow the traditional route i.e. long bow and they have a qualified instructor for my needs. Unfortunately because of Covid it's all been put on hold . I can't wait to have a go then purchase my own equipment and I have just found a company through this video who will get a call from me at some point .

[@longbows]

Great to hear! Lets hope things change soon and we can get back to archery and our normal lives.

[@garyscott7114]

Excellent honest advice

[@longbows]

Thanks

[@crossseigfried]

Ok So I'm a beginner at archery and have only shot a bow during a camp where bows were available. I was over bowed but enjoyed it a lot even though shooting the bow was uncomfortable. And I want to better my experience on archery so I was thinking of buying the right bow for me but I cannot determine the right draw weight is there a specific way in measuring a persons draw weight? if so how do i measure the proper draw weight and size for me? (Side not: I'm thinking of buying an English longbow not the very expensive one or the popular ones just the regular English longbow)

[@danm7298]

Where can you go to buy an english longbow? they shouldnt be too pricey since their not composit or recurve bows. Can they use ordinary arrows from the gun store?

[@longbows]

I am unsure where you live so it would be hard to recommend a place to buy one, sorry.

[@danm7298]

@@longbows ah yeah thats true lol. It looks like the longbows are as much or more than the modern crossbows and hunting bows. I always wanted one. Theres lots of hunting recurve bows around. Youd think longbows would be cheaper but I dont think they are

[@colutuber]

Hi Richard, I was asked to accompany someone to a local club but felt intimidated by these 'old guys' as you mentioned, and even tried to sell me one of their old bows. Needless to say we never went back. I am not giving up looking around as its a hobby/sport I want to take up. This is why clubs die by not drawing in new members. Anyhow, many thanks for the advice. You've got yourself another subscriber cheers

[@longbows]

Thanks, sorry you had a bad experience.

[@comesahorseman]

All well said, you've given me lots to think about and watch out for. Thanks!

[@longbows]

No problem, always happy to help.

[@Glader08]

This was excellent, thorough and well said. Thank you! It is my goal to be able to save up, and buy from Richard Head Longbows.

[@longbows]

Glader08 many thanks.

[@CODomingo]

Hi. What do you think of 2-piece take down longbows? I noticed you don't make one. Any reason why? I have a longbow and it is fun to shoot with, but it is very cumbersome carrying it around because of its size.

[@longbows]

CODomingo We havent made them for a while, mainly they are too expensive for people so we hardly got orders, we had to have the metal collets produced fo us and this costs a llot of money and we had to have quite a few made at a time. The failure rate is higher on such bows too, this doe snot help when you are running a business.

[@joebarham2799]

hiya, @Richard Head Longbows Ive been shooting for roughly a year now borrowing a friends longbow that is 32@28 and I'm drawing it for at least 200 arrows easily. I want to jump up a bit heavier and get a bow that will last me a few years and I have a budget of roughly £400 what pwndage do you rekon would be sensible and can you recommend so reputable sources for buying. I would like one faster than six months really.. but I'm willing to wait to get something worth it. Edit. I wanna use it to compete and I definitely want a longbow not a flat or horse

[@johnlee5429]

Looking for “deal” wood arrow shafts Norway Pine from Northern Europe -Source ?

[@longbows]

Let me know when you find a source.

[@johnlee5429]

How much $ for a 40# bow 72” long shipped from GB to Columbus OH USA ?

[@longbows]

Hi, sorry, we don't export our Longbows.

[@fancymcclean6210]

OOPS posted before I finished commenting- silly old sod. Anyway Phillip, I wanted to finish by asking whether you are willing to ship to sunny New Zealand where I'm based as an Englishman in exile. Also, I've noted the spellification error in my premature comment. Should read: '..to own ONE of your..... Flaxen Saxon.

[@longbows]

Hi, Glad the info was useful. No, sorry, New Zealand is too far for the shipping costs and insurance to make it economically viable.

[@fancymcclean6210]

Thanks for the reply. I suspect I'll have to look for a New Zealand bow maker, I don't think there are many to match your quality though.

[@Welther47]

I was wondering about archey in rest of EU or the states, is it a wide spread hobby?

[@ProtossImba]

+Welther47 Definitely wide spread in Eastern Europe.

[@j2112c]

Thanks for the advice.

[@longbows]

+j2112c No problem, thanks for subscribing.

[@sumanngon]

What's the dimensions of the mother of pearl arrow plate you use on bows?

[@longbows]

Depends on the bow dimensions, approx 8mm wide, as I say, it depends. Are you making a Longbow?

[@sumanngon]

@@longbows I am getting one made over here in India by a bowyer of local repute...but it's laminated. Looking for a heavier self bow of yew wood if you can help me with it. But wonder if yew would do good in Indian climate. What's the waiting period for a custom made yew selfbow of around 180 lbs if I opt to get it done by you? We don't get Pacific yew here only Himalayan yew...don't even know if that's good material to work with. Do you make heavy bows?

[@longbows]

If the bowyer is of repute then he will know how to make an arrow plate. We only make Victorian Longbows, not War bows.

[@Jazzman-bj9fq]

Awesome video! I've found the folks in the archery community to be pretty amazing and this video further confirms that experience. It's gonna be a minute before I get my first longbow but I'll definitely keep your advice in mind good Sir!

[@longbows]

Thank you, glad it helped. Please subscribe if you havent already, also give our videos a thumbs up to help us out.

[@Jazzman-bj9fq]

Surely!

[@longbows]

Thanks, perhaps check out my bow making website www.howtomakealongbow.co.uk

[@Jazzman-bj9fq]

I think the process of making bows is pretty amazing. I really doubt that I'd want to try to build my own, I'm more interested in learning how to be a much better archer than learning the art of bow making, lol.

[@joshbc1157]

Where is your shop based?

[@longbows]

www.richardheadlongbows.com all the info is on here, we are based in Wiltshire.

[@joshbc1157]

+Richard Head Longbows thanks

[@AGermanFencer]

The thing i´d like to get into are Warbows ^^ This would be awesome. But its too much of a "sidehobby" even though im shooting selfmade bows since I can walk essentially and shooting craftsmen made bows for nearly as long :) Horses, Swords, Fashion, Arms & Armour mainly of 1400 are the main thing :D

[@OhanCockett]

Does your draw length impact thee height your bow should be?

[@longbows]

OhanCockett Yes, it certainly does with the English Longbow, your bowyer will take that into account when making it.

[@OhanCockett]

Richard Head Longbows so if you had a 26 inch draw the. The bow would be shorter?

[@longbows]

OhanCockett the shorter the draw length the shorter the bow, the longer the draw length the longer the bow.

[@OhanCockett]

Thanks

[@longbows]

OhanCockett no problem, thanks for subscribing and sharing.

[@WV591]

Being over-bowed has taken the fun out of shooting.

[@alexanderflack566]

How badly overbowed? Because if you're willing to make some changes to your technique, you can probably handle a heavier bow than you otherwise could. I've seen people go from struggling with their bow, shaking arms at full draw, to being able to shoot without shakes within a couple shots just by correcting minor flaws in their draw.

[@will2Collett]

it's the "OLD BUGGERS" that have kept the tradition. No offense taken. Thanks for your video's. MUCHLY.

[@longbows]

Glad you like it, thanks for the sub.

[@DaytonaStation]

Never lend; tools, books, or bows.

[@ENIGMAXII2112]

You can say that again! Lost some REALLY great tools this way.. Not again...