Deben Archery Club

Archery for All, Young or Old..

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Longbow

A longbow is a type of bow that is tall (roughly equal to the height of a person who uses it); this will allow its user a fairly long draw, at least to the jaw (the average length of the Mary Rose arrowshafts is 30 in). A longbow is not significantly recurved. Its limbs are relatively narrow so that they are circular or D-shaped in cross section. Longbows have been used for hunting and warfare, by many cultures around the world, a famous example being the English longbow, as used at the battle of Agincourt. Amateur bowyers today can craft a longbow in about ten to twenty hours, while highly skilled bowyers, such as those who produced medieval English Longbows, can craft wooden longbows in just a few hours. Many bows to day are made of laminated wood, to take advantage of the properties found in hard and soft woods, traditionally these were achieved by using a section of wood that had heartwood and younger outer wood. Mary Rose Bows were up to 185lbs in Draw Weight