Longbow vs. Horsebow - Archery Comparison

Was a FAQ, so I put there my 50 cents.
Interesting to see that the higher the arrow weight, the closer the result in speed. But look for yourself.

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Armin Hirmer
Malta Archery
100 Triq Annibale Preca
Lija LJA 1915
Malta

[lucienpaul]

I have 2 horse bows, 3 recurve bows, 3 long bows and 3 Compound bows. I loved all of them. They are different from each other but they are great to shoot for fun at my backyard. I never hunt. Never have a thinking about going to hunt 😂😂😂. Thank you, Armin. God bless.

[Nemoticon]

I love the history and construction methods of historical bows. A beautiful collection you have there, you describe the character of the bows with anologue like 'feel'. I NEED to get back into archery.

[jakearthurs]

I’ve always been a longbow archer, but I love the size of a recurve.
There’s just something I like about the feeling of holding a longbow

[anthony]

Armin is such a great archer and teacher. Wish we had him here in Australia 🇦🇺

[billsmart]

Very interesting, thanks! I dropped out of archery as a teen, and picked up electric guitar. I never lost interest, but was so disappointed when it seemed traditional bows were ignored for new high tech compound bows. So glad to see people loving historical archery!
On another note: I have a 78" arm span and never found arrows long enough for me, plus archery shops were nonexistent back then.
I could have really used a long bow and long heavy arrows comfortably with great effect.

[nelsonwest]

These videos are great !! Easy to learn terminology..I'm taking notes..too many archery snobs out here in Cali they act like it's privileged information. Wish you were here..the videos make up for it. Thanks again 🙏

[recien]

Khergit Veteran Horse Archer: *"Let me show you how it's done."* -mounts horse-.

[Bretonbikes]

Just a small point. The Bows used by British archers (especially Welsh) in war were 6'+ long, had a draw weight of 100 lbs+ and fired war arrows weighing 2 lbs or more. The forces involved were so great that the skeletons of these professional archers were heavily distorted by the forces and musculature they developed. Just in case anyone confuses toy 'longbows' with what made history in places like Agincourt;-)

[ionsorinporojan]

Hi armin !😀
I'm a huge fan of longbows !!! In the prezent time, I'm shooting with a hazel piramid bow
( that I've built it myself), 60lbs at 24" . Great speed, 150/170 fps ...and verry smooth shooting .

[tasogare]

I am no archer, neither I know what bow is the best as you do. Recently I read that in late 17th century a Turkish official in England wanted to attend archery competitions with his composite bow but he wasn't allowed. Anyway he finds a way to enter with the help of embassador. He his arrows reached double the distance the best local archer managed. They were so impressed that they asked him if he was the champion back in Istanbul. He said '' No, with this distance they don't even let me compete, let alone they call me a true archer'' I think his range was somehwere 400 meters

[lebondave]

Excellent comparison, the summary is really nice.
Thank you Armin!

[xllab]

This is the only video I could find on this topic. Really interesting!

[AnimaTriste]

The longbow/flatbow, that You are using for comparison is really subpar with his thick and broad outer limbs, hence the vibration and relatively slow speed.
The best limb designs toward Holmegaard or Andaman bows should outspeed every recurve from same materials. Vibration is also reduced.

The horse bow, on the other hand seems to be at least average, if not even above average, not price wise (I don't know it) but regarding bow design.
So, when we leave bow profiles aside (and we can do that, because latest findings in bow design show, that limb mass placement is even more important; be it what regards behaviour or the speed of the bow), we have one "high gear" bow, with relatively narrow, light outer limbs, and because shorter, it has reduced limb mass further-tatar bow,

and the other, which is just the opposite, "low gear bow"; heavy, thick and broad outer limbs; but longer, and here it gains some speed back despite more limb mass.

These two bow categories (in the sense of limb mass placement, not profile, You can test the two longbows, or horse bows, and get the similar results), react predictable in the way it is showed in your test:

High gear bows favor ever lighter arrows to some limit, until the arrow weight doesn't get to similar to "dry firing" the bow, they are fast from beginning, but they can not move heavier arrows as fast, like it's not possible to start a car uphil in a fifth gear.

Low gear bows start relatively slow, but can move heavier arrows relatively faster, because heavy arrow drains more energy from such a limb, this is showed also in less handshock with heavier arrows. The limit of low gear bow is his inital and end speed; lighter arrows are not predictably faster because of that, and they leave much remained energy in the limbs.


So, my sole objection to this highly interesting video would be: when we are comparing bow categories/designs in general sense, lets take at least averagely effective designs of both varieties, and than make the comparison.

For those that don't know this, and still think, that recurves are faster:
When properly designed, in the sense of limb mass placement and forward profile of the bow, the flatbow is the fastest bow.

I myself have two bows, classic flatbow/longbow, 68", very narrow trapezoid limbs, even narrower outer limbs, light deflex reflex, and one more to hybrid style, heavier riser, 66", extreme deflex reflex, but the string doesn't touch the limb at all. Limbs also very light outer limbs.

I have yet to meet a recurve of any kind, of same poundage, and arrow weight per pound, which is faster.

The last volume of bowyers bible, in the chapter "Bow design and performance revisited", subtitle "Straightbow versus recurve", gives profound explanation of that. Also on other places in the same volume.

My comment is really not meant to be an attack of any kind; more a further explanation for those that are interested, and a suggestion for subsequent videos?

I enjoyed this video all the same immensely; from these two, my vote goes to horse bow also.

I like this channel very much, and I respect and enjoy a wealth of free knowledge in the areas of traditional shooting and bows, which are less familiar to me.

Greetings and best wishes to You, Armin!

[Jiyukan]

Excellent comparison ... I knew already, but liked to see how you demonstrate yourself :P

[vfc]

Excellent video! I think a sequel would be to take the same 2 bows and shoot the horn bow with a thumb ring

[Seofthwa]

Thank you this was a very informative video for me. It helped me make my decision on which bow to buy.

[ScoutCrafter]

I used to shoot competitively, however my love for different equipment meant I would suffer if I shot different bows. I gave up shooting competitions and just shoot for fun. You have excellent form for adapting to new bows. The muscle memory has to be fast acquired and short term to shoot lots of bows. Instinctive shooting is lots of fun! Thanks for the great

[_gold_eye_]

I personally prefer Turkish composite horse bows over longbows as either way at the period in history where they were used they were becoming obsolete with the advent of better plate armor and crossbows were taking over so bows would become far less about armor penetration and more about distance however for the lightly armored groups who aren’t wearing as much plate a bow still had an effect but as I said plate armor was becoming far more prevalent so bows kind of took a backseat from their former glory as the supreme ranged weapon it still had its place though I’d say when it comes down it at this point it boils down preference and the pros and cons of the weapon Composite bows were better but were far more expensive and less durable and longbows were cheap and durable but less effective

[timothym]

I like how despite your personal preference you choose to not "stack the deck" by only shooting light arrows out of the longbow. I see too many people who obfuscate the reality by only testing each type of bow on what they're good at. I personally like both types of bow, and will especially acknowledge that at low draw weights the longbow design can be quite inefficient.

[SteelKicker]

I'm a beginner and was trying to find advice on my first bow to buy. Not even 1 minute in "This bow is good because you can lose your string and still use it to stab on the battlefield" lmaooo love it.