Ye Gods!

[GF.]

I'm feeling ****py, so I'm taking a day to lie low on the couch, which of course leads to some channel surfing.

There's this show called Top Sho. Like Survivor, except you have to be able to shoot, so they're competing with all manner of weapons. Right now, they're shooting longbows, and their 'expert', who was training the different shooters in on something slower, mentioned that the bowmen of Merrey Olde England were well known for drawing 180-200 POUNDS


:s:

Does anybody buy that? I'm thinkin' that may be beyond the modern day record....

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

I think he probably meant 180-200 Yards. It would take a pretty stout bowstring to take that kind of draw weight, even if someone could draw it. Although I think it was Odysseus had a good stout bow, so the story goes.

Alan

[Twanger]

GF - I'm not sure how much to trust Wikipedia, but it seems to be consistent with your post.

Draw weights

Estimates for the draw of these bows varies considerably. The original draw forces of examples from the Mary Rose were typically estimated at 667–712 N (150–160 lbf) at a 76.2-cm (30-inch) draw length. The range of draw weights was from 445 N to 823 N (100 to 185 lbf).[5] The 30 inch draw length was used because that is the length allowed by the arrows commonly found on the Mary Rose.


See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_longbow

[Greywolf]

I buy into that.
Seems as though I read of forensic evidence(try maybe NGeog'c) in the form of skeletal deformities from drawing the heavy bows.

[GF.]

Yeah, there's something in the wiki piece about bone spurs that had formed around the attachment points for all of the drawing muscles. Reminds me of a report on the natives of the far, far north, where the observer said something about the shoulder/arm skeletal structure being more massive and starkly formed than anything he had ever seen. You use a kayak the way we use cars, bikes, boats and feet, and you probably develop some serious pipes!

So according to all o' that, the strongest archer in today's world would be considered somewhat above average and Howard Hill, with his 110-140 or so pound longbows would have been thought something of a ...... sissy? :hmmmm:

I think I'm gonna take my 85% let-off at #50 contraption into the corner and whimper for a while....:bawling:

One thing gives me a little comfort, though. It wasn't that long ago (counting in centuries here) that a 45 year-old man was considered to be a Seriously Old Dude, sort of the way we think of Brett Favre today. At 45, a man would be a tribal elder and probably a great-grandfather if you figure 16-17 years/generation. (Oh, wait. I forgot that 37 year-old grandmothers are not that uncommon these days :stupid: )

But you think about it... Simple things. Like how many of our teeth would still we have if it weren't for the crowns & fillings?

Those guys in the olden days must have burned themselves up young. Can you imagine living that hard and then going on to reach a ripe, old age?

On the one hand, I have to winder what was the advantage of a draw weight like that? Didn't Saxton Pope determine that a #70 longbow will put a steel point through chain mail? Was it just that warfare was largely conducted at long range.

Hmmmm.... Talk about your arms races...

[Twanger]

Yes, arms race is right.
It must come down to how far my army's bow can shoot vs. yours.
If you can stand off 400 yards and pepper the begeebies out of your enemy while their arrows are falling 100 yards short - you've got quite an advantage.

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

My 35# longbow is what I enjoy shooting. I've shot a 50# recurve and it's just too much trouble. I've shot a compound a couple of times but get no enjoyment at all out of it. I'm a little bitty guy and although I can probably still bench 250# (once) I much prefer firearms to stringed weapons. Think of the arrow that would be shot from a 200# longbow. It would have to be a cedar stave.

Alan

[ncboman]

I think any man or group of men drawing 200pounds would certainly have been well known. :D

I don't think 200 pound bows were common enough to be the standard though.

[Twanger]

I understand that at one time Golf was banned in Britain because it was diverting men away from spending time with the long-bow!