Any Archers on Hexus ?
No not the blimmin' radio soap
Been thinking about taking up archery as a hobby for a while now, but other than yanking down small trees as a lad and whittling them into an english longbow I've got no idea where to start or what to look at.
So - anyone had a go at archery or know the kinds of costs involved equipment-wise ?
I asked my dad something similar yesterday, he used to hunt with a longbow (now illegal) . Best advice is to visit a club, they often have open days.
Many people look at a longbow and think its a toy, you can easily hurt/kill yourself or somebody else with one. My first experience with one resulted in me putting an arrow straight through a shed, luckily nobody was on the other side. As far as I can find via google the longest handheld and hand drawn bow shot was 1,222.01m.
I've done some archery on holiday once. Man those things are deadly. I have no other details though, other than that it was fun!
PHP Code:$s = new signature();
$s->sarcasm()->intellect()->font('Courier New')->display();
Should have said there are various types of bow and they come in a variety of draw weights. Think beginner ones are around 40lb, the most powerful ones are 100-150lb.
hehehe, Robin Hood impressions aplenty
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")
Did archery in my younger days one summer. Great fun, just join a beginner course and see if you like it. buying your own equipment is bloody expensive though
Knight 1: We are now no longer the Knights who say Ni.
Knight 2: NI.
Other Knights: Shh...
Knight 1: We are now the Knights who say..."Ekki-Ekki-Ekki-Ekki-PTANG. Zoom-Boing. Z'nourrwringmm.
Invest in a crossbow!
they look like great fun.
Recycling consultant
I've feeling if you're clever about it and have a friend in the USA, you could get stuff sent over for much less cash in the UK. Not certain, but it might be a way to reduce costs.
No trees were harmed in the creation of this message. However, many electrons were displaced and terribly inconvenienced.
My dad made us crossbows when we were young, out if spare wood and knicker elastic and a clothes pag as a firing pin! Use to shapren up short pieces of bamboo!Originally Posted by mgh0
Great fun!
We'd probbaly be arrested these days...
Yeah just given the pro a call at my local club (South Bucks), they have a six week beginners course for £25, seems pretty good value considering each session is about an hour and a half
Cost-wise I'm quite suprised at the prices for the basic kit, £100-150 doesn't seem unreasonable for a decent quality bow, and its not the type of equipment that needs to be endlessly replaced unlike other sports I've played lol
pffft crossbows, outclassed by an English longbow - just ask Edward
I would imagine it's the same sort of kick as shooting matey..
I don't have a gun, but I use a club gun, and have exclusive use of it. I'm gradually building up my kit as I go. I now have glove, jacket, scope etc. But when I started - everything I used was owned by the club. It's something you have to really find out if you can do it first, cos if you can't there's no point in spending thousands of pounds (and believe me, you can, very easily) on kit, only to be rubbish.
There will be a club near you, and if they're anything like the rabble I shoot with, they'll be a friendly bunch who'll be only too glad to help you along.
The English also fielded a number of crossbow armed troops at that time. But for shear rate of fire nothing came near the longbow. Paste from another site below.
At the battle of Account, sources estimate that there were about 5,000 English archers. At a rate of fire of 8 arrows a minute, 40,000 arrows could be loosed each minute; that is almost 700 arrows a SECOND! After the battle, some chroniclers say that the battlefield looked as if it had snowed, such was the quantity of fletchings from the arrows in the ground.
Cool hobby.
I have a few friends who are into it here. One has a cheap beginers compound bow (it has pullies a bit like a block and tackle) which is great fun but a bit too easy to pull back and not that powerful. I think he brught it form a local sports shop.
Another friend has a much more hefty fibreglass/composite recurve bow which is pretty lethal. It has a medium draw weight so even complete amateurs (like me) can take a shot with it. He also had a lovely lemonwood blank for a longbow which he brought in spain or something. Unfortunately he broke it while limbering it up after spending hours forming it to the right shape with a spokeshave.
As for crossbows I'm sure you could design a semi automatic one.
Anyway arnt they illegal in the UK at the moment?
Crossbows are legal in the UK, don't think theres even an age limit on having them but not certain on that bit. Its just illegal to use them and any other bow for hunting. Barnett are just about the biggest name in crossbows and are British, some of compound bows are truly awesome, but will happily penetrate a house wall so very dangerous.
just make sure that you get a good wrist guard, get it wrong when you release and it cains like a good 'un. Done this a number of times but its not got the same kick as shooting,its actually quite eay to control the kickback on archery.
Be warned though, the danger element means that 99.9% of places you will do this at at gonna be hella strict on you and you do have to seriously behave when in 'archery mode'
m@
Please do not message me about Scan Free shipping, I no longer work for HEXUS.net
noted - cheers
As for the safety aspect - I've used pretty much every pistol calibre in the good old days of private firearms ownership, and our club was VERY strict indeed, I'd imagine a lot of the range rules are similar to archery.
Well - in all honesty I'd prefer a compound bow, alright yes because Rambo had one- but mainly because of the power they generate - very cool
however they are PRICEY, and whereas a good recurve like a Win & Win Evolution will set me back around £90, a starter compound is around double that (saying that there is a nice looking compund from battleorders for £100, however I'm not entirely sure if it is a decent bit of kit)
Looks like a recurve to learn with, and as I develop the technique and hopefully the skill, I can progress to compound.
Anyhoo - first lesson tomorrow evening, so I can go find out more
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
