How do you choose to wear your arrows?

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Tom_Ranger
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Tom_Ranger »

Cimrandir wrote: Thu Mar 17, 2022 3:02 am We've discussed Shad before so I won't reiterate my problems with him but I will say that Greg has it right. He's got a distinct lack of real-world experience and a simple hanger for your bow like that is begging for trouble on the trail. Best to just carry it.
I'm not sure I completely agree, although I don't disagre either. Try to carry a bow for several hours and you will be looking for a better way.

His nail concept maks a good point that the bow needs to be quickly accessable and out of the way. Now he just needs to address making it more secure.
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Iodo
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Iodo »

Cimrandir wrote: Tue Mar 15, 2022 3:19 am On the subject of historical quivers, not too long ago I came across this recent find of a 4th century Romano-British figurine. It's notable as being a possible depiction of the birrus britannicus but if you look at the shoulder, you can clearly see a quiver. They think it might be depicting a hunter. While quivers are a rare find from the late antiquity and early medieval period, I dare say this justification is a good as any for a back quiver in a hunting context.
Hey cool, I think you just stumbled upon historic evidence for the fantasy ranger :lol:

Tom_Ranger wrote: Fri Mar 18, 2022 3:50 am I'm not sure I completely agree, although I don't disagre either. Try to carry a bow for several hours and you will be looking for a better way.

Not wishing to argue or anything, but I think quite a lot of the members on this forum have carried a bow for a few more than just several hours in the wilderness, there is absolutely something to be said for not having large items on your back when trekking through forests

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuRiWAmms7o

Tom_Ranger wrote: Fri Mar 18, 2022 3:50 am His nail concept maks a good point that the bow needs to be quickly accessable and out of the way. Now he just needs to address making it more secure.

agreed, I've always been a fan of Shad's channel since before I was a member here and the nail catch is something I will be trying out at some point, for Shad's use case (on his land that is mostly open grass) it makes a whole lot more sense than it does in a forest, I personally think it would be best used as a handy way to sling a walking staff if you want both hands free when your out in the open
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Elleth
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Elleth »

Iodo wrote: Fri Mar 18, 2022 7:43 am Not wishing to argue or anything, but I think quite a lot of the members on this forum have carried a bow for a few more than just several hours in the wilderness, there is absolutely something to be said for not having large items on your back when trekking through forests
Yes. and yes. One can swap the bow from hand to hand as needed, can rest it on one's foot on a stop, can brace it with nocked arrow across one's body in tension (hard to explain, easy to figure out*), can even (with a short and deep enough bow) hang it over one's shoulder for a short time. But hanging a longbow from a nail like that would be a nightmare in the woods - it looks much more the brainchild of a video game inventory system than actual forest time.

edit/update: I can't speak for proper warbows, but my own ~45-50 pound yew woods-bow is so light it can rest on my open fingertips. I have literally forgotten it's in my hands, and I'm not the picture of fitness.

In our own history, selfbows will eventually take a set, and generally it seems when one is not expecting to use them medieval bows were carried unstrung**. And if one was expecting to use the bow - for hunting or war - it was carried in one's hand.
I've seen a number of modern illustrations and reenactors using a linen bow bag which is I assume period-correct, but (fair warning) I can't recall ever seeing a find report or period illustration documenting them. (I've love to see the pointer if anyone has it!)
merf-bow-bag-peel-affinity.jpg
merf-bow-bag-peel-affinity.jpg (61.05 KiB) Viewed 7129 times
(Photo from La Belle Compagnie's "The Peel Affinity")

Eurasian steppe archers had cases for strung bows, but that's outside my realm of expertise: I imagine those fall out mostly from it being a pain to string a short heavy horn bow while mounted. Hrm... though American plains horse archers had quiver/bow cases for an unstrung bow, so maybe that's not the case. I know we've a couple horse archery fans here - anyone know for certain?

-----------
* For a person who shoots with the bow in one's left and the string in one's right: 1. nock an arrow. 2. drop your bow hand such that the bow is across your body, the back of your left hand faces out ahead of you, and the arrow is still between the fingers of your right hand. 3. Just walk like that a while, and shift things around as your muscles tire. You'll find in time a place where the weight of the bow is partly borne on your middle section, and partly held in tension between the pull of the string and the weight of the bow. Your right hand rests against your middle. It's not something you'll hold for days, but it's surprisingly comfortable for long stretches, and you can have the bow up in an eyeblink.

** In at least the later medieval era (less relevant to our "period") there were also game laws to worry about. I've a vague memory - I think in Ohler's The Medieval Traveller that carrying a strung bow along the road near royal woods could get one in serious trouble. But then, so could sleeping out. Merry Olde England was not exactly Eriador. :)
Last edited by Elleth on Sun May 01, 2022 5:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Peter Remling
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Peter Remling »

I made lined leather bow cases for my bows. The first one I made for my short recurve hunting bow, was grey with sherpa (synthetic sheep skin ) lining. The lining is sewed to the top, bottom and seam, so it doesn't shift. It has a strap to go over the shoulder and a drawstring closure for inclement weather. The second and longer one for my longbows is brown leather with the same lining material but I embroidered a leafy vine running up and around it to keep the lining in place. I added both a shoulder strap and a middle on the case handle so it can be carried in a number of ways.

https://i.imgur.com/Nc7eD98.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/o2VgZ7W.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/fy0z1F1.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/cKzoYbi.jpg

The older members will remember seeing these pics. If I ever do another, I'll go with a greyish brown and then do the vines and make them solid instead of just outlines.
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Greg
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Greg »

I DO remember those! What a flashback!
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Elleth »

I think I missed those - very cool!
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Iodo
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Iodo »

Peter, thanks for the links, those are awesome :P
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Cimrandir »

That case is awesome! I could totally see a ranger using something exactly like that roaming the wilds.
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Eofor »

Tom_Ranger wrote: Thu Mar 17, 2022 1:21 am I don't think we can just address the arrows without also talking about the bow. I came across the following video where this individual created a very good way to carry and quick draw his bow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ua5PkxaDMY
Late tot he party yet again! I knew before I clicked it what the video was going to be and I have to agree with the others opinions.

I do see your point thought Tom but my answer was to look for a historical solution to the problem first and thus was born the Waterford bow! A recreated Irish 12th century bow that draws 45# at 22" from a bow that is only 49" ntn. It's compact and portable and is quite easy to maneuver in even the heaviest undergrowth.

Personally I would never walk for several hours with a strung bow anyway, I would string it when i was ready to hunt or fight. If I was surprised then it's not going to do me much good anyway.
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Iodo »

Eofor wrote: Thu Mar 24, 2022 4:03 am ...I would string it when i was ready to hunt or fight. If I was surprised then it's not going to do me much good anyway.

That is very true, it's only in modern fantasy that we see bows being used in short-ish range combat, historically and practically bows are used for hunting and long distance combat (eg. from castle walls, over distance on a battle field, hunting, and any situation where you are the one doing the surprising), all these situations are planned for and none of them require a ready strung bow that can be drawn and used at a seconds notice
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Elleth »

To be fair, I think to the extent that's the case in medieval Europe, it's an artifact of a mostly settled society.

Push out to the fringes of settlement - especially in dense forest - and I suspect you'll start seeing shorter range skirmishing again. At least that was our American experience.
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Turgolanas
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Turgolanas »

Iodo wrote: Thu Mar 24, 2022 4:45 pm
Eofor wrote: Thu Mar 24, 2022 4:03 am ...I would string it when i was ready to hunt or fight. If I was surprised then it's not going to do me much good anyway.

That is very true, it's only in modern fantasy that we see bows being used in short-ish range combat, historically and practically bows are used for hunting and long distance combat (eg. from castle walls, over distance on a battle field, hunting, and any situation where you are the one doing the surprising), all these situations are planned for and none of them require a ready strung bow that can be drawn and used at a seconds notice
I will have to disagree a bit on the idea that bows are for solely long range combat - a well trained archer using historical methods can shoot accurately and very rapidly (These methods pre-date Rome in several examples, and may have been less common in medieval combat due to more stationary wars. Now, it is a given that they are prepared, as they need to have several arrows in the draw hand with a drawn and strung bow. My take on keeping a bow strung is that if you are intending to head into combat (as the grey company was) or you are expecting trouble. it needs to be strung and most likely an arrow needs to be on the string or in the hand. I would also guess that archers using closer range quick fire methods are likely to be using lower-ish draw bows (50 -75) rather than the english longbow.

All that to say - with proper preparation and training, bows can be a viable close range weapon and can respond to surprise attacks. I wouldn't depend on it personally (not enough training), and I would argue that one would need to be carrying a strung bow and arrows in the hand as well. Notably a back quiver does not limit an archer's effectiveness in this case as far as I can tell.

Example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEG-ly9tQGk
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Greg »

There is no historical proof of anything Lars Anderson has published yet known. He is a skilled 'trick' archer who uses lightweight bows to perform impressive stunts, and nothing more. Iodo's statement was correct, in that true historical accounts and documentation all point to the bow being either a Hunting weapon, or used at Range in war...particulary in the Western European theater.
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Cimrandir »

447090DF-AA8E-46C2-A0D1-894384E02F6A.jpeg
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Just a joke but yeah, Greg has the right of it. Anything posted by Lars should be treated the same as Shad - with a grain of salt the size of a large boulder.
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Re: How do you choose to wear your arrows?

Post by Greg »

Cimrandir wrote: Wed Apr 27, 2022 7:41 pmJust a joke but yeah, Greg has the right of it. Anything posted by Lars should be treated the same as Shad - with a grain of salt the size of a large boulder.
Since we're all being honest...I prefer Shad of the two.
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