Coming over to the traditional side - advice please

[Lord_Azrael]

I've just sold my recurve equipment on here to a nice chap from England and am now moving my plans along to joining the longbow fraternity.
As a 'mad medieval person' with swords and armour already displayed throughout my house (yes, I'm single, no-one telling me I can't) I am wanting to adopt the fine art itself.

I have been looking through the sites of the bowyers online to see what is available as I intend to continue shooting target and clout, and maybe try some roving/field at some point.
What I need advice on is a good start point. I have seen a nice medieval longbow on Pip Bickerstaffe's site for £190, which I may be able to afford soon, and a couple of others for similar prices...and for a lot more!
I was shooting 38lb at 28" with the recurve and, going by advice on here, I believe I can go for about 10-15lb higher on the longbow (?)
Do you think the Bickerstaffe medieval bow would suit my purposes, at least for a few years, or do I have to attempt to find more money and go for the standard longbows around the £240 mark? Price is the real issue with me I'm afraid and I don't want to spend loads of money on something unsuitable.

Sorry, the post appears a bit ambiguos, but I am currently sampling a nice 12 year old malt I won yesterday

[alanesq]

Good choice ;-)

I am assuming you want a full compass bow (rather than a Victorian/butt style bow)
For a cheap starting bow this chap is worth a look Albion Archery
My first longbow was one of his £75 bows and I have been very pleased with it. Its had a lot of use/abuse and I have just passed it on to a beginner and its still going strong.

If you want to get into the medieval style then you may want to be drawing the bow to your ear, so make sure you get a bow which will draw to the length you want

[Macbow]

LA - pop along to Cawdor on a Tuesday night or a Sunday and I will introduce you to the ELB shooters, most of whom are also members of specialist longbow clubs and attend ELB only tournaments. While they do take their longbow shooting very seriously all of them shoot different categories for field archery ie recurve, AFB, so they have a balanced POV regarding longbows. Bickerstaffe bows are a popular choice.

[Jumile]

I bought my longbow from Steve Ralphs (Albion Archery, as mentioned above). It's his entry-level self sycamore bow that he uses for most of the films he consults on, and it's a lovely piece of kit. Definitely good as a starter longbow - especially as it's only £75 plus postage.

Eventually I'll get a whizzy longbow, I'm sure, but this one is definitely all I need at the moment. As with target recurve - sure, you could buy a Helix on day one, but would it do you any good?

[jaselpool]

Originally Posted by Lord_Azrael

I've just sold my recurve equipment on here to a nice chap from England and am now moving my plans along to joining the longbow fraternity.
As a 'mad medieval person' with swords and armour already displayed throughout my house (yes, I'm single, no-one telling me I can't) I am wanting to adopt the fine art itself.

I have been looking through the sites of the bowyers online to see what is available as I intend to continue shooting target and clout, and maybe try some roving/field at some point.
What I need advice on is a good start point. I have seen a nice medieval longbow on Pip Bickerstaffe's site for £190, which I may be able to afford soon, and a couple of others for similar prices...and for a lot more!
I was shooting 38lb at 28" with the recurve and, going by advice on here, I believe I can go for about 10-15lb higher on the longbow (?)
Do you think the Bickerstaffe medieval bow would suit my purposes, at least for a few years, or do I have to attempt to find more money and go for the standard longbows around the £240 mark? Price is the real issue with me I'm afraid and I don't want to spend loads of money on something unsuitable.

Sorry, the post appears a bit ambiguos, but I am currently sampling a nice 12 year old malt I won yesterday

Hi there - I'm lucky enough to live quite close to one of the Guild's own Bowyers Rod Lyons so I had him make me a tri-laminate ELB about 5 years ago now and she still shoots sweet. I cost around the £200 mark from what I remember. The best advice I can give you is have a good look around and check out the Guild's site as a starting point:

The Craft Guild Of Traditional Bowyers And Fletchers

Bickerstaffe bows are indeed well spoken of as are Rod's and also Richard Head's. Cost will depend on what you want it to be made from and like recurves you can spend a small fortune if you want to! Go for a bowyer that comes on recommendation, spend as much as you can afford, always buy matched arrows and STAY AWAY FROM EBAY for your first bow

Give me a shout if you want to chat about it.

Jason

[woodsplitter]

I have recently bought a longbow from Bickerstaffe. Before I ordered it, I had some email correspondence with Pip. I was going to order a medieval bow, but decided to go for the Basic bow, as Pip advised that it would shoot more consistently. As for the draw weight, I moved from a 36lb @ 28" recurve to a 45lb longbow with no problem.
A small problem I have encountered is that after a month of longbow, I shot the recurve - a modern, metal-handled take-down. I shot six arrows after which I needed a rest. I could hardly hold the damn thing up it felt so heavy!
A couple of people at the club have tried my longbow and could hardly shoot it after the first arrow because they were grinning so much. It feels that good.

[Lord_Azrael]

Thanks for all the replies. Hopefully I'll be all sorted soon.

[DeeH]

Originally Posted by Jumile

I bought my longbow from Steve Ralphs (Albion Archery, as mentioned above). It's his entry-level self sycamore bow that he uses for most of the films he consults on, and it's a lovely piece of kit. Definitely good as a starter longbow - especially as it's only £75 plus postage.

Eventually I'll get a whizzy longbow, I'm sure, but this one is definitely all I need at the moment. As with target recurve - sure, you could buy a Helix on day one, but would it do you any good?

Apologies to LA to wade in on his thread, but I too have been thinking of converting to Longbow ever since my youngest got his (Bickerstaff) and has enjoyed his shooting.
The bows from Steve do sound like a good starting point, especially as the whole family shoot and I get to shoot so rarely now whilst looking after the juniors at our club.
So, my question is; "Would this bow be able to be used at tournaments"?
Thanks,
D

[RichardH]

Are you GNAS? I seem to recall reading somewhere that GNAS require horn nocks.

[DeeH]

Originally Posted by RichardH

Are you GNAS? I seem to recall reading somewhere that GNAS require horn nocks.

Yes