Bamboo backed Hickory Longbow - Thoughts

[Joe M]

I am very close to making a decission on purchasing a bamboo backed hickory longbow. I was wondering what the thoughts are of these particular bows? I have hickory longbows with no backing which I like very much. I thought the bamboo backing would be an added bonus. Thoughts?

[djthompson]

bamboo does seem a popular backing at present. I'm certainly hoping to make a bow with one soon. I belive that bamboo is a good material to use with a bow - assisting with cast, good strength & durability, looks good.

One thing to think about is if you want a bamboo back with raised or flat nodules.

Rgds, Dave

[Joe M]

Originally Posted by djthompson

bamboo does seem a popular backing at present. I'm certainly hoping to make a bow with one soon. I belive that bamboo is a good material to use with a bow - assisting with cast, good strength & durability, looks good.

One thing to think about is if you want a bamboo back with raised or flat nodules.

Rgds, Dave

Dave,

What are the advantages and/or disadvantages of having or not having raised or flat nodules?

Also, would the raised be more traditional in look, feel, and performance, in your opinion?

Any information is helpful. Thanks!

[dave_t_aber]

would having the nodules smoothed/planed down possibly reduce some of the strength in the bamboo, wouldnt it possibly break up the run of fibres going up the length of the bamboo? at a guess. I say this as ive heard that the majority of the tensional strength is held in the fibres on the very outside of the bamboo shaft.

[Kae]

I have shot bows made with front/rear laminates of bamboo, front AND rear laminates of bamboo, knobbled, smoothed, etc etc.

They are all fantastic bows! AFAIK the only difference between a knobbled pieceof bamboo and one that has been planed flat is the appearance.

The best bow I have shot, was a rear laminate of bamboo (knobbed), middle laminate of purpleheart and then three rear laminates of bamboo (smoothed). Wickedly fast, and on-target aiming was much easier than with a heavier wood longbow (as bamboo is a grass, not wood ).

Kae.

[English Bowman]

Originally Posted by Joe M

Dave,

What are the advantages and/or disadvantages of having or not having raised or flat nodules?

Also, would the raised be more traditional in look, feel, and performance, in your opinion?

Any information is helpful. Thanks!

If you want a traditional longbow, then stay away from bamboo. It's not a traditional material (Then again nor are most woods, but it's more obviously not traditional, if you see what I mean!) If you want a sweet shooting bow, then I've heard good things about it, so go for it.

Daniel

[djthompson]

Originally Posted by Joe M

Dave,

What are the advantages and/or disadvantages of having or not having raised or flat nodules?

Also, would the raised be more traditional in look, feel, and performance, in your opinion?

Any information is helpful. Thanks!

I believe keeping the nodules adds strength - though when flat boo is still fantastically strong. It is a snappy quick material - v. nice.

Personally, Bamboo isn't really traditional - so if you go for a boo backed bow - show it off; and have raised nodes.

You can even get it scorched - so it's all stripey.

Cheers, Dave

[Joe M]

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it.

I don't know what I was thinking when asking if a bamboo back longbow would be traditional?

I will go with the bamboo backing, I'm more concerned of having a reliable bow I don't have to worry about being strong enough for lots of shooting, so the nodules will stay.

As my longbow shooting progresses I want to move up in bow quality. I started out with linen backed redoak LB's, then moved to hickory with no backing, and I feel that a bamboo back hickory bow would suffice for now and for the part of the world I live in.

Again my thanks to all of you for the good input. I figure that if I'm now a longbow shooter this is the place to get good information and advice!

[djthompson]

For what it's worth...

As i understand it, A well made bow made out of say ash will be better than a badly made bow out of yew.

I belive the difference between a well made bow out of say maple/or ash, and a well made yew bow is not as big as one would think (in terms of measurable arrow speed for bow size/weight).

Rgds, Dave

[djthompson]

For an idea of how heat treated bamboo with raised nocks can look, take a look at this:




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