Scythian limb work

[schatzperson]

Looking at pics of Scythian and some horsebows at "full" draw, it seems as if most of the energy is stored in the sections nearest the grip, with the tips hardly doing much ( just my visual impression).
This must surely place huge stresses (tension and compression) in these areas;
Would the design be more efficient and reliable if the other parts were made to to some more work?
Could not the the rest of the limbs be a little less stiff and contribute more energy wise ?
If the tips were to be more active , would this improve "letoff" (compound fashion)? ( at the expense of a siyah/lever advantage)?

Ok Ok, if these qualities are what make a Scythian a Schythian, then I guess its because of the original construction methods with materials then available; However I am just technically curious about this elegant, intriguing and classic bow.

[TJ Mason]

Originally Posted by schatzperson

If the tips were to be more active , would this improve "letoff" (compound fashion)? ( at the expense of a siyah/lever advantage)?

Other way round, I'd have thought. The reason compounds have a let-off and recurves don't is because the compound has a relatively short working section of limb combined with a levering system of cams and cables, whereas a recurve has a long working section of limb and no levering system.
There was an ancient bow (mentioned in "The Heretic Archer", though I can't remember the name of the bow) that had a high let-off. This had short working limbs close to the grip, and long levers to which the string was attached.

[schatzperson]

We really are agreeing TJ :-)
Or perhaps I was not clear enough:
My tentative observation was that in the case of the Scythian, since most of the work is being done by the lower midsection, the initial string pull would take care of this section first; Subsequently, as the draw deepens, the upper parts become levers and the pull levels out a bit; This was the relative letoff I was referring to.
My contention is that, furthermore, if the tips are allowed to "unravel", in the final stages of the draw, then more power and longer letoff, might be imparted to the design.
It seems to me that the original Scythian tips remain rather stiff even at full anchor; But perhaps this is for the siyah/lever effect; In this case one wonders if making them do actual work would work better for cast, letoff and draw length.
Again I add, this is just my uninformed brain working.