What were the different types of bow?

Answer 1

Bows (as in Bows and Arrows) come in many different kinds.

Bows are one of the earliest projectile weapon systems. Seen in many cultures around the world.

The English, or Welsh, Long Bow as as tall as the man who shot it and whose arrows could pierce oak doors. They were deadly 300 meters away. (Some records indicate an arrow flight up to 838 Yards)*

Other kinds: The Cross Bow (using a draw-back and a lock, that held a high-tension string.) Advantage - high powered and it could be cocked and held without tiring the arm and released at a moment's notice. Deadly, but inaccurate at any long distance.

Bows (Chinese Bows, Japanese, African, Eskimo, Native American, etc.) are sometimes made of one piece of wood, or composited from many different materials, but all create tension on the string then release it hurling the arrow (or bolt) away from the shooter.

Some would add in various catapulting devices that hurl huge bolts with a mechanical device, a winch, to draw back the cord into this category.

In service, G.Robin Smith

*P 130-135, A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times, by George Cameron Stone.

Answer 2

That question is impossible to answer without defining the term "longbow".

For example, bows used by the Sirono people of South America are perhaps the longest bows ever made, being up to 12 feet tall (but averaging 7 to 9 feet). The Wai Wai of British Guiana also use bows of over 7 feet long, with enormous arrows around 6 feet long.

Traditional Japanese bows are also extremely long, but are made of composite materials including flat sections of bamboo glued together; they are cetainly "long bows" but have no connection at all with medieval longbows.

Some of the native American tribes of the eastern woodlands made very long bows, such as the Mohawk hickory bow (6 feet tall in the American Museum of Natural History, New York).

In terms of materials, medieval bowyers preferred Spanish or German yew wood, but some bows were made of other timbers such as elm or ash.

Answer 3

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