# Bow and Arrow used by Green Berets? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 8, 2013, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760 "2013-05-08T01:52:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760/41 "2013-05-13T18:05:53Z")
How’s that? True, I used to have a compound bow that had sights on it, but there’s no reason you can’t put sights on a longbow (or shoot a compound bow using the same aiming techniques that logbowmen of yore used). ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760/42 "2013-05-13T18:27:56Z")
An archer can achieve good accuracy out to about 40 yards with just a little training with a compound bow, a traditional bow 20 yards with just a bit of training. Any type of survival bow one makes from green lumber would not be all that powerful but could kill and be fairly dangerous out to about 10 yards. If made by someone who knew how to make bows from good bow wood you can make something just slightly less powerful than a modern fiberglass bow. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760/43 "2013-05-13T21:59:39Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > … Not everyone who wanted one qualified for one of those funny hats and few of those funny hats qualified to go off and work with the Yards and other IPs. It took a different skill set and type of soldier… “Yards”==Montagnards, I guess “IP” 😕 ---
**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760/44 "2013-05-13T23:00:50Z")
Indigenous Personel ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760/45 "2013-05-14T10:32:29Z")
> [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > There’s a Class B version of the ASUs, just like there was with the old Greens. A Class A version as well. ASUs can be worn as all three: Dress, A, and B. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760/46 "2013-05-14T18:06:22Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > And if you’re going to go googling for information on arrow making, the feathers are called “fletching”. I strongly recommend you be very careful with your spelling if you want to look at images. Thanks. My best laugh of the day. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760/47 "2013-05-15T12:56:46Z")
The Special Forces might use them, but the Very Special Forces are not even allowed to use weapons unsupervised. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760/48 "2013-05-15T14:24:05Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Napping flint for use as arrowheads isn’t that hard to learn and there are other materials they could use. Nitpick: knapping. Napping hardly ever achieves any practical result with flint, unless you do it for a _very_ long time. > [@](#): > > Or just sharpen a stick. You can kill with a sharpened stick. To say nothing of sharpened mangoes. > [@sweeteviljesus](#): > > How’s that? True, I used to have a compound bow that had sights on it, but there’s no reason you can’t put sights on a longbow (or shoot a compound bow using the same aiming techniques that longbowmen of yore used). A compound bow “locks” when fully drawn, so you can keep it drawn as long as you like to aim down sights without much effort. A regular bow doesn’t, so you’d better learn to aim fast (or better yet, learn to shoot without aiming at all), unless you like holding 150+ pounds of force in the case of an English longbow. The longbowmen of yore, at least the military ones, didn’t aim or even shoot at individual targets at all. They instead trained to loose arrows at given range increments, as ordered. Easier to time and coordinate volleys that way, faster rates of fire, can be done when shooting in multiple ranks where the rear ranks can’t even see what there might be to shoot at etc… Of course, I expect many of them were also hunters/poachers in peacetime, so those probably knew how to shoot \*at \*stuff rather than simply shooting in the general vicinity \*of \*stuff :). ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760/49 "2013-05-15T16:31:16Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > [The Crossbow and the Bow in Modern Warfare](http://http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/maney/aaa/2010/00000007/00000001/art00005) > > The Green Berets are not mentioned above, but documented cases of bow and arrow usage in 20th century Western warfare abound, especially between WW II and the Vietnam War. Silent and flashless are the main advantages, and survival hunting of arboreal game behind enemy lines is one of the main applications. Linkey no workey. And I’m especially interested in a cite about hunting game. I think there are very few places on earth at the present where hunting game with arrows is easy enough that anyone doing it for sustenance would have any time left over for soldiering, especially if one is worried about being detected by hostile forces. Certainly if you’re trying to get anywhere, it’s faster to just carry a huge pack full of rations and walk slowly than it is to spend most of your day chasing game. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760/50 "2013-05-15T19:08:39Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > A compound bow “locks” when fully drawn, so you can keep it drawn as long as you like to aim down sights without much effort. A regular bow doesn’t, so you’d better learn to aim fast (or better yet, learn to shoot without aiming at all), unless you like holding 150+ pounds of force in the case of an English longbow. I think you might mean a crossbow that locks, compound bows do not lock open. There is a let-off in the power needed to hold the string back once you get it pulled all the way back, but you still have to hold quite a few pounds. And getting the thing pulled back to start can be a bugger. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760/51 "2013-05-16T04:51:08Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > I think you might mean a crossbow that locks, compound bows do not lock open. > > There is a let-off in the power needed to hold the string back once you get it pulled all the way back, but you still have to hold quite a few pounds. And getting the thing pulled back to start can be a bugger. Hence the scare quotes 🙂 but yeah, I could have phrased/explained that better, so thanks for the correction. But the point stands : a longbow can be a bugger all the way through the draw, and holding it fully drawn would in fact be the buggerest part of the process ; whereas a compound bow makes taking time to aim easier on the bowman by deliberate design. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760/52 "2013-05-16T17:47:08Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > So are they issued a bow & arrows, for survival purposes? There is an awesome show called “Dual Survival” (available on Netflix) that has two guys in various survival situations with different approaches to survival: One guy is a hardened former Army sniper redneckish good ol’ boy, the other guy is a new agey hippie who uses the indigenous people’s techniques and hasn’t worn shoes in 20+ years (in the polar region of Canada he covered his feet with wool socks to walk through the snow). The sniper guy would improvise bows and arrows in multiple episodes just with heat treated sticks and natural fibers he could find, and successfully hunted small game with them, some of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen in my life. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760/53 "2013-05-16T18:17:09Z")
The draw force on a compound bow is approx 50% higher than a traditional bow of the same draw weight. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760/54 "2013-05-16T18:52:26Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > The draw force on a compound bow is approx 50% higher than a traditional bow of the same draw weight. Uh…what? ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760/56 "2016-04-30T01:35:02Z")
Even Green Beret Zombies? ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760/57 "2016-04-30T17:35:21Z")
_Especially_ Green Beret Zombies. Do you know how much finger strength is needed to pull a trigger on a gun? Do you know how hard it is too keep muscle tone up when you literally haven’t moved a muscle in what, months? Years? A good Green Beret Zombie always has a Plan B ready to go. ---
**Author:** ![stosh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@stosh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stosh)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2016, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760/58 "2016-05-01T19:12:25Z")
The fact that it was a video on utube may have something to do with it. I think they train on many different weapons that they don’t carry around with them. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2016, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760/59 "2016-05-01T21:17:33Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Not for everyday grunts, but for Special Forces yes; that’s what makes them special. Oh, and you can build a bow and make arrows. American Indians did it all the time, not that hard to do. And if they chew each mouthful of food 32 times, they can fletcherize AND fletch simultaneously. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2016, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760/60 "2016-05-03T00:05:48Z")
I’m surprised no one’s posted this yet: SF guy in jungle: [http://www.movieposter.com/poster/MPW-59127/Hot\_Shots\_Part\_Deux.html](http://www.movieposter.com/poster/MPW-59127/Hot_Shots_Part_Deux.html) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760/61 "2016-05-03T00:07:51Z")
> [@quiltguy](#): > > And if they chew each mouthful of food 32 times, they can fletcherize AND fletch simultaneously. 😃 And be able to sit still? Wow, they train our guys well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-and-arrow-used-by-green-berets/657760.md?page=4)