Congrats, HoneyBadgerDC. Way to go out on a high as a bowyer.
Seems to me the distance an arrow flies depends mostly on 3 factors
- Draw weight
- Draw length (a 1200# draw doesn’t do much if you only draw back an inch)
- Angle you shoot the arrow (45 degrees in a zero wind situation)
Wind and arrow stiffness are also factors and I’m sure there are others
I find it interesting you still use pounds for draw but meters for distance
Brian
Congrats to HoneyBadgerDC! On a slightly related note, I shot a bow this weekend for the first time in decades – lots of fun (I’m sure they were pretty wimpy beginner bows – this was at a summer camp-ish environment), but the tip of my right middle finger has been numb ever since.
You are correct Brian, there are many factors involved. The peak draw weight has not much to do with energy storage we call this a force draw curve, and then we have the efficiency issues. With wood bows hysteresis is a major factor. How cleanly the arrow comes out of the bow is also a huge factor.
Common complaint, most use a tab or glove to avoid this.
I’m still amazed that a 90# bow managed to beat 160# bows. I assume that you try to get the force profile as uniform as possible, and draw distance is going to be based on the length of human arms, so not much room for variation, there. That means that energy imparted to the arrow is going to be roughly proportional to draw force, and assuming that arrows are ballistic, range is proportional to energy. Unless my assumptions are way off the mark, then, for a 90# bow to outrange a 160# bow, the 160# bow must have some truly monstrous inefficiencies. Which in turn also means that if you could make a 160# bow with the same efficiency as your 90# bow, you’d blow all the old records completely out of the water. And the fact that gains in efficiency that large are still possible means that, ancient though your sport might be (and “how far can you shoot” is probably as old as archery itself), it’s still in its infancy.
That’s true, The weight of the arrow has a huge impact on the speed it comes out of the bow. It can also affect how well it can handle drag. Draw length is actually pretty flexible as most of us can draw about 6" past our normal draw if we need to. Shooting light arrows drops efficiency in the bows but will often make it up in extra speed. Lots of tricks in finding the right balances.
The footbows you hear about that shoot over a mile are shooting very tiny arrows like knitting needles and they are very short bows with short draws but heavy pulls. Learning how to optimize everything for the bow you are shooting is a big part of the art form.
A lot of scientists and engineers with backgrounds in physics are involved with this sport. They tend to team up with MacGyver types like myself and work out the kinks.
Dang! Congrats, HB! That’s awesome!
Another congrats!
::archery clap, whatever that sounds like::
Thwwwppp! Arrrghgh!!! Gurgle Gurgle. <Silence>.
Ah. So archery clap can’t be cured by antibiotics, huh?