Bow question.....

N

naenpredta

Newbie
K so im brand new to this and I want to use a long bow and it says that the max length is 58" but i don't know if thats tip to tip like a bow sting... or the length of the curve???????? so which on do they measure??? any help would be great thanks :D
 
Well, when I asked about this, I was given the answer that its the total length before bending, so if you were going to make a max length bow ( 58") then I would -6" to get 52" pipe and bend it, foam, tape and tip..

-Matt K.
 
Matt is right as far as I know, and if you have more questions on bow construction feel free to ask. I've made a few. ;)
 
So for LARP bows you would still use PVC piping or could you use like a traditional wooden long bow? What do you use for the bowstring and the arrows?
 
Yes, PVC pipe is used for the core.

Bows in our game do NOT have a string attached. Arrows are cloth packets filled with birdseed with a "tail" attached. Here is the description from the book:

"Bows are made of a curved phys rep, padded like a regular weapon. No string is attached, and thrusting tips must be on both ends...The grip of the bow must be in the bow’s center and the bow may only ever be utilized while holding the grip."

Arrows are spell packets with a ribbon or string attached for the tail, which should be 12-14 inches in length. The spell packet description from the book is:

"Spell packets are constructed with bird seed and fabric. The bird seed should be the small variety, with no large sunflower seeds or other heavy or sharp items that could hurt...The birdseed is placed in the center of the fabric, and the fabric is gathered around it and held together with tape or a rubber band or sewn shut. If there is a “tail,” it must not have sharp
tape extending past the end of the tail, and no metal or plastic tie wraps may be used. Packets should be loosely packed—tight balls of birdseed can hurt! You should never use so much material that the resulting packet cannot fit into a 35mm film canister. Packets that are larger than that will be confiscated by a marshal. The packet may be of any color except
orange."


The bow is fired by holding the bow out in front of you and touching the packet to the bow with the other hand. You draw the hand back with the packet until the end of the string or "tail" clears the fingers of the hand holding the bow. You then call your damage, IE: "3 normal!" and throw the arrow packet at your target.

Hope this helps!
 
jnelson said:
Yes, PVC pipe is used for the core.

Bows in our game do NOT have a string attached. Arrows are cloth packets filled with birdseed with a "tail" attached. Here is the description from the book:

"Bows are made of a curved phys rep, padded like a regular weapon. No string is attached, and thrusting tips must be on both ends...The grip of the bow must be in the bow’s center and the bow may only ever be utilized while holding the grip."

Arrows are spell packets with a ribbon or string attached for the tail, which should be 12-14 inches in length. The spell packet description from the book is:

"Spell packets are constructed with bird seed and fabric. The bird seed should be the small variety, with no large sunflower seeds or other heavy or sharp items that could hurt...The birdseed is placed in the center of the fabric, and the fabric is gathered around it and held together with tape or a rubber band or sewn shut. If there is a “tail,” it must not have sharp
tape extending past the end of the tail, and no metal or plastic tie wraps may be used. Packets should be loosely packed—tight balls of birdseed can hurt! You should never use so much material that the resulting packet cannot fit into a 35mm film canister. Packets that are larger than that will be confiscated by a marshal. The packet may be of any color except
orange."


The bow is fired by holding the bow out in front of you and touching the packet to the bow with the other hand. You draw the hand back with the packet until the end of the string or "tail" clears the fingers of the hand holding the bow. You then call your damage, IE: "3 normal!" and throw the arrow packet at your target.

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

Oh ok....I'll just take a couple boffers then. ;)
 
Dreamingfurther said:
Matt is right as far as I know, and if you have more questions on bow construction feel free to ask. I've made a few. ;)
Click to expand...

About how much does it cost for you to make a long bow or a short bow? I've been playing with the idea of getting one. I've got one i can borrow but i would perfer my own. I may want to aquire one some time this season. Im probably more keen on short bow.

Only thing is I would need to get Florentine and Two Weapons before I could go long sword / short bow. And i think thats like 12 build for a Templar. it might have to wait a season until i get my Earth Pencil. So I'm just doing research right now, but if i decided I did want one could you make one for me, and how much would you charge?

thanks
 
It's ten build for templar, six for flourentine and four for two weapon.
 
Dreamingfurther said:
Matt is right as far as I know, and if you have more questions on bow construction feel free to ask. I've made a few. ;)
Click to expand...
Thanks is it hard to put a design on it? my bow and my swords are black and i wanted to add a design or something in green. I might just do the handles if it gets to hard...
 
naenpredta said:
Dreamingfurther said:
Matt is right as far as I know, and if you have more questions on bow construction feel free to ask. I've made a few. ;)
Click to expand...
Thanks is it hard to put a design on it? my bow and my swords are black and i wanted to add a design or something in green. I might just do the handles if it gets to hard...
Click to expand...

well it would depend on what kind of design you were going to do..as well as how crafty you are...I tend to go one maybe 2 colors very simple...

--Matt K.
 
Jevedor said:
Dreamingfurther said:
Matt is right as far as I know, and if you have more questions on bow construction feel free to ask. I've made a few. ;)
Click to expand...

About how much does it cost for you to make a long bow or a short bow? I've been playing with the idea of getting one. I've got one i can borrow but i would perfer my own. I may want to aquire one some time this season. Im probably more keen on short bow.

Only thing is I would need to get Florentine and Two Weapons before I could go long sword / short bow. And i think thats like 12 build for a Templar. it might have to wait a season until i get my Earth Pencil. So I'm just doing research right now, but if i decided I did want one could you make one for me, and how much would you charge?

thanks
Click to expand...

I'm going to guess that you're asking dave and not me...or you could be asking me as well...the cost would depend on the length and design of bow...simple curve or recurve..somewhere in the 10-20 mark...maybe or if you can do any crafty type stuff I'm willing to trade...

-Matt K.
 
For folks wanting to make their own bows, but who don't want to mess with shaping hot PVC.

As I understand it the 'normal' way of making a bow is to use a heat source, like a heat gun, an oven, or a pencil torch, to heat the PVC until it's soft, bend it into shape, and let it cool while holding it in the shape you desire. You can make very complex recurve bow shapes this way.

However, I know from experience that you can bend a piece of PVC by the following method. Get a piece of PVC a few inches longer than you want your bow to be. Cut a notch into the PVC close to each end. Tie off a string to one end, then bend the bow until it's a little more curved than you would like to it be when it's finished. Tie the string off at the other notch, stick it in a closet, and leave it for a month. When you take it out it should have taken the curve, and you'll have a very evenly curved piece of PVC. Cut the notches off the end, add foam and tape, and go shoot people.
 
You can also fill the core of a piece of pvc you want to bend with boiling water. cork the end and bend it into shape for a very even simple longbow curve.

Personally I really like a recurved set-up because it can give you nicer blocking surfaces, but for a shortbow a simple single curve is probably better.

And pvc is not necessarily the only core material you can use. If you want to put in the time and are careful you can shape the bends out of pvc and epoxy kite spar pieces (which you can't bend) for the straiter parts. Nearly all the chapters I've played at will allow this since once you epoxy two pieces together they might as well be a single core. This can make some pretty cool ultra light bows. But ask your chapter first, since I know there are some out there that aren't willing to consider alternative weapon building methods like this.
 
FrankManic said:
For folks wanting to make their own bows, but who don't want to mess with shaping hot PVC.

As I understand it the 'normal' way of making a bow is to use a heat source, like a heat gun, an oven, or a pencil torch, to heat the PVC until it's soft, bend it into shape, and let it cool while holding it in the shape you desire. You can make very complex recurve bow shapes this way.

However, I know from experience that you can bend a piece of PVC by the following method. Get a piece of PVC a few inches longer than you want your bow to be. Cut a notch into the PVC close to each end. Tie off a string to one end, then bend the bow until it's a little more curved than you would like to it be when it's finished. Tie the string off at the other notch, stick it in a closet, and leave it for a month. When you take it out it should have taken the curve, and you'll have a very evenly curved piece of PVC. Cut the notches off the end, add foam and tape, and go shoot people.
Click to expand...


i love that stick it in a closet and leave it for a month part. lol
a good idea though
 
I'd like to say that short bows are so short they look really silly. Not that that is stopping me from making a bunch.
 
Well... that's the trade off for getting something you can use a longsword with. Also why you only get base 2 damage. Longbow is still the best ranged weapon IMO. ;)
 
No, I mean, a bow that short just wouldn't work. The spring couldn't store enough energy to throw an arrow any considerable distance with any force. From what I've experienced you need about three feet of something to get a good bow going, and even then you'd probably have to make it a composite recurve. My fifteen pound kids bow is about twice as long as a legal alliance short bow, and it's about as dinky a bow as you can have and still cast an arrow off of.Mind you, I've already made two short bows with black duct tape to rep horn nocks and a suede leather grip, but they look sort of silly.

Come to think of it, what's the reasoning behind being allowed to parry with a bow? Is it something along the lines of allowing the player to defend themselves while they work their sword out or something? A real bow doesn't weigh enough to effectively parry with, and even if you did manage to pull it off you'd destroy the bow, even a little chunk taken out of the wood would likely make the bow snap the next time you tried to draw it.
 
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