Acquiring a Longbow

You will need to know your draw strength and the draw weight that you want your longbow to be. If you don't know these things already then go down to your nearest archery shop and they'll help you determine what these are. Longbows can be huge. A modern Tournament longbow has a draw weight of up to 60 pounds and a Medieval replica longbow has a draw weight of up to 75 pounds! You would have to be quite experienced or at least have an unusual level of arm strength to be able to pull that back. So you want to start with a longbow that is much less "weighty", something that has 20-30 pounds of draw weight. Longbows can be and often are custom designed.

Ever since the rise in the interest of things like the Middle Ages thanks to books and movies such as The Lord of the Rings many people who come along wanting a longbow desire it just to own it and put it up on their wall or "play" like they know how to shoot it, perhaps dressing up Dungeons and Dragons style and posing with the longbow in their hand. But in fact this is not a good idea and not a good reason for wanting to buy a longbow. Instead, you should be someone who has been reading about archery and is now wanting to take up the sport, or you should be somebody who already has some archery experience and now wants to experience what a longbow is all about. If you are a pure beginner then what you'll want to do is get signed up at a local archery club and start taking lessons with your longbow.

When it comes to selecting the right arrows to use with your longbow, there can be a confusing array of them to consider. You will want to carefully go through arrow catalogs and consult experienced archers who have used longbows to get their input before you make a purchase. However, with arrows you get what you pay for, just as with longbows, and therefore it comes down to price. That is, the more money you spend for your set of arrows, the more accurately matched they'll be with your bow. The flexion of the shaft and the arrow weight all have to be taken into consideration for the sake of getting the most accurate shooting possible. The more money you have to spend on arrows, the more customized they can be as the manufacturer will consider it worth their time and energy to make sure you have the "perfect" match for arrow and longbow.

When you have acquired a longbow, take good care of it. Pay attention to your longbow's string, especially where it sits in the groove of the nock as these are places where fraying can happen. You really should change your string once per year even if it looks like new, and keep a spare string at all times. If you ever shoot in inclement weather always wipe down your bow with a dry cloth before putting it in its case. You can use Beeswax oil to polish and preserve your bow, too.