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Warbow speed shooting

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Heiner:
Hiya,

while discussing construction and usage of the linen arrowbags used in the late middle ages, someone recently stated that "Shooting 8 arrows out of the back quiver is almost impossible to do." (translated fairly enough). I did not agree and some more words were exchanged, mentioning the influence of heavy draw weight on speed shooting. I stopped arguing for the time being and intend to go out this weekend and shoot some rounds myself to see what results I personally can come up with.

Not living in a nutshell, I ask you guys shooting heavy bows (100+ lbs): How many arrows can you shoot per minute? Which arrow keeping device do you use (sidequiver, backquiver, soil)?

Looking forward your valuable answers,
Heiner

ChrisD:
We had a discussion of this topic on another forum so I had a go - not with a longbow but a flatbow of 105lb.

Firstly, archers appear not to have shot from a bag or quiver - the habit, I believe, was to place the arrows head down in the ground to one side, handy for use. On this basis, I managed 10 arrows in one minute after 3 attempts ie on the other attempts I missed the cut and managed only nine.

They were not particularly aimed arrows but all drawn to a full length and the 'scatter' of arrows was not too severe, and in the context of massed archery, I would have defined it as 'useful' in that range was consistent - you certainly wouldn't want to have been part of a group standing where the arrows were falling!

C

bow-toxo:

--- Quote from: ChrisD on August 06, 2010, 02:52:01 pm ---We had a discussion of this topic on another forum so I had a go - not with a longbow but a flatbow of 105lb.

Firstly, archers appear not to have shot from a bag or quiver - the habit, I believe, was to place the arrows head down in the ground to one side, handy for use. On this basis, I managed 10 arrows in one minute after 3 attempts ie on the other attempts I missed the cut and managed only nine.


--- End quote ---

  They certainly seem not to have shot from a back or shoulder quiver which was used to get arrows out of the way when travelling to where the shooting was to take place, when the quiver would be transferred to the hip. Eirst, arrows tend to rattle in a back quiver. Second, it is awkward to draw arrows from a back quiver. Third,.raising the arm that high is a warning signal to animal or enemy. I would say that shooting arrows out of a back quiver is a pointless exercise. It would seem even more awkward in the case of an arrow bag with perforated leather disc which would be used in the late Middle Ages for war, the only situation in which a sheaf of 24 arrows was needed.

adb:
I believe back quivers are a Victorian invention. They're certainly not medieval.

Heiner:
Hey everbody,

thanks alot for the comments. I am very aware of the authenticity of back quivers in the middle ages. If my initial text lead to confusion regarding this, I am sorry for that. The basic question was the speed of warbow shooting, other information was just meant to put things in context.

Anyway, here are the results from the weekend:

Round 0, warm-up with a 55er: 12 arrows per minute
Round 1, 100er: 11 arrows per minute
Round 2, 100er: 11 arrows per minute
Round 3, 100er: 11 arrows per minute

Looks like a pretty stable result to me  ;).

I'd like to add that my level of training is deplorable right now. One or two arrows more will easily be achievable by improving the  nocking technique. More practise will also allow increasing the draw weight. 110 to 115 lbs will not be a problem.

For those interested, here are the links to the YouTube videos: 55er, 100er round 1, 2, 3

Regards,
Heiner

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