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Warbow myth?

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SimonUK:
I wonder whether the English exagerated the story. They probably had to explain why they were being thrashed by the Welsh.

deerhunter97370:
Thanks guys for all the info on this. Rod I put a field point an inch and a haft into a probly pine 4x4 post with a 50# bow. About three years ago. Thats the closesed I come. But I bought  3  2" x 12" red oak boards from a local hardware store and will start penatration test soon, and increase in bow weight and arrow size as time goes on and as I make stronger bows. I wiil post Pics when I start. Joel

Rod:
I  shot a field point into a live mature oak tree and it didn't even go in as far as the shaft but it was very difficult to get out again.
I can see a heavy bodkin getting quite good penetration on a plank that is very dry, even splitting the wood if the grain orientation permits. But clean penetration of 4" of sound oak sounds to me like poetic licence.
If it was so, those shafts would still be in there, you would not get them out short of destroying the door.
Rod.

outcaste:
I have shot a needle bodkin into a wooden fencing pole with a penertration of over 2 1/2 inches. This was shot from an 120lb ELB and thanks to the man who dug it out with his rondel!

Outcaste

nick1346:

--- Quote from: skeaterbait on February 06, 2008, 01:14:22 pm ---Another 2 cents on the myth. 4 fingers back then might not be as big as most people think, if I recall from my history lessons (which are nearly history themselves) the average height of a man back then was considerabley less than now, by roughly a foot. So it stands to reason that the fingers would be much smaller as well. Albeit, we're not talking half the size but weight measurements would not have altered as the other. A heavy weighted bow back then is the same as a heavy weighted bow now but relational measurements would differ.

Thoughts?

--- End quote ---

Interesting thought but again another myth, hieghts in the middle ages where comparable to today, the average height now is only about one inch more than it was then. They had a very good diet, when the crops didn't fail :D

The qoute has probably been mistranslated by historians with no idea about the penetrative powers of a bow. It's most likely that the door was that thick and the arrows penetrated to a depth  so  that they couldn't get the buggers out agian, that has been interpreted that the arrows went right the way through which is extremely unlikely.

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