How Long is a Short Bow?

[OldBow]

I thought I might summarize the thread
 (http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,5330.30.html)
about short bows for an article for PA. Any opinion on just how short a bow should be to be in this category?

[Pat B]

Don, personally I would consider anything under 58" as a short bow for my 26" draw(thats twice my draw length plus 10%). I have made self bows down to 50"  and am working on a 49" sinew backed ERC bow. For me, these are very short. With sinew backing short bows can be shorter.     Pat

[DanaM]

Anything shorter than Pappy Gonna pay for that one I bet

[Keenan]

For some of us,   even those shorties, are "long" bows,,,
 I've got a 64" that I'm just finishing up.    I almost have to use a step stool to shoot it.    Keenan

[Kegan]

"If you can tiller it over your knee, it's a short bow- not a longbow."

Can't remember who told me that .

[Keenan]

 Don't pay any attention to those taller people Pappy. They're just jealous because we have such an advantage when stalking. Keenan

[huntertrapper]

yeah i can sneak better i am working on a red oak board bow its 54 inches will i need to back that?

[Kegan]

yeah i can sneak better i am working on a red oak board bow its 54 inches will i need to back that?

Depends on the draw length, width, how straight the grain is, and the style. Shouldn't need one, but it sure makes things easier

[huntertrapper]

good straight grain and it is 1 a half wide, how do i test draw and weight? i made little bows where i bend a sapling and add a string when i was younger. but never a good hunting bow.

[Hillbilly]

You can test your poundage with a bathroom scale. Get a 1X2 board, cut a little notch in one end to hold the string. Mark the inches down the side. Set it on the bathroom scale and put the bowstring in the notch. Pull down on the bow, and it will give you poundage at drawlength.

[huntertrapper]

okay i had tried to make a tillering tree at my tech school and i just made notches every 3 inches, just so when i set the bow up i could see the limbs. i dont whether i did it right though.

[1/2primitive]

I go by the twice draw length measurement for D bows, so with a handle, it would probably be like Pat said, that plus a little extra.
     Sean

[Pappy]

I'm use to it Dana,I am lucky tho,cause I ant the shortest one in the club so I get to come off with some of them short jokes myself.I conceder anything under 58/60 short but I have seen a lot of really short ones on here so I ant sure what to concider short anymore.
    Pappy

[a finnish native]

anythiong under 54" real short bows are under 52"

[jackcrafty]

Should this be a relative measurement?

The way I determine the length of a short bow (for my kids, friends, etc.) is to measure the distance between the base of the sternum and the ground.  I'm 68" and a shortbow (for me) is 47"-48".  If the average male height is 70", then average shortbow would be 49"-50".

Coincidently, the short-bow archer in the picture is drawing the arrow to the chest, and his anchor point is the base of the sternum.

(Also, for those of you like to "investigate" this kind of stuff, you'll notice the length of the shortbow in the picture is (approx.) the distance between his anchor point and the bottom of his feet  )