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Re:Collections: Why Archers Didn't Volley Fire by ses1984 on Sunday May 04, 2025 @10:01PM (#43891317)
I think only trained professional archers could use a 170lb pull bow at all.
Re:Collections: Why Archers Didn't Volley Fire by sigseg1v on Sunday May 04, 2025 @10:37PM (#43891496)
Agreed. I'm an amateur archer and I asked my archery instructor the highest poundage recurve bow he's ever seen someone fire, and he says that one time someone came to the range with a 100 pound draw bow, but he's only seen that once in 10 years.

Compound bows of course you can go higher because of mechanical advantage, but either way I don't think that people realize how difficult it is to draw a 100 pound bow. Typical professional recurve bow users would rarely want to exceed 50 pounds as I understand it.

Re:Collections: Why Archers Didn't Volley Fire by Xylakant on Monday May 05, 2025 @01:15AM (#43892111)
There’s also a bit of a different optimization goal in modern archery - the goal is to put as many arrows precisely on a target. More draw weight helps up to a certain extent, but ranges are pre-set and limited and once your draw weight is high enough to comfortably propel the arrow that far, more weight will not improve things. Aiming gets harder at a higher weight. You could shoot a heavier arrow, but the benefits are somewhat limited - it punches a bigger hole which helps a bit, but you’re not trying to kill the target - so the added penetration is not interesting.

In a war setting, higher draw weights increase both distance and penetration, which are desirable.

Re:Collections: Why Archers Didn't Volley Fire by acjohnson55 on Sunday May 04, 2025 @11:47PM (#43891796)
My understanding is that English longbowmen trained from their teens on the weapon and you can see on the skeletons how it warped their bodies.
Re:Collections: Why Archers Didn't Volley Fire by scott_w on Monday May 05, 2025 @01:17AM (#43892118)
Yes but they weren’t starving them for their whole lives.