archers: bows in the rain?

The problem is the bowstring, not usually the bow. But I am not sure precisely what happens to them when they get wet - they may stretch, or may break, or may even shrink.

MadScientistMatt said:

The problem is the bowstring, not usually the bow. But I am not sure precisely what happens to them when they get wet - they may stretch, or may break, or may even shrink.

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They lose elasticity when they get wet. This happened to the Genoese mercenary crossbowmen at the Battle of Crecy in 1346. Their range was seriously hampered by their wet bowstrings, and they were unable to counter the English bowmen,who had wisely kept their strings dry (being able to unstring a simple bow when not in use comes in handy). The result was a slaughter inflicted on their French employers, and the introduction of the longbow as a primary weapon of warfare.

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KiwiChick said:

Hi,

The people in my novel use composite bows made from the horn of some kind of animal (possibly yaks), sinew and wood. I've read somewhere that damp weather is bad for bows. Can anyone tell me what would happen if archers tried to use these bows in the rain? Would they lose their spring and not fire far, or not fire straight, or not work at all? Would the bowstrings stretch or anything?

Thanks for any help you can give me on this.

KiwiChick

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Rain warps wood and makes leather and sinew stretch. It's also bad for wooden arrows. Many of teh old glues are also not waterproof, and anything glues with them can come apart in the rain.

But the problem is not as bad as many make it to be simply because most locales have something, such as beeswax, available to treat the wood and the bowstring. This doesn't mean you want to take the bow out in a downpour, but it does mean the bow and string will stand up to some rain.

Modern bowstrings are not affected by rain, and it takes a lot of water over a long period of time to harm a modern compound bow.

As a longbow archer, I can tell you that there will be even more problems.

Instinctive archery requires that you have shot so many times you know the arrow's tragectory intuitively. The wood arrows tend to soak up water and become heavier, htereby altering the tragectory. Further, the flethching, depending on the type of feather, when it gets wet becomes effected. THe modern standard for fletching is turkey feathers, and they tend to soak up water, lose their shape, as it were (It looks like they get crushed), and makes the arrows heavier. I believe in older times, goose feathers were used, and goose feathers, although not as durable as turkey feathers were much better at repelling water due to oils in htem. The feathers were glued on and wrapped on with some kind of thread, so if htey did get wet, the fletching would still stay on the arrow.

For the strings, today we use Dacron and a material called fast flite, back then, I've heard of linen strings being used, as well as sinew.

What you've got to remember is that the stirng when strung is always under some sort of tension. War bows back then were under a lot more tension, and consequently the strings would stretch over time, each string being good for a short period of time, after which it having stretched so much, you'd put a new string on (I suppose they used the old strings for other things, htey were still good for repairs, but not for bows.)
Even today, a modern string is only good for so many shots (I make my own and can tell you).

Here's the deal though, even today, each bowstring is waxed, so they will, to an extent, repell water, but as the organic material absorbs water, I suppose it will lose some of its structure and stretch, thereby, vompletelythrowing of the tragectory of the arrow.

THere is now also a rest on the bow, made up of fur or feather to let the arrow slide over and reduce the friction. As water is absorbed by this, it also reduces the speed of the arrow, increasing friction.

Also, the wood in the bow.

There are a couple things going on, the bow wood has a cellular structure that gives it its rigidity and flexibility. (Some woods are more flexible han others, naturally) By having water soak into the wood, the limbs ofthe bow gain weight, slowing the bow down. Further, the water destroys the cellular structure of the wood and also the elasticity, thereby slowing the bow down.

In sum, the arrow will fly at a significantly slower speed, throwing off the archer's aim, lessening the force of impact, and if the water continues, destroying the arrow and the bow.

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What parkinsonsd says is true. If the organic material gets saturated with water, nothing works right. But even in the old days, both could be protected from water to a degree. They couldn't really waterproof anything, but they could, and did, make bows, drawstrings, and arrows considerably more water resistant. Linseed oil or beeswax helps stop bows and arrows from soaking up water, and beeswax can almost waterproof even a leather or sinew drawstring. The Welsh often did this.

Terrain also plays a part. Even in a decent rain, it's easier to keep a bow, string, and arrows dry in dense forest than out in the open, and all equipment was often kept wrapped in something like oilskin until it was actually needed.

Whenever possible, you want to keep bows and equipment out of the rain, but this wasn't always possible, and properly treated, the bow could be very effective, even in the rain

Some excellent advice up above (I'm an archer who does historical re-enactment).
Just to add: think of the two old sayings "Keep it under your hat" and "Having a second string to your bow." The old longbow archers really did keep a spare bow string under their hats, to keep them dry.

Did you know...
It is still legal to kill a Welshman with a bow and arrow on a Sunday in Hereford? One of the old laws that were never taken off statute like the one that cab drivers should have a bale of hay and drinking water in the boot of their cabs (for the horses.)
That's one of the reasons I don't go to Hereford very often, well that and the parking fine I got there last Christmas.

http://iq.lycos.co.uk/qa/show/5235/...ur+washing+out+on+a+Tuesday+for+intance...../

I think they're still allowed to shoot Scots in York, too. If I ever go there, I'm taking my own bow and getting in first.

KiwiChick said:

Thanks for that. Next time I need to kill a Welshman I'll know how, when and where to do it.

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As long as it's not raining.

The same law also applies in Shrewsbury and Chester - and, of course, we could all be prosecuted for not practicing archery after church on Sundays. That was a law which was never repealed.

So the Battle at Helm's Deep in "The Two Towers" movie from Lord of the Rings couldn't happen. Or is that elven magic making the bows work. Cause it wasn't a drizzle it was a downpour.

Yep!

Peter Jacksopn should have known better. After all he must have studied British history at school in NZ and heard about the rain on the bow strings at Crecy.

Well, being an archery enthusiast, I would happily have answered your question, but I have nothing to add that the esteemed posters before me have not mentioned. =)