The difference between archery recurve bows and simple, or longbows, lies in the shape. Recurve bows have limbs that bend away from the archer, when unstrung. This form means that these bows are able to store a lot more energy when the bow is strung and fully pulled. An equivalent longbow would have less poundage, which means the recurve shoots the arrow faster, which produces a superior cast, and a more accurate shot.
For hunting purposes this makes recurve bows ideal, as for same power, a much shorter length of limb is required. When hunting, room to present your bow may be at a premium, especially if you are hunting in woods or scrub, so this is a distinct advantage over the long bow.
Some modern recurve bows have the additional feature, when being used for hunting, of being easily dismantled. The limbs can be readily removed from the riser, which both helps storage, and eases maintenance. Failure of a limb doesn’t necessarily mean the bow must be binned- instead only the failed limb needs to be replaced.
As to the history, the recurve bow is almost as old as human use of the bow for hunting. The Egyptians were known to be using recurve bows some two thousand years before the modern era. Those early recurve bows were also made from composite materials, as the modern bows are. The Roman also employed recurve bows for the Imperial Army, strengthening the tips of the limbs with lathes of wood. The development of the mounted archer was made possible, at least in part, by the recurve bow. It’s shortness enabled ease of use when shooting from horse. It was subsequently adopted by many famous marauding nomads, including the Magyars, the Huns and the Mongols.
Recurve bows today have a basic construction quite similar, being of a laminated construction, but modern materials are generally used. So wood and horn has been replaced by carbon foam cores, and fibre glass or carbon limbs.
The riser, which is the central part of the bow, can be made of metals such as aluminium, or carbon fibre, or perhaps a combination of both. Despite the use of modern materials, the recurve bow may be heavier than a long bow of the same length. This is not at all a problem, as that additional weight makes the recurve less susceptible to the excessive throw that accompanies release. A calm bow on release inevitably leads to better hits on the target.
In addition to the limbs and the riser, the modern sporting bow will be equipped with a bow sight, as well as a nocking point, where the nock of the arrow is fitted into the bow string. There is usually a fashioned hand grip, to aid stability on release.
When it comes to competitive shooting, recurve bows are pretty much standard these days. Archery at the Olympics is concerned solely with recurves, which shoot the latest low mass carbon arrows.
These have low mass, so the energy transferred on release of the string must not be excessive. Otherwise there will be excessive vibration by the bow, which can quickly cause failure. By optimal design, archery recurve bows give those involved in today’s sporting archery excellent cast, and so performance.
We’ve got the ultimate inside skinny on the use of archery recurve bows now in our comprehensive archery overview on http://www.recurvebows.org
