Equipment: Bows

 Unlike recurve and compound bows, the longbow doesn't require a lot of equipment.

You can spend a fortune on individual pieces however, and naturally that's up to you.

Sights

Longbows don't use sights like recurve and compound bows, instead you have to use either the point of the arrow, or some other mark.

Some archers use pots on the ground to aim at, if the bow is very powerful often at short distances you have to aim in front of the target.

I use a band, like the example above. These can be moved up and down. Mine is an o-ring from Homebase (plumbing department), they sell a great variety of sizes to fit all bows!

You can mark the bow to get your sight marks, then move the band up and down. However, this is a little damaging (and the mark could change) so I prefer a bit of broken arrow. It has a red mark at the bottom so I know which way is up, and the ranges are listed with marks. Very high-tech.

You can see the marks for indoor shooting (top) and 50 yards (closer to the red band). This is about the length of a pen.

Gloves and Tabs

Gloves are very important for a longbower, especially if like me you have delicate skin. There are two types, one for the 'draw' hand, which grips the string, and one for the 'bow' hand, that acts as the rest for the arrow.

Draw Hand

You can use a tab for the longbow, I know of a few people who do. However, I found them irritating, and decided to go for a full glove.

  

Again this comes down to taste. I prefer the open-palmed style as there is less to get in the way, and it stops your palms from getting sweaty! At first when you use the glove the leather will be stiff, eventually you'll find your natural string-holding position will create a comfortable groove.

Bow Hand

The bow hand glove caused me a lot of problems. When I was first looking for a longbow I tried out one and created a lovely scar on my finger from the arrow fletchings.

  

The first glove I tried was a single finger. It was useless as the finger part was too short, and exposed the knuckle, as well as being too wide.

I then tried a golfing glove. This was cheap at only 7, but doesn't contain the reinforcing you really need. I had already worn little holes in it before I moved to glove number three...

I finally found a glove on a longbow specialist's site. I bought a medium, which was hopeless and went to another archer, so I finally bought glove number four in a small, but it's still a little too big for me.

Arm Protection

Protecting your bow arms from the string is very important, especially if you are drawing a high-poundage bow. Although your elbow shouldn't be in the way of the string, it's surprising how a simple lapse of concentration can put it in harm's way!

I originally went for a full-arm length protector. However, I found that it creased uncomfortably at the elbow, making it an irritation.

So instead I went for the traditional leather forearm version. I still get bruises with this one even though it's two layers of leather and suede, usually from me being careless with my arm position.

Bow Stand

At Selby we tend to use the large hedge as a bow stand, however, having on for competitions can be useful as you can store additional arrows in it.

This one was made for me by a member of the club. Thanks Steve!

Case

As longbows are expensive, I would recommend you buy some sort of case to put it in.

This might just be a simple bag, or even a fleece-lined extravaganza!  Mine is a plastic monstrosity which is basically a giant tube. It has the advantage of offering full protection for the longbow, although I also added a traditional bag inside to protect the bow. The disadvantage is that it barely fits into my Vauxhall Corsa...

String Protector

Most bows come with some way of keeping the string in place when the bow is not strung. This means that you don't loose any customisations to the string, for example any additional twists you might have added. This is usually just a piece of ribbon threaded though the top nock of the bow, there are usually holes for this purpose. Some of the more expensive bows also come with built-in solutions.

However, you can also buy versions that slip over the top of the bow, and hook onto the string. I personally prefer this version as it's easy to use, not as fiddly as trying to tie a bow in a ribbon at the end of a long day's shooting.

I've customised mine with a smokey quartz stone as I make jewellery, and I liked the idea.

Training

To try to help me, I bought a Saunders Power Pull to help build up my muscles. As I'm shooting almost every other day, I have to confess I haven't used it as much as I perhaps should of. However it may come in useful for the winter...