Freezing old and new traditional bows?

[highlife]

Question for all ... I have a remote cabin up here in Alaska and I leave a few bows in it while I am gone. It becomes an ice box when we leave and then warms up with the wood stove while we are there and then freezes back up when we leave. Any thoughts on what this freeze thaw cycle does to a laminated bow regardless of its age?

Thanks.

[Bjorn]

I would think that laminations stay put as long as there is no moisture getting in and out. Lots of laminated things suffer the same extremes. I would not leave them strung however.

[TonyW]

Skis use wood, fiberglass and epoxy.

Check this guy out:


 http://hackaday.com/2013/04/09/recurve-bow-make-from-wood-and-skis/

[highlife]

Good point TonyW!
Love the McGuyver idea!

[Hit-or-Miss]

I have left my 60's vintage Browning Explorer 2 at camp (Northern Maine), as a back up bow for the past 6 years. The camp is unheated / shut down during 99% of the winter. Still just as solid and fast as any new bow out there. I have left my old PSE Blackhawk in my unheated garage for at least a decade, still solid, no issues. I would be more concerned about heat than cold.

[kuch]

I've been thinking about and have no real experience with it . but I would think the rate of temperature change may be a factor.  Or  leave the bows in a "cold area" in the cabin.....ie porch?

[highlife]

Thanks for the insight guys. I was concerned about the rapid rate of temp change as well. I leave a 1966 Kodiak and a Osage Selfbow at the cabin and they seem to be holding up fine.

[Bill Sant]

Vincent,  Our cabin is 15 miles north of Sourdough, minus 30 is not unusual, and the heating process doesn't have any ill effect on the bows I leave there.  Bjorn is right about leaving them strung but other than that I don't think it hurts them at all.  As a matter of fact I think they handle that kind of cold way better than I do.

[highlife]

I agree with them dealing with the cold better than I do ... lol

[jackdaw]

Cool thread...wondered about cold on them as well...wonder if the get somewhat "stiffer" when in the zero degree stuff for extended periods of time...more than two-three hours??? Perhaps even gain a foot or two arrow speed??? Means nothing in the real world, but just curious..??

[TonyW]

I bet whatever happens, they are still fast enough to get the job done. Did a little checking on speed versus temperature to see what the fastest mammal in Alaska might be on a good day. Found one at number 7 on the top ten list.

1. Cheetah - an animal built for speed. The Cheetah is indigenous to south-western Asia and Africa.  71 mph  = 104 fps. In 2009, a Cheetah from the Cincinnati Zoo set a world best time of 6.13 seconds for 100 meters. Not sure how fast the record is for the cheetah shivering in the Anchorage zoo.
2. Pronghorn antelope   57 mph = 83.6 fps  University of Idaho zoologist John Byers has suggested that the pronghorn evolved its running ability to escape from extinct predators such as the American cheetah, since its speed greatly exceeds that of extant North American predators.  
3. Blue Wildebeest (brindled gnu)  50 mph = 73 fps  Evolved to outrun cheetahs, lions, and hyenas.
4. Springbok  50 mph  = 73 fps Ditto on predator-prey evolution.
5. Lion  50 mph  = 73 fps
6. Brown hare  48  mph = 70 fps
7. Red Fox  48 mph = 70 fps  Finally got one on the list you could find in Alaska! Bet they slow down when it hits subzero temperatures a lot more than your bow!
8. Grant's gazelle  47 mph  = 69 fps
9. Thomson's gazelle  47  mph = 69 fps
10. Horse  45 mph = 66 fps

I figure that most of these speedy animals would not survive a weekend in your unheated cabin, and they would become "stiff" as the title character in "Weekend at Bernies."

[highlife]

I think you are on to something Tony!