Dry fire practice bow

[olddogrib]

In Jay Kidwell's book "Instinctive Archery Insights" he refers to a home-made device which allows the archer to safely practice draw, holding at anchor, and release (a dry fire practice device). It came from an article entitled "The Bow Tool" descibed in the Aug./Sept. 2002 issue of Bowhunter magazine.   He described it as 6 ft. of PVC pipe with eyebolts in the end and an old bowstring.  He did not mention what size pipe would provide the desired flexibility or how the eyebolts were mounted (they may have merely been press fit in the ends. Draw weights were obviously very light, but it was mainly to help develop consistent form/follow-through and "uncondition" the mental urge to release as soon as the target is acquired.  Anyone have any experience in making one of these or something similar?  I figure the hardware store probably frowns on folks coming in and bending their pipes!

[Markus77]

Here in sweden there is several of those in most archeryb clubs. One inch or slightly less is enough, drill holes in the ends so you can slip the sring thru and fasten them with tape or those eyebolts, which I don´t know what it is. It´s the kind of pipe electricians use to put cables inside, and they are all really flexible. You can even make a working bow with them, if you put smaller diameter pipes inside a bigger one. Have seen reenactment fighters who uses that.
  By the way, just finished the book myself, incredibly good book.

[olddogrib]

Thanks for the info Markus.  Most of the electrical conduit I'm familiar is galvanized metal, I think, except for flexible stuff which I think is basically plastic encased hose.  But it sounds like you're using something like PVC. I would have just thought PVC would buckle if bent beyond a certain point.  Any advice on hole size for the eye-bolts?

[mooseman76]

I made one after reading about dry fire bows somewhere.  I used a piece of 3/4" schedule 40 pvc, and 1/8" braided poly rope for the string.

1.)I cut the "bow" 60" long

2.)drill holes 1" down from each end of the pipe

3.)run the rope through the holes and a washer on the other side (I used rubber washers)

4.)tie one end of the rope in a knot, pull the other end to desired brace height (this works much better with 2 people) and tie that end off

Now you have yourself a "dry fire" bow that I use to teach myself proper form.  I shoot it a occasionally throughout the day, usually 5 shots or so every time I walk past it.  One note, keep the brace height high as it will bite your forearm.  I have mine set at 10.5" and still like to have longsleeves or an arm guard on...Mike

 

 

[Markus77]

I don´t know what eyebolt is but drill a hole big enough for the string to go through. You can fasten the string with a knot or tape or anything.

[J-KID]

olddogrib,

It was actually a TradGang member that put me onto that article about the PVC bow that I talked about in the book.  I've seen a few but never built one myself.  The one pictured by mooseman76 is excellent and easier to make.

[ishiwannabe]

Now that is interesting...thanks for the cool thread.
On a side note, there was a artcile in TBM that showed the same thing, more or less, for cheap kids bows. It showed how to add pipe insulation for a handle and shelf. Might help with the string slap...

[EricW]

Got one I used to use when shooting wheelie bows. To practice my release. Havn't tried it with fingers. Piece of pvc pipe and drilled holes in the ends to run a small eyebolt through.

[beekeeper]

I like the Form Master, it allows You to use Your own Bow and can be used with or without an arrow . Very easy to make and works great.