self bows

[Plumber]

who makes a good self bow? also do they hold up for the same amount of time as any other bow.thank you ED

[cmh]

Hello Ed, I have never owned one but Pine Hollow Longbows look great to me  

[McDave]

John Strunk in Oregon makes a good self bow for sale, usually from either yew or Osage, although he makes them from other woods too.  I think some of the finest self bows have been made by people for their own use.  Some of those are featured each month in Primitive Archer magazine.  Since a good, and even excellent and beautiful self bow can be made with readily available hand tools, making it yourself is something you might want to consider. Classes in making them are offered from time to time around the country, and you can probably find one close to where you live.  Self bows are frequently offered for sale at traditional archery meets, with the advantage that you might get to try it out, or at least pull it, before you buy it.

Any self bow has a certain number of shots in its lifetime, which can be extended by proper care and unstringing the bow when it's not being used. It's hard to say how long one will last, but not nearly as long as a fiberglass backed laminated bow, unless it spends most of its life hanging on the wall.

[Tajue17]

my oldest shooting selfbow is 32yrs old,, this bow is left under the bed un strung and is osage.  still has the same amount of string follow from when I received it, small cracks showed up that are running with the grain on the back but this is normal and they never worsened.  

as far as I know the bow will last a lifetime unless it gets too dry or the outside finish wears off and lets too much moisture in,  I also exercise the limbs before shooting gradually short drawing over and over lengthening the length of draw each time.

only osage wood bows and one pignut hickory have lasted 10+ years for me..

[pghrich]

hello, i am fairly new to selfbows, [just finished #5 an elb]with proper care [using a stringer, storing properly]  they can and will last for many thousands of shots, mine are all made of hickory. after i finish a bow i shoot it everyday. i exercise the limbs before shooting and unstring when done shooting, everytime, i never leave it strung, when i have to go somewhere even for just 30minutes the string comes off. all my bows are around 50#@28" and my draw is only 25" so the limbs are never pushed to the limit.with all that said a selfbow under the right conditions will last many many years. rich pyle

[mike g]

I have had a couple of them, I think my 29" draw kill's them....

Arvin Weaver has made the last two selfbows that were world champs at the IBO World Traditional Championship shoot in 2012 and 2013!

Selfbows are a bit more finicky than a laminated bow. Like mike g, I too have a long draw (29 1/2") and have broken a couple selfbows. Selfbows are different because they are a single piece of wood. One may last 30yrs and the next one 30 days.

Bisch

[bowhuntingrn]

The above mentioned Arvin Weaver makes a heck of a nice bow, my wife has one that we picked up for her last year. I also recently picked up one of Ryan Gill's creations in a trade on this site. I am genuinely surprised at the way it spits out a projectile. I would not hesitate to buy directly from either of them.

[LongStick64]

Ed Scott makes amazing self bows that shoot as well as any glass bow. I have second hand one and it is still keeping up with all my other bows.

[Fritz]

Lots of information out there to make your own. Very addictive and if you do break one you get to make another!!!

[Plumber]

thanks for all the info.I shot one last summer an I hit everything with it the bow was unreal.the guy who let me shoot it could not belive how well I was doing with it.I really liked how simple the bow was.they seem a little crude in design but you can learn to shoot anything if you put in a little time

[Paul/KS]

They aren't "crude", just simple.    
I make my own and shoot them all the time. A well crafted self bow, made with the proper dimensions for the shooter, should last a good long time.