How many of you have had bows explode ?

[Bozz]

I had 4 break on me. Two in the last year. All three piece bows. The one that hurt was the first one that broke in the middle of the riser. I took it on the head, and chin on that one. The other three broke at the bottom limb. Now almost every time I settle into my anchore, breaking bows is in the back of my mind. And yes I have a 31" draw, but all my bows have been 64" bows. Whats up with that?

[Dean Lintz]

Went through 2 in last 2 months. But in bows defence changed anchor now drawing 31 1/2" one was 62" other 64" bows.

[fixer]

I'v lost two one in the riser and one upper limb, bows of my own making. Hum must have done something wrong.  

[OVERDRAWING]

Nock on wood...I've been shooting since the late 60's. The only bows I ever had that blew up on me were two Yamaha YTSL II's in 1978. And it was the aluminum alloy handles that broke right in the pivot point of the grip (not the limbs)(this was a flaw in the design of that model of Yamaha). Funny thing about it was both handles broke at the time during the shot when I released the string. The arrows went smack dab in the middle of the 10 ring (indoor FITA target face). At the time I was shooting Kevlar strings, 2115 X7 arrow shafts @ 30 5/8" through the clicker. Since then I have had several bows that have developed flaws in them and I caught the problems before shooting the bow. I do remember that when a bow breaks, it does wake you up and everyone around you.

[TRAD101]

2 years ago my 2nd bow I ever bought, an older howatt high speed, riser exploded at full draw, for me thats 27", whacked me on top of the head so hard I saw stars. I loved that bow. It can happen to any bow any time I just don't think about it.

[Shaun]

Several self bows, especially yew! Never got the top limb head smack yet but know friends who have. Couple of 3 piece recurves have cracked in the riser, but no blow ups of glass bows yet.

[Ron+dog]

bottom limb full draw 4th of july 2010

[2fletch]

Nothing breaks like a lemonwood bow on a cold morning. I have also had an old recurve fly apart and an all wood laminated bow that I had made come apart a little at a time.

[Mike Vines]

I had one go on me a few weeks ago.  I came home from the Compton shoot, and wanted to shoot the first longbow I ever glued up.  I had a bad glue joint on the upper end of the riser fadeout (I squeexed to much of the glue out) and it cracked straight across.  I'm glad it didn't "Blow", because it could have been ugly having that fiberglasscome down on top of the wrist.

[thunder1]

Ive been shooting for a couple of years now. The bow that blew on me was a used bow 11 years old.

[celticknot]

i had a limb delaminate on my hybrid bow. I was very disappointed, not that the bow broke but at the fact that I killed my first trad deer/buck with it.

[StickBowManMI]

I have had three custome bows break at the grip and one that delaminated in the limbs. All four were replaced by the bowyers. I had one unknown bow that I took in a trade at a blanket swap at ETAR that also broke in the grip area. The other bows did not cause and serious injuries while the trade blanket bow required 9 stitches to sew up my head.

[daveycrockett]

Yep, me too. Several.

[Ragnarok Forge]

I shoot 68 inch bows with a 30.25 inch draw length.  I did a lot of research prior to picking my first longbow.

This thread, several custom bowyers, and my research all indicated that a 68 or 70 inch bow was the right tool for me to shoot.  No stacking, maximum force curve, smooth draw,  and no overstressing of the limbs and riser.

[hunt it]

I've been standing beside two guys when their trad bows blew, thats scary enough. I had a wheely bow blow on me at full draw once, that was scary. Had a carbon arrow blow on release just past feathers few years back. Arm looked like bad hamburger for 3 or 4 weeks.

[IronJohn]

Yep, a longbow at full draw into 3 pieces.....IJ

[ken denton]

A 64" longbow 47#@28" and that is all I pull. We were experimenting with all Carbon instead of glass, and the bottom belly busted. It was a few years ago.It seems the bottom limb belly has the most tension on it. Ken

[mnbwhtr]

Add me. 1970 Black widow HS60-60# full draw 32"
1979 Bear T/D mag handle 88# full draw 32"
1983 Zebra longbow 70# full draw in front of a crowd full draw 30#
1985 Maulding Bighorn longbow 70# full draw 30"
1993 Bamboo longbow by Denny Beck 74# 1/2 draw

So far none have happened while hunting. Thank God!

[joekeith]

I had a compound's top limb blow up on me once.  Didn't like it.     Just stood there a minute holding the riser, wondering what happened, as the arrow just fell real slow down the front of me.  The string got me right under the eye, and part of the limb got me in the forhead.  Hope it never happens again, but we'll see.

[Don Stokes]

2 compounds, but never had a stick bow to do it, in 40+ years. I've had some fail, but not "explode".