Originally posted by Ralphie:
For what it is worth, Here are the rules by which the Howard Hill annual competition in Alabama adheres to. One's bow has to adhere to this to shoot in the competition.
I was told almost no reflex reflex bows can be used.
My apologies if this has already been mentioned; I went through the thread quickly, and only read it "a little bit, all the way through".
the rules;
These specs are also used for the Texas Longbow Championship.
Acceptable Bows Must Meet The Following Specifications: Only Howard Hill Longbows, Howard Hill Style Longbows or Straight Limb Longbows Will Be Allowed To Participate In This Competition No Weighted Risers ~ No Center Shot Longbows ~ No Pistol Grip Handles Bow Specifications: Maximum Handle Dimensions: 3 Inches Above Shelf, Bow Cannot Be Thicker Than 1 1/8 Inches (Back To Belly) From This Point To Tip Of Bow 6 Inches Below Shelf, Bow Cannot Be Thicker Than 1 ½ Inches (Back To Belly) From This Point To Tip Braced Bows Cannot Have The String Touch Either Limb After The String Leaves The Tip There Will Be A Jig To Place The Bow In To See If It Meets Requirements
at the risk of hijacking my own topic, this thread is about HYBRID R/D longbows that brace to a "D" shape, not about hill style longbows, which are clearly AFL's - American Flat Longbows that are straight limbed, or have subtle limb REFLEX or BACK SET (aka "STRING FOLLOW").
i'm amazed at how many folks still don't understand the difference 'tween a "hill style AFL" longbow and any manner of "hybrid r/d longbow".
fwiw and imho, the texas AFL rules are overkill. it's quite easy to tell the difference 'tween an AFL and a longbow that has any amount of r/d snake to the limbs, and that's all that should matter. dimensioning an AFL does it no justice - who cares what the limb core dimensions are or whether it cut to center shot or not? what bearing does any of that have to do with anything? well, performance-wise, *nothing* at all. the ONLY really noticeable performance boost will occur when you snake the limbs to some form of r/d ... or d/r, however one wants to align the "reflex" and "deflex" words - reflex in the limbs, deflex in the riser.
all that matters with an AFL is that the limbs aren't r/d in any way, and that the bowstring only touches the limb nocks, as it should with any longbow whether AFL or aggressive r/d hybrid.