Archer's paradox.

[harry]

Interesting stuff!

[The Natural Philosopher]

How does it work with alloy shafted arrows then?

[T i m]

I would have thought, 'the same'?

I have 30" Easton 1916 Lite (ally arrows) to go with my 36#, 68" Hoyt Gold Medallist (interNature limbs) and they seem to work ok.

If you hold them at the ends and flex them I'd say they feel quite 'flexible' (for something outwardly rigid). ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[harry]

I wonder how Robin Hood was so accurate just using bits if random twig for arrows?

[The Natural Philosopher]

what evidence do you have to support this 'random twig' theory?

[T i m]

There are often people (ignoring fictional ones of course) who seem to have skills / abilities that sometimes defy logic or even science (given that even when the science / theory behind it are known, others still can't do it etc).

If 'found', these people often become world / Olympic champions and stay at the top for many years.

These are the sort of people you could nearly put in any car on the starting line and they will get on the podium if not win.

I love it when some bad workman blames their tools and someone who knows what they are doing takes it off them and does what was assumed to be the impossible. ;-) [1]

Cheers, T i m

[1] I race RC Lasers [ ] and on one fun sail a lady was always coming last. She suggested it was her boat so for the next race I offered to swap my boat with hers. She still came last and I managed to get her boat into the top three . That said, her boat *was* harder work than mine (not as well set-up) but the experiment did allow her to see there was nothing major wrong with it. ;-)

[Halmyre]

The one-off 1970 Questor Grand Prix was a mixed race for Formula 1 and Form ula 5000 cars. Legendary (and curmudgeonly) Indycar racer AJ Foyt was strug gling at the back of the field so, while Foyt was elsewhere, his team boss asked Jackie Stewart to go out for a few laps. Stewart set a middle-grid ti me and breezily suggested to the team that the car was OK, maybe it was the driver that was the problem. Foyt got to hear about it and came looking fo r Jackie...

[harry]

Well what else was there back in medieval times?

[Chris Hogg]

This, from

Crucially, Ascham says that woods which make a good bow do not make a good arrow and vice versa. He speaks of arrows made of Brasell, Turkie wood, Fusticke and Sugarchest, which in his opinion make ?dead, heavy lumpish hobbling shafts,? Alder, Blackthorn, Service tree, Beech, Elder, Aspen and Salow, because of their weakness make ?hollow, starting, scudding, gadding shafts?. He recommends Birch, Hardbeam, some Oak and some Ash as being strong enough to ?stand in a bow? yet light enough to ?fly farre? Of these woods some are identifiable, with others it is hard to say what they are called today.

[The Natural Philosopher]

nearly as much pig ignorance as today?

[Nightjar]

An industry that could produce many thousands of arrows for any battle.

[Vir Campestris]

Yea, but they don't really need to be accurate. Battle tactics was to make it rain arrows.

Andy

[The Natural Philosopher]

Oh they were accurate allright.

[T i m]

Hehe. Doncha hate it when that happens. ;-)

It's funny though, whilst there are 'naturals' who appear to have a gift re their ability to do something better than most (if not all) it may be simply that 1) not everyone else has tried (or had the opportunity to try) and so they can became the 'World Champion ... (of all those who have given it a go') or 2) they apply more effort / practice / money / time on it than most 'ordinary' people can or want to. So, they *could* be champions, if they were bothered?

Like 'Miss Universe' ... how much notice did they give to all the other life forms in this universe. ;-)

But it's like many of the current F1 drivers came up from karting and how many parents today could afford (or be willing to afford) what it costs to put their kid in a competitive kart at the right age?

We have given our kids the opportunity to try as many things as we could (inc karting) to see if there is something they might either enjoy as a hobby or be naturally good at. The frustration comes (as a parent) when it's obvious they are good at something but aren't interested in it themselves.

Cheers, T i m

[harry]

Plenty of twigs about.

[T i m]

I'd love to watch you loose a 'twig' in a 40 lb recurve bow. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[The Natural Philosopher]

harry is a suburbanite, and anything that grows on a tree is a twig, or a trunk.

[harry]

Obviously they worked. As at Poitiers, Agincourt and Crecy. And the bows they used were over 100lb draw.

Hazel is mentioned so that would be a twig.

[harry]

Tch, I have downsized from a 50 acre farm/forest to my present house. Which is in a rural area with fair sized garden. NP4 8TT on Google maps.

[The Natural Philosopher]

yeah I used to own half of texas before I downsized to a small hovel in Bermondsey