Lock Down Long Bow

The Series…

I cannot shoot a heavy weight “warbow’; a longbow suitably heavy to take to war, but there are loads of experiments I wanted to do, loads of things I wanted shoot at. I can’t, but I have a friend who can; Joe Gibbs. Joe is an amazing and amazingly powerful archer and bowyer, but just as I was hatching a plan for a series of films, Covid and the lockdowns began.

By chance, I found I have a modern crossbow that shoots medieval longbow arrows of the same weight and at the same speed as those from Joe Gibbs’ 160lbs Mary Rose replica yew longbow. The ‘Lock Down Long Bow’ was born.

This ‘Long bow simulator’ has two massive advantages for me that allow me to shoot lots of films easily and in quick order. I can shoot it and it is highly accurate.

The aim with all these films is to be entertaining but also to have some merit. In honesty some of the films are pretty trivial, but some really do explore interesting and new areas, so here I present the best of them, but there are several more to be found on my You Tube channel and probably some more to come.

You may of course doubt this, but if so watch this film first where Joe and the Longbow Simulator shoot side by side in super slo-mo.

The last aspect to note is that I was flirting with Cancer at the time so these films also document my hair loss – but all is good now.

The Films…

Crazy Idea – war bow archers turn away now

I want to test heavy English war bows against different armour types to find out what they can do; but I can’t shoot one…. And the “Lockdown Longbow” was born. An arrow launcher that shoots real longbow arrows of the correct weight, at the correct speeds and I am going to shoot at flexible armours, steel, wood, shields and who knows what, in a series of films that will enlighten us all. Fun, but proper education and exploration too.

Now I have war arrows

I just received a whole stack of 4 different kinds of war bow arrows from Will Sherman of Medieval Arrows.

Do shields stop arrows

All amour helps against attacks,but will not always stop everything and shields are no exception. We take an authentically made shield and shoot arrows at it to see how well it stops them.

Distance and speed loss

Arrows lose speed as they travel, but how much? Here I shoot over 25, 50, 75 and 100m and talk about the results. I also have an accident with iron dust and sun tan cream.

Leather armour, stops arrow1?!

Leather was used at times for armour and at other time supplemented armour, here I harden leather sheets and use them as armour and of course we look at the results.

Arrows Vs Gambeson Fabric armour

Amazingly effective armour can be made from many layers of fabric to create very tough armour indeed; but how will it stand up to arrows?

Does a greased shaft penetrate deeper?

Yes it is a dodgy title, but it is also an accurate description of the film. If you wipe grease on arrow shafts, will they penetrate deeper?

Do sharp arrow heads really matter?

Obviously sharp arrow heads cut better; but when they are shot at fabric armour does it really matter? I thought it didn’t – Duh!?

Arrows Vs Maille Pt1

One of the most popular and enduring types of armour through the medieval period was maille, but was it good against arrows? Sometimes……….

Arrows Vs Maille Pt2

The last film was looking at how bladed type 16 arrows perform against maille and gambeson, but of course we also need to look at type 7 needle bodkins against maille. So here we are.

Bows, Bullets and Sand bags

I heard that arrows can shoot through sand bags where bullets can’t – really? I have to test this.

Shooting in a gale

In 1461 at The Battle of Towton, a decisive victory was won by the Yorkists by using a gale to their advantage to carry their arrows much further than their enemies – great story, but could it be true? This is not a Lock Down Long Bow film, but it did start me thinking there were things to learn……

Does wax on arrowheads do anything?

We have no evidence that they put wax on their arrowheads, but my goodness it changes what happens.

Shooting in a gale

In 1461 at The Battle of Towton, a decisive victory was won by the Yorkists by using a gale to their advantage to carry their arrows much further than their enemies – great story, but could i be true? This is not a Lock Down Long Bow film, but it did start me thinking there were things to learn……