Selfbow Length

How long should a bow be? I touched on this when I wrote about Osage flatbow dimensions, but I thought I'd expand on it. Length is dependent upon wood species, draw weight, and design. But here are two rules of thumb:

• A bend-through-the-handle (D bow) should NOT be drawn more than half it's length. I usually take the draw length, double it, and add 2-4". (28" draw = a 58-60" length)
• For stiff-handled bows: (draw length X 2) +10" = bow length in inches. (the additional 10" accounts for the average amount of non-working wood in a stiff handled bow)

Tim Baker in the Traditional Bowyer's Bible Vol.1 gives the rule of thumb for a stiff handle bow as 66-68" for a 28" draw, then add or subtract 2" for every inch of drawl length above or below 28". His results yield similar results previously mentioned formula.

Al Herrin's book "Cherokee Bows and Arrows" has a radius formula in it and breaks down different lengths for stiff handle vs. D bows..

The popular rules of thumb get you to the same conclusions, more or less.

Sometimes some extra length is needed to compensate, but too much length can rob performance. A narrow, 60-70# D bow may need to be 70-74" long , especially if you are working with some whitewoods.

Then you have hybrids, where the D bow has a semi-stiff handle. The length of such a bow will be longer than a true D bow, but probably shorter than a stiff-handled bow. It all depends.

The two rules of thumb mentioned above will give you a good basis in determining proper bow length. You can adjust the variables from there depending on wood species and design considerations.