Our composite Horse Bows may take 6 weeks for delivery as each bow is handmade to your specifications, email for details.
Composite bows were made of several layers of woods (birch, ash and maple). Wood used for bows was selected by the bow maker craftsman himself, when the tree was alive. The tree was cut down only if the craftsman found the growing direction of the tree and its grain line suitable. The natural curve of the tree was taken advantage of as well. The wood cut into slats was rested for a longer time by turns, and later it was steeped and dried several times. These methods were to increase the wood's flexibility, durability and ability to be stuck.
A bunch of animal sinews were strongly pressed on the inner part of the C-form bent wood. When drying, sinew fibres got stuck to the wood and could not be separated any more. To the outer part of the wood horn layers were glued, which were cut from animal horns. (Today it is, of course, substituted with modern materials, such as glass fibre or carbon.) The bow prepared this way was covered with a thin coat - the aim of which was to provide protection against wet weather -, and the coat was often ornamented with patterns. The preparation of a mature bow - whatever unbelievable it may sound - lasted for at least 5 years or more. Bows made this way surpassed in all respect the Western European bows with a simpler structure. The stiffer twigs at both ends of the bow and the flexible negative curve at shooting gave an extra speed to the arrow at the last moment. With our bows you are able to shoot as far as 200-300 m (depending on the strength of the bow).
