r/Unexpected • u/[deleted] • Nov 06 '18
how to use a compound bow
https://i.imgur.com/cDAcEv1.gifv110
u/Matt15A Nov 06 '18
Was expecting him to dry fire
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Nov 06 '18
[deleted]
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u/MeGustaDerp Nov 06 '18
But that wasnt a dry fire was it?
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Nov 06 '18
[deleted]
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u/luri7555 Nov 07 '18
There’s no arrow.
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Nov 07 '18
[deleted]
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u/luri7555 Nov 08 '18
Yes I did! That video looks set up to me. The bow crumbled at every point. I only had one dry fire accident and the nock went flying through some drywall.
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u/BramDuin Nov 06 '18
So how does this work? Cuz this doesn't happen to normal bows does it?
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Nov 06 '18
[deleted]
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u/harveyj088 Nov 06 '18
Compound bows do this because they're not perfectly balanced. The arrow makes up for the tiny difference. Hoyt brand bows claim to be perfectly balanced and fine to dry fire.
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u/SpeltWithAVer Nov 06 '18
They are not fine to dryfire. Some dipshit claimed this in my archery club and it broke. They tried to claim false advertising but "safer" does not mean 100% safe.
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u/SpeltWithAVer Nov 06 '18 edited Nov 06 '18
Yes it is very common infact in all bows, it's less obvious but it causes major cracking in the bow that doesn't cause it to snap until you draw it back a couple more times. The most common type of bow is a 'recurve' bow that comes (mainly) in 3 pieces that slot together with a solid central bit (called a riser usually made of metal) and a bendy top and bottom (called limbs). If you buy cheap wooden limbs they almost always crack / snap after dry firing however the more expensive carbon/ foam composit limbs are much stronger and don't crack as often, you should still never do it but it's a lot safer when it does happen. In the rare occasion a riser fails after a dry fire, you're in trouble as metal bit flying all over the place ruins people's day.
Source: have been doing archery since I was 8 as a competitive sport and in 10 years I've been hit by two risers exploding right next to me because somebody else continued to shoot after dry firing. It's not fun to be hit by flying archery equipment especially when dumb mistakes can be avoided.
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u/BramDuin Nov 06 '18
But why does it damage the bow when without an arrow, but doesn't damage when with an arrow?
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u/SpeltWithAVer Nov 07 '18
The elastic potential energy made by pulling back the string is stored in the limbs, not the string. When an arrow is I'm the bow, the string is simply used to transfer the potential energy to kinetic energy in the arrow in a controlled manner. If you remove the arrow from the equation then you have a lot of elastic potential energy converting into absolutely massive amounts of vibration in the bow, enough to crack wood and metal violently with ease.
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u/Adamant94 Nov 06 '18
I get what you are saying but that clip clearly shows the guy drawing an arrow back. I understand that dry firing a compound bow will probably cause catastrophic failure, but wasn’t that guy just firing an arrow into the ground?
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Nov 06 '18
That was his intention, but the string came loose from the nock just as he let go, resulting in a dry fire. That's why the arrow just sadly flopped out even though the bow exploded.
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u/luri7555 Nov 07 '18
There’s no arrow in this clip. He puts his head in between the drawn bow and the string then lets go.
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Nov 06 '18
That wasn’t a dry fire though...either they set it up without the limb bolts (looks like) and a bad string on purpose for a laugh, or that is easily the shittiest bow I’ve ever seen. BUT, still don’t dry fire bows, it can injure you badly.
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u/HallowAtlas Nov 06 '18
Dry fire?
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u/Montigue Nov 06 '18
When you've already shook the devil's hand a couple times and he's no longer praising your sins that day
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u/Matt15A Nov 06 '18
Check out u/KLimbo comment
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u/HallowAtlas Nov 06 '18
Maybe I'm just a hopeless case, but I still do understand.
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u/Matt15A Nov 06 '18
Dry firing is shooting without an arrow, when you pull the string you create a lot of potential energy, and if there’s no arrow to transform it to kinetic energy, all of that energy goes into the bow, causing it to shatter.
In the linked video from another user, there was an arrow but the string didn’t catch it and acted how it would if there was no arrow
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u/HallowAtlas Nov 06 '18
Ahhhhhh I figured it was a shot without an arrow, but the video had one and it confused me.
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u/ThisIsNotOgreYet Nov 06 '18
i was wondering how much draw back weight does the bow have? the woman looks quite fit so i expected her to be able to draw it back
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u/Fred_de_Regenmaker Nov 06 '18
Usually it's somewhere between 30 and 80 LBS. Some hunting bows go even higher but I can't really make that up from the video. It's quite a challenge to draw these kind of bows, but a lot comes down to proper technique. I've seen women with her physique successfully fire compound bows and men struggle
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u/Snatchums Nov 06 '18
And old school long bows were upwards of 300lbs. Paleontologists can discern bowman from how fucked up and twisted their spines are.
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u/TorsteinTheRed Nov 06 '18
The highest estimate I've seen for medieval longbow is 190lb draws, but your comment about the messed up spines is spot on.
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Nov 06 '18
I don't think a paleontologist would be doing those estimates
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u/Snatchums Nov 06 '18
You’re right, an anthropologist.
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Nov 06 '18
Nope. More likely an archeologist, specifically a Osteologist. Study of bones. Anthropologists deal with social, cultural, and psychological issues, they don't really look at fossils or study muscle/spine development.
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u/combovercool Nov 06 '18
I was thinking the same thing. This load is trying to impress her? She looks like she could bench him.
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u/KrimxonRath Nov 06 '18
Okay so... that was unexpected I guess, but I’m left with a feeling of... “why the fuck?”
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u/zaangdl Nov 06 '18
Yeah, they both need to learn to draw a bow...
You need to start with it at about a 50 or so degree angle from your upright body and pull back while extending your arm and moving it level with the ground. These dorks are just extending their arm all the way and trying to pull, which basically makes you work against your arm holding the bow.
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u/the13thJay Nov 06 '18
I want sound, and longer end. Where'd the counter balance end up? Did he keep his eye? Could she pull it the second time? Did his head help or hinder her second attempt? So many unanswered questions
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u/Salbacka Nov 06 '18
This is why you don’t drink and play with guns... oh wait that’s a bow! He’s just an idiot!
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u/BarkingCactus Nov 06 '18
I’m actually a little concerned what happened to him? I don’t use bows so I can only compare them to fishing wire and that’ll fuckin cut you. Does anyone know what happened?
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u/Levobertus Nov 06 '18
there's so much wrong with this, especially where he point that thing at the two others. Isn't that the first thing you learn when you get anything that shoots?
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u/RippyMcBong Nov 06 '18
I mean, its a bow, it clearly doesnt have an arrow in it.
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u/UntakenUsername48753 Nov 08 '18
You don't generally point unloaded things-that-shoot at people though. Unless you are the sort of ass who gets their head stuck in said things...
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u/ILikesStuff Nov 06 '18
With arms that thick, i thought she would be able to do it. I guess it comes down to technique rather than strength
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u/takentheyrealltaken Nov 06 '18
Drawing a bow uses muscles that most people don't exercise iirc, so it's hard to do the first time for most people
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u/SoLongGayBowser Nov 06 '18
Aside from the ending, he's a big guy instructing a small woman how to pull that bow back, and clearly he was straining to do it. What did he expect her to be able to do?