Customer Reviews

How - to Construct the Asiatic Composite Bow [VHS]

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Two hours of detailed explanations. The authors explain all you need to have your job done. Than it comes the difficoult part, put it in practice, but this video is really a help in making things easier. They start from the preparation of the horns, wood and sinew, with useful tools you would never think of using. Than the whole process is explained. Really a must for those of us who cannot find the book of Klopseg and have not access to a teacher, but are willing to make this fascinating bow.

If you buy this video intending, by the end of it, to have the tools that you need in order to construct an asiatic composite bow you should probably look elsewhere. The video (visual apsect) is not of a particularly high quality. Edits are rough; it appears to have been filmed on a hi-8 camcorder. Camera angles are not always chosen with the research-minded viewer in mind. There were many times when I wished that I had a more useful view of the subject. Audio is patchy.

As far as content is concerned, anyone who has ventured far enough into the world of traditional archery to consider making an asiatic composite bow probably has a grip on most of the material presented. It does provide a visual for some of the processes described in the canon ( i.e. Paul E. Klopsteg's "Turkish Archery..." and "Saracen Archery" ), but is still quite reticent about critical parts of the formula such as dimensions, materials, and glue/water ratios. Also, of the composite bows, a Turkish-style is probably the most technically difficult and time-consuming permutation to build- not a very reasonable choice for the beginner. For example, do keep in mind that grooving the surfaces of the core was only historically done in the highest-performance bows and greatly complicates the building process. I digress.

:::HOWEVER:::

I By no means mean to degrade the bows themselves. I have heard nothing but praise with respect to Jeff's bows, both from archers and other composite bowyers alike. My suggestion to the aspiring composite bowyer is, however, to beg, borrow, steal, or make an investment in the classic texts pertaining to the subject and then, if necessary, use the film to fill in some of the blanks.