First off, what the heck is a compound bow? For those of you just beginning in archery, I’ll give a quick overview of what a compound bow is plus some of the pros and cons of a compound bow versus a more traditional longbow or recurve.
To begin, there are several different styles and types of compound bows (also brands), but they are all very similar in what they can do.
Compound bows are the fastest, most powerful, and most accurate bow made to date, besides a crossbow. But before I tell you why they are, I want to give you a little background into what the more traditional bows (longbow and recurve) are.
With longbows and recurve bows, the energy that pushes the arrow out and makes it fly is leveraged only by your pull. The more weight you can draw back, the faster your arrow will fly. The less weight you can draw back, the slower your arrow will fly.
When you draw back a longbow or recurve, you are left holding all of the draw weight yourself. Therefore, if your bow is a 70 pound bow, you are left pulling and holding all 70 pounds before letting the arrow fly.
Compound bows make drawing your bow back and holding for an accurate shot much, much easier. You’re also able to hold your bow at full draw longer if needed.
The reason compound bows make this task so much easier is because they have “cams.” In the past, compound bows had pulleys, but they graduated to cams which gives the compound bow a huge mechanical advantage.
Cams, are the wonderful little circular devices at each end of the bow. They are pretty amazing in that they one, help you draw your bow back, even at a higher draw weight (the weight at which your bow is set to pull at), and two, help you hold your bow at full draw longer. (For those of you who may not know, when you draw your bow all the way back and hit a stopping point, that is full draw.)
Cams allow for what is called “let off.” Let off is when your draw weight gets reduced by a certain percentage when you pull your bow back to full draw, therefore making it easier for you to draw back and hold.
So, because of this amazing thing called “let off,” the weight you hold when you’re at full draw is drastically reduced. Therefore, if you’re shooting a 50 pound bow, you will have to pull that 50 pounds back in the beginning, but as soon as you hit the let-off, you’ll be pulling and holding much less weight. The let-off for most compound bows can be anywhere from 75 to as much as 90 percent.
Typically, you are able to shoot at a higher draw weight with a compound bow because of this phenomenon called let-off. Traditional bows like the longbow and recurve do not have this technology.
In an ideal world, a compound bow should outperform a longbow or recurve bow all day long. For example, a 50 pound compound bow should outperform a 50 pound recurve or longbow even when using the exact same arrows.
Cams are what give compound bows the accuracy, speed and power unmatched by traditional bows. A traditional bow only uses as much speed and power as you’re able to give it when you draw it back.
Another great thing about compound bows is they can be adjusted and customized to fit the individual archer. Recurves and longbows have no adjustment.
One drawback to a compound bow is the weight. They are heavier than recurves and longbows. Many of them are also bigger.
So, there are trade offs to either bow. Choosing the right one for you will depend on what you are using it for. If you want to hunt, and you’re unable to draw the full required draw weight of a longbow or recurve, a compound bow is the way to go.
If you’re just shooting 3D or paper targets, you may prefer the lighter longbow or recurve.
There’s only one way to find out which you prefer, and that is to shoot them all! Have fun shooting!
© Copyright 2019 Jennifer Hovda — All Rights Reserved
