Longbows have been around for hundreds of years and are still used today by people in archery clubs. They are superior over a normal bow because they can shoot a lot faster and also a lot further because they have a longer draw back so it builds up more pressure. Although fun they are a dangerous weapon that can cause fatalities so never fire in the direction of a living thing.

Tools and Materials Needed

To make the long bow you will need a quite a few tools and materials although do not stress if you are missing a few things as they can usually be replaced by other things. Here is what you will need to build a longbow.

Materials and Tools

• Sapling Branch
• Wire or Rope
• Knife
• Sandpaper

Making the Longbow

Now that you have all the tools and materials you can get onto making the long bow. First off you want to get the Sapling Branch and take all of the bark off so that it is just bare wood. You then want to start shaping it so it is thick in the middle and then starts to get thinner as it goes out along the neck of the longbow. So the very middle should be about 6cm across and then as it starts to get to the bottom make it to 2cm. Once you have the basic shape going you want to make the bow's notches so at each end of the bow make a v shape going along a whole circle. Your long bow is almost ready for being strung and then fired but first go over all your bow with sandpaper so it is smooth an it will look very nice.

Stringing the Longbow

Now you're onto one of the last stages of making you longbow stringing the longbow. To do this you need to get either thin wire or string and tie it around one of your notches here comes the tricky bit now you have to bend the bow so that there is pressure against it and tie the other end of string on the other notches. So when you are done the string should already have tension on it. However you may have to go back a few times and adjust how strong the string is as you may not get the best results first time round.

Shooting the Longbow

You are now ready to shoot the longbow that you have made with your bare hands. To shoot it get an arrow and place the nib on the string of the bow and have the arrow resting on your thumb. Now pull the string back and release and watch your arrow fly. It is recommended to take some lessons in archery before attempting to shoot the longbow.