I took a practice shot from my stand as always and suddenly I'm way off the mark. Thinking , "that was strange",I took another. Same thing. I noticed a weird sound. My String was hitting my coat.
It has just now turned chilly around here.
I've not shot in my heavier clothes because it's been so warm. The last couple days we have hit 30 degree weather for the first time.
So I take off my coat and shoot. Bingo. Dead on In a practice session later that day I tried the coat again. No go. String hits it every time and arrow is way short and off mark.
What have you guys found to help?
FYI. Shooting a 64" longbow.
What clothes are thin yet warm?
Rubber bands up your arm, you can space then out as needed. Wokks very well!!!! and cheap! you can also keep the rubber bands around the hood of your bow quiver as Fred Eichler does.
Found out a long time ago that bulky arms don't work.
I start with good Merano wool under wear.
Using vest for the core helps keep the bulk down on the arms.
I like a medium weight wool shirt.
When it is really cold a,heavy wool coat.
Top everything off with an arm guard to flatten the bow arm.
If you have a thinner vest like wool or fleece you might try putting that on over your coat and use it as a compression vest. I've done this in the past and it works good for me. Hope this helps!
Steve
Take the coat off :biglaugh: Sorry I couldn't resist.
I have a thick jacket I like to use in the late season. It's pretty bulky. I've put an armguard above and below my elbow and started using a belt around my waist outside of the coat. I'll pull down on the coat below the belt periodically to tighten the area on my chest and under the bow arm. Works for me.
I found some Velcro strapping at the local Lee Valley store they use to hold up plants . I put a strip around the arm of coat to hold the bulky sleeve . It comes in a roll for just a few bucks.
I have an arm guard that is shorter than my regular guard and put it above my elbow. works great..
I use an armguard tightened up nice and a chest protector like target archers use. I also use my safety belt to take any slack out of my coat that might get in the way of shooting. I practice in my cold weather gear as much as possible and take some shots before hunting to make sure nothing is in the way.
I have been using "Tick Gators" for about 6 yrs. Got them at Mac's Prarie Wings. 8 inch tall elastic bands go on my bicep. Works great.
The giant rubberbands work as stated. I have a pack of them that came from one of our kids toys. They look more like inner tube slices.
I have, also, taken a length of paracord and hooked it to my armgard, spiraled it up my arm, wrapped it around my torso and tied it back on itself. Kind of redneckish, but it worked.
The vest on the outside is a good idea, but you still may want to compress the sleeve a little somehow.
Just remember not to cut off the circulation.
Are you hitting your sleeve or the front of your coat......? I use a long arm guard with my Ghillie coat. If it's the front of your coat maybe a vest over it!
QuoteOriginally posted by ron w:
Are you hitting your sleeve or the front of your coat......? I use a long arm guard with my Ghillie coat. If it's the front of your coat maybe a vest over it!
X2, whats hitting?
I'm hitting the Chest Area of the Coat.. It was a Beavertail Vest by KOM.. Plenty of warm, but to bulky.. (see classifieds for a good deal on it.)
I"m a pretty thick bodied type and the thickness of the Vest was catching the string...
Any suggestions?
I used it because it didn't have any arms to interfere with the string... But the chest is catching it...
Boy, I don't what to tell ya.....if it's already a vest, I have no clue how to help you! Not a good time to try but maybe if you open your stance a bit!
The chest protectors should work. If not, perhaps a slight change in your form may be in order. Have you tried shooting with a more open stance? That will reduce your draw length. When I shot with my "looked like I was about to fall over backwards" target form, I had a 29" draw and absolutely had to have the protector vest on over my coat. With my Howard Hill wannabe form, my draw is 2.5" less right hand and 3" less left hand, but I never tag my coat, a Filson double Mac with a Filson vest under it, even with my 68" longbow.
Opening your stance will probably fix your problem, but may take some practice to get used to. The midst of hunting season isn't a good time to make changes, though.
I have the same problem with vests worn over my other clothes. They just stick out too far at the arm hole. I use a full length arm guard with a coat or long sleeve shirt as the top layer and put the vest under that. The arm guard holds the coat back enough that if the string does touch the coat it only pushes it back instead of dragging across it.
Another thing to think about is your anchor. I anchor at the corner of my mouth and my head is pushed forward quite a bit. I also lean forward and cant my bow. It is definitely NOT Olympic form but it keeps the bow string off of my chest and merely compresses my coat (due to the canting) if my bow string does touch it. This has worked well for me as gets VERY cold and windy here half of the year and warm, bulky clothes are a necessity! If you have your head way back, anchor at your ear, or keep your bow vertical you are going to be more likely to have your string hit or drag on your coat.
I shoot a 62" recurve, so I am going to have a little less chance of the bow string getting into my coat than your 64" longbow due to string angle, but they are close.
pavan is right about opening your stance too. I can draw to 32" but due to opening my stance and the above I dropped to 29"
I do anchor at ear. I do keep bow vertical and head is pretty neutral. So I'm guessing I gotta figure out how to be cold! Hahaha.
Up here 30F with no wind is short sleeve weather. You will be fine lol
Take an old shirt, cut sleeves/collar out and stretch it over everything.
This year I have been enjoying ragg wool sweaters from Cabelas and a tighter fleece vest over.
Turn it inside out and sew the seam to exactly custom fit your bow arm, armpit and side, works like a charm. I also sew my pants in the calf and ankles to fit inside my knee high boots.
I think you will find solace in wearing good vests over wool or similar shirts. Your arms don't get near as cold as your torso. Wearing bulky clothing is not in an archers best interest.
ChuckC
Ray Hammond shared what I thought was a great idea when I was at Hog heaven. He advised cutting the end out of a tube sock and sliding it over your arm all the way to the pit. Have not tried it yet but I will. If that does not help I would go with opening up your stance.
I chest protector will do the job. It does for me.
Parachute cord on you bow arm...
Buy another Bow lol.
I use velcro straps. I've also used another arm guard between my elbow and shoulder.
Chest protector and open up stance. Bend at the waist.
Chest protector and I even keep a role of black electrical tape in my pack for my bow arm. For me arm guards are a hindrance. Try one of those back braces like the ones you see the guys wearing at Home Depot. Just a thought. Don
Contributor 2008
Member # 338
posted November 14, 2012 09:08 AM
Found out a long time ago that bulky arms don't work.
I start with good Merano wool under wear.
Using vest for the core helps keep the bulk down on the arms.
I like a medium weight wool shirt.
When it is really cold a,heavy wool coat.
Top everything off with an arm guard to flatten the bow arm.
Exactly what I do.
I have three different vests that are all at least one size too small for me. I put them on over my winter jacket, and they compress the jacket in and out of the way.
Here's something else I made a few years ago, to keep a leafy-suit out of the way of the bowstring.
(http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc248/romangrayjr/IMG_1092edited.jpg)
I made it out of a thin fleece jacket. I cut the drawing arm off at the shoulder, and did the same with the bow hand, except that I left a strip from shoulder to wrist, to keep things out of the way. With an armguard on, it stretches out the partial sleeve, pulling it tight at full draw.
Steve,
Since you have stated that your string was hitting your coat at the chest area, all the posts about cutting down on the bulk around your arm become pretty meaningless, although very well-intentioned. The best way to cut down on bulk but stay warm is to go with something like a PrimaLoft One insulated jacket or vest from companies like Kuiu (Spindrift), Sitka Gear (Kelvin), or Patagonia (Nano Puff), with a more fitted soft shell jacket (i.e., Guide Jacket from Kuiu or Stratus Jacket from Sitka Gear or Element Jacket from Core4Element) over the insulated garment. These keep you warm in most conditions but also keep bulk to a minimum. Of course, use a good base layer, like Merino wool. There is always the potential that the temperatures will drop low enough to make this clothing insufficient to keep you warm, but wearing a pair of Sitka Gear insulated bibs (Incinerator or Fanatic) or pants (Kelvin) will keep the lower parts of your body much warmer, which will allow your upper body to conserve lots more heat. The chest protector might work too, but not unless the material on your chest is compressible, which wool is generally not. There are, of course, other similar options besides the specific ones I mentioned.
The problem with compressing everything on your upper body like Archie suggests is that many kinds of insulation (down and synthetic down alternatives) retain body heat by providing loft to create dead air space. Compressing that air space eliminates the insulating ability of those materials. While a chest protector will cause that compression too, at least it does so on a limited area of your upper body, unlike a full vest. I suspect Archie was wearing a relatively non-compressible insulator, like wool, as opposed to compressible materials like down or PrimaLoft.
Allan
You might want to post a video of you shooting with the vest on and post on the FORMS forum. Maybe moebow can take a look at it. If there is a fault in your form that contributes to the string hitting your chest, he will find it.
Common problem.
The bulk in my sleeves is unnecessary, to me. So, I dress in layers. I wear more vests. I wear thinner coats (or no coat at all - with enough layers). And, I've cut the sleeves off expensive and really heavy long sleeve shirts to reduce the bulk in my lower arms. ...
I agree with Allen (amar911). I also work at keeping my legs warm so I can minimize that which would be required in my chest. It seems to me, also, that bibs work good because they cover your kidneys and lower back well. I think I've learned that one doesn't need lots of warmth protection in the front chest area. Finally, keeping the heat in your head and neck goes a long way to keeping your hands, arms, & front of chest warm, in really cold weather.
I wear a merino wool blend thermal shirt base layer and my longhunter wool shirt over that. I can easily wear my arm guard over that and I'm toasty on those 30 degree days!
p.s. I wear insulated bibs too. Between those and the long shirt covering your backside, it makes all the difference in the world!
according to heroditus (the greek historian) the amazon women used to cut off their left breast so that it wouldn't interfere with the bowstring. Maybe you should look into that?
Sorry, that's really no help. :)
Allan is right. I did not compress anything that lost insulating quality, such as down. My vest/gizmo works to keep errant folds of material, or flapping pockets out of the way. My biggest problem is the shoulder area, where my particular shooting style causes the shoulder to poke out a bit and push my clothing into the path of the string.
Just last week, though, I went out with a heavy, full-size Cabela's jacket, and wearing a wool vest over it. I was much warmer than I remember being in the past, and the jacket was completely out of the way. In past seasons I had avoided this jacket, as the string smacked it every time.
I didn't read through all responses so I apologize if someone already suggested this but I just cut the foot section out of a knee llength sock and pull that over my coat sleeve