Trying to see if I am missing anything here...and I am not only talking about selfbows.  Do any of you prefer to shoot off your knuckles rather than a shelf?  Do any of you shoot a laminated longbow without a shelf?  This is something I have considered (knuckles) and was wondering if it offers any distinct advantages.  The only advantage I can see to a shelf is consistent arrow placement (arrow rest) before the shot.  The reason for my question is I will be building a bow here shortly and am trying to decide if I need / want a shelf.  Also considered ordering a laminated longbow without one...maybe I am just opening my own can of worms.  Anyone who has shot both I would enjoy the comparison.  Thanks!

Bill-

I've shot both and it's amazing how well you can shoot off your knuckle, after all that's how it was done for thousands of years. That said, all of my longbows now have a shelf - at least a minimal one. I think the advantages are consistant arrow placement, less chance of driving a quill into your hand, and most importantly getting closer to center-shot which makes the bow a little more forgiving of arrow spine and easier to tune. JMO.

That pretty much covers it.  

The only positives I can think of is on a selfbow especially it could be safer for the bow not to cut into it.

I've shot off the knuckle, you have to pay close attention to the front of the quills on your arrows. And it't kinda smart to wear a thin leather glove.
Overall it doesn't hurt unless the tuning is off or the feather catches your hand.

I prefer the shelf.

"OUCH"  

I shoot pretty exclusively off the hand, both Asian-style flat bows and recurves of the horsebow variety.  I use a $10 bow-hand glove normally, although recently I got a bow-hand glove/armguad combo that is the cat's meow!

Advantage?  It's the most traditional way you can shoot - the way things have been done for several thousand years before 20th century hotshots came a long and wanted to change things "just because".

You can still have a leather grip on the no shelf bow, and you can use a floppy rest.
   My next Hill bow will be a Tembo with no shelf.
   So I can shoot from both sides...

Shooting off a minimal shelf, whether a small leather tab, or shelf is preferred over none, because the nocking point is consistent. The shelf when cut low, allows you the same feeling as pointing your index finger at the target. Try shooting off an elevated shelf while point your index finger at the target, then with an arrow drawn, the bowarm is lower when shooting off the shelf at most shooting distances. You need to try it to see if it works for you.

I shot my friends bow that had no shelf an did great with it.I loved it.If you are normally a longbow shooter who shoots a bow cut left of center you would catch on faster.If you normally shoot a recurve cut to center it can take a little getting use to.I was thinking of this very design just the other day if you build one could you send me some pics.this would be a fun bow to shoot.take care ED

I shot an English yew longbow for a few years off the hand,  While I was able to achieve very good consistency and accuracy, other than the satisfaction of shooting in the traditional syle, I can't  think of any advantages over a shelf that is cut close to the hand. There are definitely clear disadvantages to shooting off the hand. Consistency, freezing weather, feather burn/cuts, poison ivy, and the greater need for exactly matched arrow  spine in the case if no window is cut as was the case with my English longbow. IMHO.

I shot an osage selfbow off my hand for a season. Totally enjoyed it and it was in good line with my sight plane. Eventually put a 1/4 inch thick piece of leather slid into the wrapped handle so I wouldn't freeze my finger so bad trying to keep an arrow ready. They are right about smoothing and glue coating the quill. I shoot that bow better than others and attribute that to having the arrow lie along side my index finger. Didn't have any problem with getting an arrow to fly either.

Hmmm...thanks for all the replies.  Everything said makes sense.  I would probably use a glove to avoid spearing myself with feather quills if I were to go that direction.  I don't know what has spurred this idea other than reading where some folks have gone in that direction with laminated longbows.  Something intrigues me about it.  Maybe the idea of having something a little different?  Thanks again all.

That's me, Mudslide... gotta be different!  HH longbows or ELBs don't appeal to me; neither do those bolt-together things.  I make and shoot extreme recurve Scythian style composite bows and bendy-handle flatbows based on 2500 year old Chinese designs.

wrap the leading edge of those quills and you wont have that problem.