Do the all wood bows have a shorter lifespan?

Still looking for some Dave Johnson longbow photos if y'all hav'em.

Tony,
Clear glass is ok but in my opinion not as pretty as all wood.

Mike,
Try a Hawk if ypu can, but if you are willing to sacrifice a little performance there is nothing sweeter shooting than Dave Miller's Split Bamboo.

Here you go, Bud B.

Hunting couse whitetail , take a lillte break

With my son and my hill longbow and fir arrow

I am away for a few days and this thread gets even bigger and better !

Some time I have a hard time to keep up...And I don't even town a hill bow...

Hill shooters,

I have read and experienced the fact that shooting a Hill style over a recurve or R/D bow will give you a shorter draw, but after a moderate shooting session by porchlight tonight I had my wife mark one of my arrows about 1" in front of the bow while I was at full draw in what I believe to be proper Hill form. I measured the mark with a tape and got 27.25" from VON to THE MARK ON THE ARROW! I had about 3" of extra arrow out there. I usually draw 29" with my Bear recurve.

With slightly bent elbow and low wrist with just a touch of wrist slap at release I am getting good arrow flight and fair groups (still need to practice...I've been shooting the St Jude Faith longbow all December). If I cut my arrows at 28" and then tapered the tip I should get the 27.25 desired arrow length with enough clearance for BHs.

Is this typical of most shooters to drop that much in draw?

I almost couldn't put it down but alas I have to earn a living and in order to buy more bows I must sleep and then go to work.

Will check back tomorrow. The sand man calleth.

Early in the thread it was discussed that many shooters loose a considerable amount of draw length when moving from recurve to longbow, one that actually is shot like a longbow. I haven't found it to be an issue. If I get that extra inch I sometimes yearn for, it hurls an arrow a whole 4 fps faster...who cares really? It's consistency and accuracy that we are after so far as I am concerned. I shoot 68" + Hill style bows and didn't notice any difference when I moved from the 66" Hill style bows, the performance just didn't really change. I regained it all with performance strings, which really I just use because the bow settles down even more in the hand.

I am looking forward to playing with the low brace height and dacron strings. I love learning more to tinker with!

My all boo Miller Split Bamboo is just dead on the shot with a dacron string, so I guess I am willing to tinker and see what the low brace is all about.

Regarding how long do Miller's no glass bows last, I haven't seen anyone post that theirs wouldn't shoot anymore. I don't know how many years he's been making them. Seems like they would last a very long time, unlike self bows of old when neglected and without the higher quality finishes of today. I think I asked David that question and he didn't put a timeline on it but said a long time.

While shooting last night I lowered my brace to 6.25 with the HH Big 5. It's 66". I'm going to try to go lower if the string will let me. I need to get it on a scale to see what it's pulling at 26".

I was surprised at how my draw has changed (shorter draw) with this bow the more I shoot it.

The shorter draw from my experience also has happened.  I shoot approx. 25 3/4"-26" (measured bot. of arrow-nock to back of the bow)draw when I am behaving and shooting proper form.  I am 5'11" tall.  Not sure on my wingspan.  The relaxed, bent bow arm and fluid nature just lead to a shorter draw-length.  It is what it is.  I am shooting more of the true draw for longbow style, in comparision to a straight locked bow arm.  Allow it to happen, works better for me than making it happen.

As long as an alll wood bow isn't over drawn I would think that it would last at least one lifetime. Over drawing an all wood bow is what kills them.

As long as an alll wood bow isn't over drawn I would think that it would last at least one lifetime. Over drawing an all wood bow is what kills them.

Must be the one who grips these longbows different for I never wear an arm quard and rarely does the string even touch me. That said, with a bulky sleeved jacket on sometimes in whacks the sleeve.

I remember talking to someone recently who owned a bunch of Schulz bows.  He mentioned that the "Naturals" had a tendency to splinter sometimes.  I think that's why you see them sometimes with thread wrapped around the limbs.  Keeps the splinters in check.  

Haven't heard of this with any Miller "Hawk" or "Split Bamboo" longbow.  I'm sure it's possible with any glass-less bow though.

Well, I better report on my low brace B50 experiment. It was kind of a bust.    :(  

As much as I wanted the B50 to work out, it didn't. I made two strings, a 15 strand 3 bundle and a 14 strand 2 bundle. The 14 was made longer so I could get a few more twists. Both strings were louder than my 10 strand D97 braced at the same height (about 5 5/8") and had more hand shock than the D97. I switched back and forth just to confirm that. It also affected my tune pretty dramatically. I would retune my arrows if I felt I  was going to go with dacron, but that doesn't appear likely. I may twist up a 12 strand B50 and see if that helps, but right now I'm heading to the woods with a 10 strand D97 string.

That's my report on how it worked for me, as usual, your mileage may vary.

All wood, bamboo that is, should last quite a while.  Heres my take on the subject.
First, a Split Bamboo is a laminated bow.
Second, the modern "glues" are not the same as the older "hide glues" and the like.
Third, it is made to be pulled to a specific draw length, with about an inch of "oops" room allowed. {once in a while} not continuously of course.
 Fourth, the finishes that are out there are bit more durable than the varnish of ol'  
When the right bamboo is used, and selected!, and built with these 4 things, what I got is a bow that has a kiss, 1/2", of backset when rested, after having it strung for a few hours and stump shooting, popping off the string and measuring the follow yields just a kiss, less than an inch, and then looking at it about 20 minutes later it is right back to where it started, bout 1/2" backset.
     Don't leave it strung over night, wax it, don't shoot under water with it, maybe give 'em a rest while you eat lunch, don't let other people shoot it, never over draw it, I wouldn't recommend standing at the 30yd mark and drill 200,  rapid fire, arrows in a row every day. Provided you don't beat on it like above mentioned, now reason why it wouldn't last over 20yrs. After that I don't think you will ever find that it won't still shoot an arrow, it may just have a little more string follow in it from when it was new.....