IF the archer can handle the draw weight. Sometimes that IF can be awfully big. It's one thing to be able to handle it standing flat footed on the ground at the range in 90 degree weather. It's quite another to be able to handle it infreezingweather when you're cold and stiff from sitting still in the stand for several hours.

What Sylvan is getting at is it's not possible - with current technology anyway - to get more out of the bow than you put into it. The energy stored in the bow is equal to the amount of work you did to draw it. (Actually, the bow won't store all that work because you have to subtract for friction, inertia and other inefficiencies, but let's not worry about that. Just take in the general concept.)

But, if we want to know how easy a bow's draw weight would be to handle, we need tolook at draw cycle, not just draw weight. And to do that, we need to know the bow's force draw curve.

When you graph the draw weight at every inch, from brace to full draw - that's what the force draw curve is - you can figure the stored energy. When you figure the stored energy, you know how much work you did to draw the bow. Count the squares that are under your graph line. Everything under that line is the stored energy.

The ultimate in energy storage is for a bow to jump straight up to max draw weight in the first inch and not let off until you hit full draw. If your bow is set at 70 pounds, then you're drawing 70 pounds each inch of the draw. Say the bow has a 7" brace and your draw length is 30", so you're drawing 70 pounds each inch for 23". 23" is 1.917 feet. 1.917 feet times 70 pounds yields 134 ft lbs of stored energy (if you actually counted the squares under the line on your graph, there would be 134 of 'em), which means you did 134 ft pounds of work to draw that 70 pound bow. (There are no bows with this draw cycle because they would be particularly nasty to pull. Most speed bows have a short slope up to peak, a very long dwell at peak, then a very short slope into the let-off. As close as they can get to this 'ideal' but still maintain at least some level of comfort during the draw.)

Say you take off those cams and replace them with round wheels. They give a curve that starts an easy slope up to peak weight about midway though the draw cycle,with a very short dwell at peak, then they break over and give a gentle slope down into to the valley. The slopes on the front and back of peak weightmeans you have less squares under the line onyour graph. Less squares = less stored energy. Let's assume this setup stores 80 ft lbs of energy, which would be about typical for a round wheel bow. You'vedone 80 ft lbs of work to draw that 70 pound bow.

The same draw weight, but it'd be easier to handle because you've done 54 ft lbs less work to draw the round wheel bow.

The force draw curve shows whatmakes one 70 pound bow feel smooth and easy to draw and another feel like you're trying to pull a pickup out of the mud.




- for the reason Frank stated below