Craziest Claims You Have Seen?
 

I've seen a bunch--mostly geared toward selling a product to people who don't know any beter and won't take a minute to do their homework.

I'll hold off for now--curious if I'm the only one that's heard some of this stuff.

I'll admit to not knowing what you're talking about right now.

Do you mean craziest claims for traditional archery gear that is supposed to make one more accurate/shoot farther etc.? Or something else/

Yes, and then some.

Ok, here are some I've heard. For some reason, the ones I remember best have to do with strings...

A string caused a longbow limb to twist.

Just changing the string gave a 4# increase in draw weight. I.E., with string A the bow pulled 60@30. With string B, it pulled 64@30 .

A bowyer who voided the warranty if you used a dacron or flemish string.

A bowyer that said flemish strings are "less accurate, and can be dangerous".

A guy saying "for every inch you pull past 28", you gain 10# worth of performance". He wouldn't answer when I asked what would happen if you pulled a 40@28 bow to 24".

A claim of making up to 20,000+ strings on a wood jig. This one probably won't make sense to folks who don't make strings. First, think about the number--that's averaging 1,000 strings a year...almost 20 strings a week, EVERY week, for 20 years--from a guy who doesn't even sell strings. Then, if you have ever used a wooden jig--you'll understand how funny the claim is. I wore one slap out making a couple hundred. I don't think my Dream Machine (stainless uprights and uni-strut) would begin to hold up for 20,000.

I'm sure I'll think of others.

The only one that could happen is the 4# increase with the new string, if it was twisted tighter than a ten day clock This is true with compounds anyway.

That wasn't the claim--everything else being equal, one string was supposed to make a bow draw 4# heavier because it suppossedly contracted that much at full draw. I got a round-about threat over it for questioning it.

Was the string shorter than the original?

Does it even work that way?

No and no. Crazy huh?

Yep... sounds like a faulty draw weight scale to me. Or operator error.

I'm leaning towards the latter.

I wondered myself--wanted to give the benefit of the doubt--not anymore.

Almost forgot--I made a $500 bet (to the charity of the winner's choice) if he or any of his supporters could prove what he said, or tell me how I could get the same results. Declined--actually put on "ignore" after that. That's why I'm not so inclined to give the benefit of the doubt anymore.

They shouldn't be threatening anyone because strings don't contract only stretch over time.

I agree. It was plain silly.

LBR, I'm familiar with all those you have mentioned. But another that stands out for me was related to advertising hype. The Alaska Bowhunting Supply's Qarbon Nano. They had to develop that bow because it was necessary to use their special $1000 bow in order to properly shoot their special $150 arrows when equipped with their special $30 a piece broadheads.

Oh and can't forget Harrison and his ability to build bows that can shoot arrows at greater than 100% efficiency.

Lol--I forgot about Harrison--that was a good one.

Reading one on another site that always makes me scratch my head coming from traditional shooters. One says speed is his #1 priority, another says that anyone who says that speed isn't their main agenda is just fooling themselves.

Why, if speed is priority, would you shoot traditional? Makes no sense to me...maybe I'm just "slow" myself.

On a traditional bow, that's impossible. The only way a string can increase draw weight is either by increasing the brace-height (twisting the string), or increasing your draw-length. That's just physics.

Hookeye, want to explain?

I quit listening a long time ago. One of the funniest stories i have is when a kid, at a bow shop was trying to sell me on a hybird, all natural long recurve. The poor guy was clueless. The funny part was, it was one of my bows that i had built for the owner. I built 5 for him. One for him and 4 different ones for him to sale.

I'd probably be a lot better off if I'd ignore this stuff...but it's hard to do. Mainly because its usually a (self proclaimed) "guru" putting out the most trash. If you dare ask a question like "what have you won" or "who have you coached" or "what have you killed" the groupies go on the attack. Kills me that people fall for such.

it is hard to ignore when you see the guru posting his dribble on about every forum that has to do with archery.
not to mention the morons that back him.

Who is the guru?

Now the "V" makes sense...duhhh.........

I had a gentleman tell me at Wal-Mart that he shoots a recurve 48#@28" with a 28" draw and gets complete passthroughs with rage two blades, shooting aluminium Easton game getters. I of course called b.s. and he argued with me for 20 minutes that he did all the time. I asked if he could show me pictures to which he replied, well I've not shot a deer with them yet....

you can't fix stupid.

you can't fix stupid but you shurnuff put a dent in it with a 4 ft. 2+4.
if you don't know who the guru is you haven't been here long evidently.

Ive used mechanical heads with trad bows. I used them on turkey because they do not pass through and stay in the turkey longer. Lol

Ok, this got me thinking. In my brain, something is telling me that an arrow shot straight down will go faster than an arrow shot straight up, over the same distance. Can anyone provide an argument to that? If this does happen, can anyone estimate what the difference in speed would be within say, 20 yards?

I know this is not the explanation for the guy shooting high.

Some really "smart" people are as dumb as a rock when it comes to common sense. The worst ones are the ones who think a degree can replace wisdom; or reading a book is a substitute for experience.

It depends on how fast the bow is...

If a bow is over 350fps, it starts slowing down instantly when it leaves the bow, even when shot straight down due to air resistance. If a bow is less than 350fps, gravity will help speed it up to about 350fps when fired straight down (air resistance will balance against gravity = terminal velocity). Firing straight up, an arrow will always start slowing down, 1) fighting gravity, 2) fighting air resistance.

Now I just need to find a bow that ACTUALLY shoots faster than 350fps with my short arms... ;)

In most coordinated systems you note gravity as -9.81m/s2. There for using a simple displacement formula would prove you correct.
Easier put, ignoring friction coeficients, shooting down is (-), (-) and (-) = greater magnitude. Shooting up is (+), so (-) and (+) = lesser magnitude.

I do not have time to do the actual calculations right now.

Had someone tell me yesterday that he runs two strings on his recurve because it makes it faster...you can't fix stupid.

Wow--I thought I'd heard it all, but that's a new one on me.

That diagram ain't bad.

But to put it simply, when shooting uphill/downhill you're not shooting for the linear distance along the ground from you to your target. That distance is like the hypotenuse of a triangle. Rather you're shooting the for the linear distance as if you and your target are on the same level plane. That is a shorter distance.

It is this way because gravity always acts straight down. It doesn't care if you and your target are on the same level. But it has NOTHING to do with making anything go faster.

Here's a link to deeper explanation:
http://www.archersadvantage.com/TipS...UpDownHill.htm

That thing is nuts. I see it's a lefty, not too surprising. It is definitey out of left field. Tuning has to be a headache.

Penobscot bow--I've only seen a few, never shot one.

I have been planning on making a Penobscot bow. Just don't have the time. Heck, I have three bows going right now and have to find sometime to finish them. One has been on the tiller tree for over a year (figuratively speaking, of course).