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Customers most agreed on the following attributes:
[3 of 3 customers found this review helpful]
from Salt Lake City, Utah on 10/23/2009
Comments about Hawkwood English Longbow:
I am a competitive target archer who teaches extensively. I have been shooting a recurve for 37 years. I picked up a 35 pound longbow a few years ago and found it to be most unsatisfactory. A 35 is inconsistent, inaccurate and shoots very poorly at longer ranges (40 to 100 yards). This 47 pound longbow is everything my 35 wasn't: Consistent, accurate, tough. The bow is beautifully made with wonderful horn nocks and an excellent Flemish string. The vinyl hand grip is a distraction, but it was always my intent to replace the grip with my own anyway. A note and warning I would offer: This is not a bow for a beginner. A truly Period longbow is a difficult weapon to shoot. Hauling back 47 pounds, using one's hand for a shelf and trying to hit something is a task that would be very discouraging for a new archer. Learn the basics of shooting first, develop your muscles, then go to this bow. You will not be disappointed. Also, remember: This is a Period longbow. If you pick this thing up on a cold morning and just start shooting, the bow will crack and you will have $200+ dollars worth of kindling. Also: wear a bow glove, no exceptions. Unless, of course, you like going into surgery and having fletchings cut out of your hand! Learn about longbows before you try shooting one.
[1 of 2 customers found this review helpful]
from Lausanne, Switzerland on 7/7/2009
Comments about Hawkwood English Longbow:
Change the material of the hilt ... this plastic takes away all the charm of this beautiful longbow ! I put leather instead ... it changes all believe me !
[0 of 2 customers found this review helpful]
from Trenton Ontario Canada on 6/6/2009
Comments about Hawkwood English Longbow:
A lovely piece of craftmanship.
[4 of 4 customers found this review helpful]
from Platte City, Missiouri on 4/19/2009
Comments about Hawkwood English Longbow:
Overall the best use for this bow is for a primitive archer or SCA medieval renactment events. Specifically, this bow is comparable to others made of hickory or epe backed with bamboo. It is smooth shooting with little hand shock. It is not anywhere near the quality of self bow made of pacific yew. If you looking for longbow with serious punch for hunting, look elsewhere. Even with the 50-55 lb rating, it quickly loses power over time, and requires considerable tweaking of the bowstring. I found this longbow to be too fragile for hunting with the hickory backing, and too suspectible to damage under normally conditions of use. Be extremely careful while stringing this bow, as the overall stress limit of the red oak is not nearly as strong as yew, and will crack if overextended or overdrawn. My personal drawlength is 28.5" which seems to be the limit of this bow. The bottom line is unless you know and understand primitive longbows, this should not be a "first time" bow buy.
[5 of 6 customers found this review helpful]
from indianapolis, indiana on 2/23/2009
Comments about Hawkwood English Longbow:
Upon arrival I wasn't sure if it was worth the [$] but after stripping the wrap off regluing both horn string nock and building my own leather grip and my own string to get it to the 6 1/2 brace height needed.... this turned out to be a sweet little bow.... I have about 500 arrows through it and the string follow has not increased but maybe 1/2 inch. It's a rather smooth draw without real noticable stack and very little hand shock at all!!! So for the money and a little elbow grease it turned out to be a sweet deal! Oh I ordered a 50-55lb draw.... with the correct brace height of 6 1/2 inches the draw is now at about 63 lbs. at least in my case....