Re: Bow

["Christian Folini"]

On Tue, March 30, 2010 10:00 am, Jonathan Davies wrote:
> Purely on a practical level you
> would be extremely foolish to risk damaging your bow by leaving it
> uncovered
> when not in use.  If I do that should I assume that my illustrious
> brethren
> cared for ther bows less?  If they did not protect their bows then why
> not?

There have to be sources somewhere.

With the hundreds of thousands of bows being in use during the 14th and
15th century, I do not believe in the total absence of any evidence.

Either there has to be an explanation in the sources on why they do not
need such protection. Or there has to be a hint on the form of protection
that was being used.

Hardly any bows survived, so I would not count on the survival of the
protection (bags?). Even more so if they were made from linnen.

On a painting or illumination that protection could look silly and
uncomprohensible to an outsider. So I would not count on a period
illustration either.

So if there is anything, then it is more likely to be in the text sources.
But of course, those are the ones, that are more difficult to access.


I never quite understood the kind of protection a linnen bag could offer
to a war bow. A linnen bag protects against minor scratchings on the
surface. Anything else will destroy the bow either with or without the
linnen bag.
Also, water should not be an issue. Greasing the wood regularly is far
more effective.

Best,

Christian