The old longbows could shoot up to 200yds. That was a huge advantage because the longer you could shoot the further away you could stay from your target. The bows that were longer and stiffer would shoot further. Most of the long bows back then were up to 6 feet tall, and surprisingly only weighed two pounds. The strings for the longbow were made of flax. bows were made up of different kinds of wood but he most common woods used were ash and elm. Longbows could last a long time if not exposed to water. …show more content…
Even though the longbow could shoot up to 200yds it was more effective at closer ranges.
The reason the bow would be a weapon of choice is because when hunting you could make a kill without having to be within 10 feet of the animal. You would have been better off to use your bare hands than a sword. The bow had many advantages and by far one of the best is the fact that the bow is easy to carry anywhere. You didn't have to carry around a 40 pound sword. Plus you are a lot faster to shoot an arrow then swing a
sword.
Although the bow was a good weapon it still had its disadvantages. The long bow had ammo which means that you can run out, and you can't just make a whole new quiver of arrows with out spending some time. In most cases the arrow would not always kill a man in armor on the first shot. That would be a problem if you don't have a lot of arrows. If someone came running at you then you might not have enough time to load up another arrow and pull it back and shoot. The further out you are shooting the harder it is to hit your target, which yet again is a problem if you don't have enough arrows. People did not always hit their target on the first try, and learning how to shoot and hit what you were shooting at took lots of time. The longbow was a very good invention and brought a whole new way of fighting to the world. There have been a lot of weapons made and out of the spear knife and sword the longbow definitely held its own. To this day people still use bows, but back then a bow was one of the best weapon choices you could pick from. Also many castles build the top of their walls so they could be manned by archers. In the end the bow was an offensive and defensive weapon that revolutionized the world.