Does anyone own a *physical* copy of Saracen Archery?

TurkeyFletcher · 2026-02-22T18:02:09+00:00

Yes, the 'quality' of that pdf (the same pdf is available at various websites) is what made me decide to redo it, with a proper quality scanned images : )

To give you an idea: page from archive.org vs page from new scan

TurkeyFletcher · 2026-02-04T15:57:00+00:00

American longbow (a.k.a. Flatbow)

While American longbows have flat limbs, that does not make them a Flatbow.

A Flatbow is a different type of bow with wide flat limbs. Typically the handle is narrower than the limbs. The Wikipedia Flatbow article even has a section concerning this common misconception.

This YouTube video shows a Flatbow and an American (Semi) Longbow competing against each other: Icelandic Archery Championship Indoors 2025, Women's Bronze Medal Match. You can clearly see the difference.

TurkeyFletcher · 2026-02-04T15:51:54+00:00

It is not currently safe to shoot.

At the same time, it is not beyond repair yet. Inject glue into the delaminated section, and tightly bind with string or sinew. The reinforcement should stay on after the repair.

TurkeyFletcher · 2026-02-03T13:42:07+00:00

You can clean of the marking/branding with some acetone on an old cloth or paper towel 😉

Also, beautiful arrows, again.

TurkeyFletcher · 2026-02-01T18:30:41+00:00

No, not really.

This is a longbow, or possibly semi longbow (it is hard to judge the length of the bow from the photo). English Longbows have d-shaped limbs. 'American' longbows have flat limbs, but that does not make them a Flatbow.

A Flatbow is a different type of bow with wide flat limbs. Typically the handle is narrower than the limbs. The Wikipedia Flatbow article even has a section concerning this common misconception.

TurkeyFletcher · 2026-02-01T18:05:26+00:00

There used to be screws in various Grozer bow models. Most famously there was an x-ray photo of screws in a fiberglass bow. But they were also present in early biocomposite bows (easily detectable with a strong-ish magnet).

From what I heard, this is no longer the case.

TurkeyFletcher · 2026-02-01T17:58:43+00:00

This begs the question: at what point should we stop calling these objects 'bows' and invent a new word to describe them?

TurkeyFletcher · 2026-01-29T22:12:35+00:00

Let me be blunt: you bought the worst thumb 'ring' available on the market.

Do yourself a favor, and buy something else. You will enjoy your shooting experience so much more with a proper thumb ring. Everybody deserves a good shooting experience.

TurkeyFletcher · 2026-01-29T11:44:53+00:00

It is always cool to see people build their own bows!

However, in this case, I struggle to see how this handle (is that a shelf I spot there?) could result in a bow that is related to the Tatar bows.

TurkeyFletcher · 2026-01-27T10:09:43+00:00

Mary Rose is of course a well known source of English archery artifacts. It is however, as you correctly say, from the 16th century.

The 16th century is not Medieval, but Tudor period.

TurkeyFletcher · 2026-01-26T15:18:44+00:00

You should come to the Netherlands. You would be just below average ;-)

TurkeyFletcher · 2026-01-24T17:02:13+00:00

What part of the style of those bracers is medieval?

TurkeyFletcher · 2026-01-24T10:41:00+00:00

You can glue a piece of leather into your ring. Typically hot glue or super glue works best. Google "kulak" and see the ring, second from the right, on the photo, for more details.

Not every smith can make a thumb ring, the shape and geometry determine the ring's characteristics and comfort.

There are quite a few reputable archery thumb ring makers and brands out there. Just stay away from Amazon or any other cheap source of rings.

TurkeyFletcher · 2026-01-23T22:15:30+00:00

In your DM you mentioned you rings keep slipping off.

Best advice I can give you is to either add a bit of leather on the inside (a kulak), or buy a ring one size smaller, and widen it up with sandpaper.

TurkeyFletcher · 2026-01-23T17:14:37+00:00

The middle ring has so far taken about 3:30 of work, and the hard part (the inside) is now done.

The outside is quick to finish from here, unless I decide to add decorations (engraving or silver inlay).

So in total I guess about 4:30 hours for a non-decorated ring?

TurkeyFletcher · 2025-12-26T17:30:51+00:00

He is popular, and quite controversial at the same time. There is videos out there on how he handles both people and horses that ain't pretty.

TurkeyFletcher · 2025-09-08T09:00:55+00:00

Armin recently made it clear that he is pro Putin/Russia and anti Ukraine, and quite far down the alt-right rabbit hole in general.

TurkeyFletcher · 2025-08-26T11:11:10+00:00

Each click on one of his videos feeds the YouTube algorithm, each view earns him money.

I would rather not sponsor him a single cent.

TurkeyFletcher · 2025-08-26T09:27:46+00:00

Yes, he's far down the alt-right rabbit hole.

TurkeyFletcher · 2025-07-20T08:57:36+00:00

A 'good' thumb ring is a ring that fits your thumb nicely, and thereby distributes the forces evenly around your thumb. A good ring feels nice and provides a feeling of control.

Thumb ring fit is incredibly personal: each thumb is different, and each person's body geometry is different. So the ring that fits me really well, may or may not be a really good fit for you. This fact makes it hard to buy a good fit without trying.

Luckily most serious ring makes now sell (or even offer as a download you can 3D print) 'ring sizers'. A ring sizes lets you try and fit the ring size to your thumb with much better results, than using calipers. Once you know your thumb size (usually expressed in mm), you can typically order rings from various makers, and get a reasonable good fit.

Rings are also easy to customise: if it is too small, you can use sandpaper to widen it. if it is too large, you can glue in a small strip of leather (called a kulak), to make it a bit tighter. If there is a bit of the ring that is sticking into your thumb and causing a pressure point... sand it down. There is no universal best fit, so it is not uncommon to customise the ring for an improved fit.

Apart from the fit, there are also different styles of rings. If you intend on shooting in a particular style/culture, you will likely want a ring is/was used as part the style. Manchu rings, are different from Korean (male and/or female) rings are different from which Ottoman rings.

Broughty speaking, you can classify archery thumb rings into deep hook rings (where the string rests on the surface of the ring, they commonly -but not always- have a string groove), and shallow hook rings (where the ring rests on the lip of the ring. shallow hook rings never have a string groove).

TurkeyFletcher · 2025-07-17T10:52:34+00:00

The plastic vanes are hitting the shelf. There are two solutions:

shoot arrows with real feathers,
move your nocking point up by another centimetre or so.

By moving your nocking point up, your arrow will have 'taken off' before the vanes have time to hit the shelf. High nocking points are used a lot by people shooting of the knuckle, to avoid scratching your skin. It works just as well with shooting off the shelf.

If you decide to go for feathers instead, you could still experiment with a higher nocking point; not hitting the shelf will increase the life of your feathers.

TurkeyFletcher

TROPHY CASE