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Old March 5th, 2010, 11:45 PM

Maerlande Maerlande is offline
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Default Re: Crossbows vs. Longbows

You guys don't seem to get the physics.

The bow material is IRRELEVANT. If you make a bow of styrofoam and it requires a 150 lb draw at 12 inches draw pull at 24" bow width it's the same as a titanium bow with the same characteristics.

Because, fundamentally it's a human being drawing the bow. And a human being has a limited amount of reach and pull. So all things being equal, a human with 150 lbs of pull at 28 inches of draw will put MORE energy into an arrow or bolt with a longer total bow length. So if a human could draw a 12 foot long bow at 150 lbs and 28 inches it would have far more penetration than any 4 foot tall bow at the same draw and length.

Material is irrelevant. If we are talking about machine powered draw and unlimited time to draw then compounding by mechanical advantage comes into play.

Of course, if you want to debate this I'm most happy. Of course you realize I will win.
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