| Guest blog by Black Bear [message #21042] |
Sat, 26 September 2009 18:43  |
 b_twin_1
Messages: 2596
Registered: September 2008
Location: Victoria, Australia |
Senior Member
[Moderator] |
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Black Bear hits the target 
I've got a plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel ~ Blackadder
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| Re: Guest blog by Black Bear [message #21051 is a reply to message #21042 ] |
Sat, 26 September 2009 21:59  |
skating librarian
Messages: 571
Registered: October 2008
Location: Vermont |
Senior Member |
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Hey, I did archery in PE too. I was so so, but then there was a girl in my class who went to the Olympic trials at age 17, and she made us all look pretty sad.
Every once in a while the local "sportmen's club" has a "ladies day" when women are invited to come try out things like archery, fly fishing and using various sorts of guns.
I'd love to try archery again, but the notion of spending any time at all with guys who have gun racks in their pick ups is off putting. Admittedly I do know some who use said racks for their levels and their fishing rods, but still ...
"Winning a war is like winning an earthquake" Jeanette Rankin
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| Re: Guest blog by Black Bear [message #21054 is a reply to message #21042 ] |
Sun, 27 September 2009 00:09 |
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I gather that Elizabeth Moon and assorted friends and acquaintances had a lot of fun at a recent convention in Austin, playing with a cute little red miniature crossbow. They were using goldfish crackers for bolts. Good aerodynamic behavior is apparently not strictly required.
Have you read Bujold's fourth Sharing Knife? A crossbow with unconventional ammunition is crucial to the denoument.
Thanks for explaining them. I never really knew how they worked. Very elegant little mechanism, that trigger device.
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| Re: Guest blog by Black Bear [message #21056 is a reply to message #21042 ] |
Sun, 27 September 2009 04:03 |
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Diane in MN
Messages: 2732
Registered: October 2008
Location: Twin Cities, MN, USA |
Senior Member |
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Thanks for an interesting post, Black Bear. People might remember that when William Tell shot the arrow off his kid's head, he used a crossbow.
A longbow, a la Robin Hood, is a 5′-6′ long piece of wood (usually more than one kind of wood, in layers) with a string holding it in a flexed position; to fire, you have to have the strength to pull that string back 30″ or so and hold it while you aim. [. . .] But a light crossbow, 60-70# pull (which is a heavy draw weight for a longbow, but light for a crossbow) is easily pulled back with both hands if you hook your foot into the stirrup.
Crossbow technology really cut the relationship between firepower and strength. This made crossbows very useful weapons in defensive situations: women and boys could use them effectively if necessary. (I imagine this is why a lot of folks associate them largely with continental Europe--all those city-states going at each other, defenders shooting from the walls, etc.) Crossbows were probably the principal democratizing force in warfare, until firearms became commonplace and did a better job of leveling the battlefield.
"The point of books is to have way too many but to always feel you never have enough . . . " Louise Erdrich
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 Re: Guest blog by Black Bear [message #21058 is a reply to message #21056 ] |
Sun, 27 September 2009 05:33 |
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Growing up we had one of the biggest 4-H Archery programs in the the U.S., with some Awesome coaches. That post brought back many fond memories.
" A crossbow is heavy—they’re made of wood and metal, after all, and mine’s walnut—so there’s a feeling of solidity to it that my longbow lacks. It doesn’t kick, really, as you generally put it atop your shoulder rather than against it; but you lay your cheek against the wood to sight and fire, and so you feel very close with the thing, so to speak. You can smell the wood, and the oil, and the cedar of the bolts. When you pull the trigger, the whole thing kind of thrums for a second… "
My little hand made lap harp's made of walnut too, lays against my right shoulder, it thrums constantly and smells wonderful - much better than my bigger mass produced harp. However it has a few more strings to pull on and although I've broken hearts with it before I've never aimed at a heart.
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| Re: Guest blog by Black Bear [message #21067 is a reply to message #21042 ] |
Sun, 27 September 2009 13:46 |
judith
Messages: 246
Registered: October 2008
Location: United States |
Senior Member |
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This info is seriously cool. Thanks, Black Bear!
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a bolt (also called a quarrel)
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I have this vague disquieting sense in the back of my memory of having either read once or been told once that a crossbow bolt is called a "quorl", not to be misspelled "quarrel". Since then, every time I've seen it referenced, I've seen "quarrel" and haven't even found "quorl" once. Any idea if I'm having bad dreams or if there's any substance to "quorl", in any version of English (US, UK, Canadian, Aussie, etc.)? It's been bugging me every time I read about crossbows for at least 25 years.
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A crossbow is heavy—they’re made of wood and metal, after all, and mine’s walnut
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I know you said you're into medieval crossbows, but do you know enough about modern ones to know if they make them out of modern materials for hunting, sports, etc.? I have a lovely carbine rifle made largely of carbon fiber that weighs a little over 4 pounds. Its equivalent, in other plastics, is at least 7 pounds, and in wood is often over 15 pounds. I HATE handling and shooting heavy things. Light is good, and I'm a great believer in Better Living Through Chemistry (TM), so I can't help wondering if the carbon fiber crossbow or its equivalent is out there.
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| Re: Guest blog by Black Bear [message #21073 is a reply to message #21067 ] |
Sun, 27 September 2009 16:31 |
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Black Bear
Messages: 3216
Registered: September 2008
Location: Indianapolis, IN USA |
Senior Member
[Moderator] |
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I'd never seen "quorl." I believe quarrel comes from middle english "quarel," ... which dictionary.com tells me derives from the Latin quadrus, or square.
Yes, modern hunting crossbows are made of carbon-fiber; they also are strung compound, like modern hunting bows, and therefore even tiny children can fire deer-seeking missiles at 200# pull with their little finger, I think. Most archery ranges I've been on will not allow crossbow hunters to target shoot on them, as the higher poundage pull leads to the bolts ripping up the targets (or going straight through them.) Do let me know if you try it out, I really know next to nothing about modern crossbows!
"The time is always right to do what's right."--MLK Jr.
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| Re: Guest blog by Black Bear [message #21079 is a reply to message #21042 ] |
Sun, 27 September 2009 17:20 |
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This is awesome. Thank you! Medieval crossbows have been on my list of things to research for a while. They're just so dang neat!
Smooshes!
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| Re: Guest blog by Black Bear [message #21080 is a reply to message #21042 ] |
Sun, 27 September 2009 17:27 |
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AJLR
Messages: 2566
Registered: September 2008
Location: England, UK |
Senior Member
[Moderator] |
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Fascinating stuff, Black Bear. Thank you.
(Do crossbow people make puns about having quarrels?)
[Updated on: Sun, 27 September 2009 17:36]
"Never let a computer know you're in a hurry."
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