Archery Biathlon Videos

Lately I have been researching archery biathlon as a winter sport. Check out some of these awesome videos I found.

I apologize for some of the loud annoying music on some of the videos.





Plus some more amateur videos.

Vintage Shakespeare Bow

"Shakespeare" was a brand of wooden recurve bow popular during the 1950s and 1960s.

Archery Vs Balloons

Olympic Archery hopefuls in India

Olympic Archery hopefuls in India

Archery Woodcut Art

Archery Woodcut, 1879

Archery Woodcut, 17th Century

Archery Woodcut

Archery Woodcut, 19th Century

Archery on Fire in Toronto

The popularity of Archery in Toronto is up 1100% compared to 2009, says Toronto Archery Instructor Charles Moffat of CardioTrek.ca. As an archery instructor Moffat has done archery promotional work for TSN and CBC News and is currently working on his second archery book.

"Back in Spring 2009, when I first started coming to the Toronto Public Archery Range, you would see maybe 3 or 4 archers there on any particular day. On a really busy day you might see 5 or 6 archers. In contrast in 2013 we saw 30 to 40 people at the archery range on a regular basis during the Summer. Even in Autumn numbers would hit 20 to 30 people at the range regularly, and it is largely due to all the new people who started doing archery in 2012 and again in 2013."

We are fortunate that in Toronto we have the Toronto Public Archery Range at E. T. Seton Park - without it many Torontonians wouldn't have a place to go and shoot. There are only two large public archery ranges in all of Canada, located in Toronto and Vancouver.

Which means that Torontonians can do archery all year round if they're willing to brave the freezing colds.

"What we really need is an indoor archery range. Either built by the city or sponsored by a big corporation like CIBC," says Moffat. "The CIBC and other big Canadian banks have been stepping up in recent years to support recreational sports and amateur sports, because it is those amateur sports that makeup the backbone of professional sports and Olympic athletes. If we could twist the arm of the CIBC into building an indoor archery range that would make a big difference to help Canadian archers in the GTA to become more competitive."

But getting big corporate sponsors like that is both difficult and rare. You need to be really organized to get the support of such companies.

"The other alternative is crowd-funding. If someone were to make a successful kickstarter campaign to build an indoor public archery range it would go a long way to promoting archery even more in Toronto," says Moffat.

So why not you?

Moffat laughs. "Too busy working! That is the problem with pipe dreams. They need someone who has plenty of free time and are willing to do all the leg work to get the ball rolling."

"Besides I love shooting outdoors anyway. It is just the problem that like myself, many people hate being cold while doing a sport."

Archery Ads in the Wake of the Hunger Games

Archery companies are advertising like crazy in the wake of the new Hunger Games film "Catching Fire". What is unusual is that these ads are often geared towards women who want to do archery.

See the ads below to see what I mean.

Catching Fire Review

I went to the Richmond Paramount (aka the Scotiabank Theatre) last Friday after doing some xmas shopping at the Eaton's Centre and saw the new Hunger Games film "Catching Fire".

I can honestly say it was better than the first film (which was very good too). So if you've been waiting to see Catching Fire, the news is good, you will not be disappointed by the quality of the film or how the story is developing.

Can't wait for films 3 and 4. (The greedy bastards split book 3 into 2 films.)

Next on my agenda of film watching... The Hobbit! The Desolation of Smaug... The 2nd Hobbit film comes out December 13th 2013.

Armless Archer, American Matt Stutzman

Armless Archer, American Matt Stutzman.

This guy is just plain awesome! Kudos!

Two Piece Takedown Longbow

Two piece takedown longbows are easier to carry than a traditional longbow, but obviously will cost you a bit more for the convenience of having a bow that is easier to transport.

You can also get two piece takedown recurves too, although most takedown recurve bows are three piece instead of two. Photos of various different designs below.

I think they're awesome!

Bracing a Bow using the Push-Pull Method

How to string a longbow or pyramid bow using the Push-Pull method.

Explained by Mike Meusel, a local bowyer in Toronto.

Calculating Arrow Speed Formulas

There are a number of arrow speed formulas out there for people who want to try and calculate mathematically how fast their arrows are going in fps (Feet Per Second).

Sadly they are all inaccurate.

My advice? Calculate your arrow speed using multiple different formulas and then get a range of numbers or average number. Then you will know roughly how fast your arrows are going.

In which case you are also going to need to know the meanings of some words and acronyms...

IBO (International Bowhunters Organization number used as a measurement for calculating arrow speed, based on a 70 lb bow. The arrow will have a grain weight of 540 [9 grains of arrow weight per pound of bow weight]. The draw length will be set at 30 inches. The chronograph used for measuring the speed will be placed at point blank range for testing.)

AMO (Archery Manufacturing Organization number used as a measurement for calculating arrow speed, based on a 60 lb bow. The arrow will have a grain weight of 350 [5 grains of arrow weight per pound of bow weight]. The draw length will be set at 30 inches. The chronograph used for measuring the speed will be placed at point blank range for testing.)

DRAW (The distance you pull back the arrow from the arrow rest.)

GRAINS (A weight measurement for arrows and arrowheads. 7000 grains is 1 pound.)

STRING WEIGHT (Any added weight on the bowstring will slow your arrow down. Dampeners and similar devices will weigh down your bowstring.)

Once you know most of these numbers you can try and calculate FPS (Feet Per Second) using the different formulas. Try using the IBO formula and then the AMO formula and see the different results. Neither will be truly accurate to your actual arrow speed, but the average should be reasonably close.

There is also the ATA (Archery Trade Association) formula, which has gained some popularity despite being more restrictive in its calculations.

NOTE

If you really want to know the specific number then you will need to buy a gadget and then use it several times to try and get an average number based on the readings.

eg. 3 consecutive readings might be 139 fps, 138 fps and 140 fps = averaging 139 fps.

2nd NOTE

For those of you who are into hunting please note that arrow speed doesn't matter so much when it comes to hunting. Yes, light arrows are faster. But HEAVY arrows do more damage because they have more momentum and impact.