[American Flatbow] Flatbows in competition

English Bowman

Well-known member
Estonian FAAE and EFO made an agreement to allow each other to attened each others National competitions without having to join both associations (as long as you belong to at least one) this seems to be working and Archers and officials appear to have more respect and understanding for each other.
Now that's real progress and something that I'd love to see happening over here. I can see it's a possibility with the EFAA and GNAS or NFAS but I can't see NFAS and GNAS sorting out their differences for a long time yet more's the pity.
 

steve Morley

New member
I understand Fita and IFAA have been in talks about running competitions jointly, think it's regarding 3D competitions. I haven't heard anything official yet but if it happens I think it will be a good thing for Field Archery.

If it happens maybe GNAS will then have to change with the times
 

English Bowman

Well-known member
I've heard those rumours too, and I hope that there's more than wishful thinking to them. I would really like to see this happen.
 

2taboo

New member
Can someone please explain why the AFB, as it's known, seems to be classed as a 'black sheep' by the British ? When, as far as I have been able to establish, it's actually an older form of bow than the English longbow ? ie. more traditional !!?!
 

English Bowman

Well-known member
Can someone please explain why the AFB, as it's known, seems to be classed as a 'black sheep' by the British ? When, as far as I have been able to establish, it's actually an older form of bow than the English longbow ? ie. more traditional !!?!
Because the AFB is a much newer design than the English Longbow. The use of fibre-glass is the give-away. The original flat-bows didn't have a shelf for use as an arrow rest as far as I know either. There is no way that the American Flatbow, which was developed in the 1930s if I remember correctly is older than the English Longbow.

Also an AFB is much easier to shoot well than a traditional English Longbow. We do have classes that AFBs can be shot in, either AFB or Traditional depending on your society.

Some societies have an Historical section where you can shoot any bow that has a pre-industrial design in, as long as it has no modern materials in the make up. I like this idea.
 

SPEW

New member
Because the AFB is a much newer design than the English Longbow.......

.....Also an AFB is much easier to shoot well than a traditional English Longbow.
Dont confuse me with an expert but based on no quotable sources and very little experience I think that .....

Like many bows, the flat bow has roots that go back as far or further than the ELB it is just that in a lot of todays examples they have taken on a few modern features. In the same way that you can buy laminated ELBs with fastflite strings I will bet that you can also buy AFBs with no shelf or glass-fiber. In fact a lot of NFAS "Primitive" class bows look remarkably like modern AFBs and the ELBs are put into their own (more modern?) class. I have to agree that most modern AFBs (that are shot in the AFB class) do use glass or carbon fiber but it isnt essential in the bow design. Rather it is the cross sectional shape of the limbs that differentiate it from the ELB

I think its just that the ELB was designed around wood like Yew while flat bows were designed around woods like Osage and that lead to the differing limb shapes. Both have long and interesting histories.

Cant say about which is easier to shoot but if you are competing in your own class of bows then you are competing on skill with similar equipment so inter-class comparisons are not that important. In my limited experience it is hard to shoot any bow well, just have to accept that some bows are more accurate than others.
 

steve Morley

New member
Good post SPEW.

It would be nice if the GNAS caught up with the times, the AFB is one of the biggest classes shot in IFAA 3D and Fita 3D thoughout Europe, it's also very popular class in NFAS and EFAA.

It is difficult as we have so many shooting classes in the IFAA the awards seem to take longer than the actual shooting. I'm really enjoying Fita 3D in Europe as it only has 4 classes. Compound, Barebow, Trad and Longbow (AFB).
 

bkupris

Supporter
Supporter
American Shoot
AIUK Saviour
Not too long ago (last year sometime) GNAS asked for member input via AIUK magazine I believe concerning flatbow as a new bowstyle. Have not heard anything since??
 
D

Deleted member 7654

Guest
What category does a flatbow come under in competitions?
It's impossible to answer without a definition of 'flatbow'
Some primitives can be called flatbows and vice versa.
Do you mean a self bow of flat section?
Del
 

2taboo

New member
Thanks for clearing that up .. I had obviously misinterpreted the term AMERICAN Flatbow meaning the flatbow design - the definition of AFB relates to the relatively new design incorporating modern materials .. but the general flatbow design is really old too, maybe even older than the English style longbow ? Is that right ?
 

English Bowman

Well-known member
Thanks for clearing that up .. I had obviously misinterpreted the term AMERICAN Flatbow meaning the flatbow design - the definition of AFB relates to the relatively new design incorporating modern materials .. but the general flatbow design is really old too, maybe even older than the English style longbow ? Is that right ?
Absolutely. I should have made that clearer in my post, but in my understanding the American Flatbow has man made laminates and an arrow-shelf. The traditional flatbow made entirely of wood and without an arrow shelf, is as old a design as the English Longbow, as both are pre-historic.
 
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