'Hurricane'
MK.1
English Longbow
I was asked to make a high performing English longbow for competitive target shooting. This is a new project for me, I've spent the better part of 20 years making heavy bows over 100lb. But this presented a great new challenge. What was the brief, first and foremost I was asked to make these bows fast, that's the primary concern, then beautiful, but especially fast. Thanks to a chronograph I can prove they are fast, beautiful is more subjective. What was my rule for the latter, did I want to keep the bow after it was finished? For every single Hurricane I have made so far that's absolutely true. Here a breakdown of the Hurricane English Longbow, a bow I am very proud of.
​Specifications
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Weight 25lb - 60lb
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Draw length. 24" - 30"
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Leather handle Yes
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Comes with stringer Yes
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Arrows - use 9-10 grain per pound wooden arrows only
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Ambidextrous horn arrow pass for left or right handed
A high performance English Longbow
What makes a bow fast is as simple as good tillering, I won't go into too much detail here as it'll get too technical. The Hurricane has a Lemonwood belly, an exotic wood core (Ipe, Bubinga, Osage, to name a few) and always a Bamboo back.
Testing
Every single Hurricane is shot after it is tillered, I shoot them with 9gpp arrows before I have even put a handle on, if I get any hand shock or feel anything I don't like, I keep working on it. Some people expect hand shock on an English longbow, I do not. I want to shoot longbows which are smooth.
Speed
Speed is vital, Hurricane's shoot 10 gpp to 9 gpp arrows. Anything less than 9 'grain per pound' of draw weight is too light for a wood bow and doesn't result in arrows flying any faster. Please stick to this weight always when shooting your Hurricane. Shot at 27" this 48lb @ 28" bow shot an impressive 153fps. At 28" it would be closer to 160fps but my draw is 27" so that's my consistent measurement.
