The development of the modern recurve came as a result of research carried out in America in the period between the world wars; however, this type of bow has origins stretching back thousands of years. The original recurve bow came about initially as a bow made from a number of materials and mainly found in parts of the world where there was a shortage of trees suitable for use as bow woods. This composite form of bow was generally made from a wooden core, which was often from scraps of wood which were of themselves very poor bow material. Horn was used on the belly of the bow (the side facing the archer at full draw) and sinew on the back (the side furthest from the archer at full draw). This bow was made into a shape in which the limbs of the bow, when unstrung, bent in the opposite direction to that required when the bow was strung. In this style the whole of the limbs bent back, sometimes so much that the limbs cross over each other. These bows are often very difficult to string, but give a very high velocity, or cast, to the arrow when shot. The shape of this type of bow is often described as being reflex. The modern recurve, however, tends to bend back from the tips of the bow only, and is described as a working recurve. This is considered by bowyers using modern materials as the most efficient form.
The recurve bow in this form first appeared in competitions in the 1950s, and at first was very unreliable with limb failures due to problems with glues, and handle failures due to the stresses which built up when the bow was shot. However, reliability improved quickly and so this type of bow very soon replaced both the longbow and steel bow which were used in major competitions up to this point.
At first the recurve bow was of a single length, but then the take-down style with a wooden handle was developed so that the bows could be transported more easily, and eventually the wooden handle replaced by a metal one. Also the limbs were initially laminations of wood and fibreglass, but as the use of carbon fibres and other materials developed advantage was taken of these. The result today is that the archer now has a good choice of efficient and reliable bows of this type, and it is hard to see how other than minor improvements can be made in future to this style of bow.
Geof Gibson
