Crossbows

Hi, with all the current talk about being prepared for ' whatever ' hardship, upheaval might be coming, and relating to being armed for self defence and obtaining meat, I wondered what the Forum thought about the use of Crossbows. With regard to guns, it seems to me that there might be a possibility of bullets being in short supply in the long term due to stockpiling by some and manufacturing breakdowns due to metal shortages. The reason I chose Crossbows is that modern examples are arguably as accurate as a rifle at ranges up to say 50 yards, and the bolts can probably be recycled as in a deer kill for example. Any thoughts ?

I've never used one to hunt.
It seems like a good way to nab small to medium dinner.
I d/l an ebook recently that shows how to make one.
I may give it a go. Do you have one?

I used a very basic one many years ago, draw pull around 70lb. Masses of power but not very accurate SW. Once shot a rabbit and the bolt went clean thru, and at the angle, travelled about 4 ft under the turf !

In addition to my post, I forgot to mention the advantages of the lack of sound and smoke discharge compared to a firearm. This might be very important in a survival situation.

BOW

Forget the 'cross' part. Learn to make and use simple longbows and (not so simple) fletched arrows, bowstrings, and pressure-flaked arrowheads. That, and a knife and spear made using the same technology, got our ancestors through the last bottleneck.



I have been a SEE trainer and am an American native. Trust me on this, and realize that to master the 'simple' bow may take a lifetime.

Major advantage: you make it when you need it.

Best way to get food is seashore gathering, snare and wild plant foods.

Know how to make a fire?

[edit on 2-3-2008 by Chakotay]

" I have been a SEE trainer and am an American native. Trust me on this, and realize that to master the 'simple' bow may take a lifetime. "

That's my point Chakotay, the modern Crossbow does not require a lifetime to master it's use as compared to a longbow

I thought about using crossbows for survival myself, but there are drawbacks to crossbows that I had not initially known about. The first issue is that they tend to break their strings with a pretty high frequency. You’ll never be able to craft a new string with what you can find the field, as nothing will have enough strength to be a workable replacement. Additionally the tips of the bow tend to wear out pretty rapidly. You cannot handcraft bolts with the precision that is required for a modern crossbow either, and once you run out of bolts you’ll have an expensive piece of firewood. With both crossbows and compound bows, firing a wooden shafted arrow is going to end up with it shattering as the wood cannot handle the flex demands placed it by higher powered bows. Your best bet is to go with a recurve bow as you can craft both strings and arrows that can handle their stress levels. Recurves can be purchased in a break-down fashion that will allow them to fit into your pack fairly easily. They also make packs with an attachment on the back to carry your bow for quick access.

Routing the stock deeply for a storage plate and a few extra strings and tip guards is a good idea. Sharpened valve stems work well with the valve end cut off. Some are sodium filled so discard any that are leaking.

They do seem a bit dangerous if one hits a person, they will die over a period of time due to hemmeriging (sp?) less its treated