How does archery still hold a place in modern and future combat?
Gun laws in many places suck. In some places, such as New York, they are a major inconvenience for working class people who want a tool to protect themselves and their loved ones. In other places, such as Britain and the majority of Europe, law abiding citizens could not even use a firearm to protect themselves from society's scum who intends to do them harm.
Yet, every day in these supposed "gun free zones", people are getting robbed, raped and murdered. Just because it is difficult to obtain a firearm DOES NOT mean that the average law abiding citizen should not have a powerful, effective and extremely deadly projectile weapon to protect himself and his fellow neighbors when evil does strike.
As said by Alan Moore from Ares Tactical Solutions, who specializes in teaching modern tactical archery, "if you got the time to point a camera through an upper story window at someone who is shooting up the street, there is no reason why you shouldn't also be able to take an arrow and drive it right through their neck, killing them". He had been talking about the Paris terrorist attacks when someone had been able to take a good identifying photograph of the gunmen. It DOES NOT matter if you are fighting against an enemy armed with a gun, knife or a vehicle. If you can see him long enough to get a good view of him, you should also be able to take a projectile weapon of ANY kind and DRIVE an arrow or bullet through his heart.
Same thing applies for mass shooters and terrorists in an indoor setting. If there is enough time to get everybody, or mostly everybody into closets and locked rooms, there should also be enough time for someone to grab a bow, load a broadhead to the string, and drill the lifeblood out of the pathetic piece of shit.
How effective are arrows compared to modern defensive ammunition from a handgun or carbine?
I dunno. Want to be our test subject for today? Why don't you take a seat over there by the bulls eye target? Yeah, the one with sand all around it to catch the blood.
Don't worry, it'll only hurt a bit.
We are talking about one of the most formidable weapons ever created in the history of arms and warfare. Millions of people had been KILLED by arrows long before the gun appeared on the scene roughly 600 years ago. The very knighthood of medieval France had been blasted into the pages of history under a withering hail of English arrows during the Hundred Year's War. The vast empires of the Arabs, Mongols and Turks were founded by the bow, and the warriors who wielded them in their sweep across the Eurasian heartland.
And millions upon millions of countless game animals, ranging from wild hogs to wildebeest and hippos, had been harvested and taken by bowhunters, from the Stone Age to this very day.
In the past, bowmen only had a few arrowhead designs to choose from. There were some broadheads and needlepoints that were effective in penetrating armor. Today, the arsenal of the bowhunter is even FAR MORE deadlier, thanks to advances in technology. There are literally hundreds of broadhead designs on the market that can KILL and BLEED OUT a fully grown GRIZZLY in SECONDS. Featuring multiple razor sharp blades that slice through bone and muscle, creating some of the most DEVASTATING wound channels ever seen in a projectile weapon.
Even the most coked up tweaker who can shrug off multiple non-center gunshot wounds is not going to last long with a rapidly dropping blood pressure due to catastrophic internal and external hemorrhaging from a broadhead impact. In recent years, there has been several defensive situations and crimes involving the use of bows. ALL of these cases had been FATAL.
Now don't get me wrong. I am NOT saying that a bow is always more effective than a gun for defense or combat. If the shit were to hit the fan right now, I will immediately go for my .45 Long Colt revolver loaded with +P flat nosed hunting ammunition or my M1911 with a magazine full of Hornady Critical Duty FlexLocks. A gun with the correct ammunition is equally deadly in the right hands. They have much greater capacity and ability to deliver follow-up shots, and obviously FAR easier to carry and conceal than my PGU 55lbs folding survival bow.
BUT if all I had on hand was a bow, I would take that over ANY contact range defensive implement.
But, does operating a bow require a lot more skill than picking up a gun and pulling the trigger?
Who said it was easy to operate and fire a gun? If it was THAT easy, PROFESSIONALS such as soldiers and police officers would not be MISSING over 65% of their shots in firefight situations. It is difficult enough for a beginner to learn how to load, maintain and operate a firearm in the most safe and efficient manner. It will take a lot of training and practice to learn these important skills. And it would take FAR MORE intensive training in order to prepare someone to SHOOT EFFECTIVELY in a life or death situation when the opposition may be shooting right back at you.
Now is it more difficult to shoot a BOW in a defensive situation as compared to a FIREARM? Maybe, maybe not. Some people can pick up a bow and a few arrows and after just a couple of hours of practice, become seasoned and deadly marksmen. Some people you can give them an AR with target barrel and top of the line aiming accessories and hundreds of range-hours and they still can't shoot for shit.
Bottom line is, a bow is a tool, just like a rifle or a hammer. We are not asking you to be Lars Andersen or a Mongol horse archer. Nothing fancy is required to be able to use a weapon like a bow and KILL an aggressor who is threatening you or your loved ones. Bows are designed for only one reason. To END THREATS. In other words, to KILL an aggressor or game animal. Whether it is to stop a crazed man with an assault rifle from hurting a classroom filled with children or to put food on your family's table, the function of a bow is EXACTLY like the function of a rifle. Of course it will take practice and training. But you will only need the necessary practice to be able to pick up a bow, draw back the arrow, and KILL a violent criminal who is threatening you.
A hardened murderer/prison escapee can be breaking in through the basement door of a suburban house in a state or country where gun ownership is restricted by law. But that does not mean that the father in this house, in the act of protecting his beloved wife and children, should not be able to grab a hunting bow and a broadhead-tipped arrow, conceal himself behind a standing wardrobe 10 yards away from the approaching aggressor, and KILL the son of a bitch right where he stands.
A crazed juvenile delinquent, filled with hate and malice and carrying an assault rifle can be making his way into a school filled with children in a state or country where gun ownership is severely restricted, with the intent of causing as large a mass carnage as possible. But that does not mean that a school staff member, a deer hunter in his free time, should not be able to retrieve his hunting bow and a broadhead-equipped arrow, position himself in a doorway, and KILL the piece of shit before he can let off a round from his rifle.
A futuristic dystopian state where all ownership of firearms are completely banned and punished by severe penalties can be making up plans to commit genocide against entire races of people. But that does not mean a resistance fighter cannot pick up a bow and a broadhead-equipped arrow, and DRIVE that arrow straight through the chest of a soldier in the process of rounding up a family into a cattle car, and REPEAT the process with the soldier's buddies a few yards away, one after another.
Just because the ownership of firearms are banned or restricted DOES NOT mean that a law abiding citizen cannot have on his hands a reliable, powerful, and LETHAL projectile weapon to defend himself and his loved ones or fight for his rights and liberty.
Bows are SILENT, SIMPLE, EASY TO BUILD. They are quiet enough to allow indoor target practice in a garage or basement (with adequate and responsible backstop and BLUNT arrows) And this allows mastery of the art in far less time than it would take with conventional firearms.
And by the way they also got really good survival bows out there that can be taken apart and then reassembled and strung within seconds. They also have other ones that fold up and fold back out for use. You can keep those in an emergency kit in your vehicle or toolbox. They are called SAS and PGU. 55lbs draw. Enough to take any species of big game in North America if you are shooting broadheads. Check those out.
ARCHERY is considered the MOST LETHAL martial art in China and Korea. And just like long range riflecraft, the patience, meditation, and inner awareness required to make a perfect shot can also teach a person self-empowerment, patience, respect and dedication.
If anyone thinks that I am not making sense,
ROAST ME. Go ahead and take your best shot. No pun intended
Thank you for reading and spread this far and wide.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR FURTHER RESOURCES:
55-lb draw weight Primal Gear Compact Folding Survival Bow:
Also available in 40-lb and 50-lb draws
Folded up, can be used as blunt impact weapon
Aluminum receiver and fiberglass limbs
Right or left hand options
Interchangeable and replacement limbs available.
Take-down arrows available:
http://goprimalnow.com
55-lb SAS Folding Survival Bow
Same as above, but limbs fold vertically into frame.
http://survivalarcherysystems.com
