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Excellent info and history my tribe is in the Yukon and very few people gave any knowledge about bows wich is sad,good to see people out there taking interest in our culture.

Awesome video. I have been here in comanche County Texas all my life and grew up with the Comanches a part of the local history. I'm a history buff and my great uncle was born in brown county Texas on Christmas eve 1896. As a very young boy who showed me comanche camps on his land and we walked the sites of several comanche raids and massacres on the Indian moon, as the old time cowboy like him called the full moon. He had a lot of respect for the Comanches, I remember him showing me a sharps carbine decorated all over the wood stock with brass tacks that my great uncles father had taken off a comanche killed in a skirmish close to the county line on long mountain. He even took me up on the mountain and showed me the site

I had an Osage orange hedge native people of Kansas , my Grandpa gave me in the mid- 50's. Unforrtunaely i loaned it to my neighbor ( Rudy Scott ) for some show and tell . I never saw it again . U have made me put making another thing on my bucket list right up next to a pig hunt ,i might use my 30-06 two maybe three w/ one shot,one can hope ! Good Job ! Thanks Brother Bob

This design of bow is much more accurate than a Turkish or Seracen horse bow because the string contact is minimized at the tips. I really appreciate this design.

A great tribute to the people who made and used these weapons with amazing skill.

Thanks dude, just making my first few longbows and your teachings are so very very helpful. I will continue the journey. Thanks again my fierce warrior brother.

Great stuff. I love the idea of practical archeology, ever since reading Kon-Tiki years ago. So much to be learned and understood.

Thank you for the great video. It's convinced me to subscribe and look through your history and anticipate your future videos. This was one of the most straight forward, information filled examples of Osage orange bow construction that I have seen to date.

I like that little Osage Orange bow you made. Osage is a gorgeous wood. There are a couple of comments you make about short bows that aren't quite accurate. A short bow is not faster than a longer bow, without talking extremes. Super long bow or super short. There is more finger pinch in a short bow thus limiting draw length. if that is non existent, then it is not a powerful bow and a short bow is less stable, more difficult to be accurate with and not as powerful as a medium recurve or long bow. There is a lot of lore around natives' bows. They were short range bows, not too powerful but useful for stalking low on the ground and for carrying and shooting from horseback. It's the same with the tomahawk which wasn't what is often portrayed. The best tomahawks came from France as a trading instrument with the natives. This started around five centuries ago. The natives' lifestyle was efficient within the confines of their environment but not compared to what the Europeans brought with them. Short bows are practical in tree stands, they are sufficiently powerful for reasonable distances for hunting, up to maybe 30 yards. It isn't how far an arrow can be cast that defines the efficiency of a bow, it is how long the arrow remains at a certain speed to achieve pass through or at least good penetration with a broadhead. A short bow's limbs can only be bent so far because of their small size, before they suffer damage. An overbent bow doesn't have limbs that return in place fast enough to be called "fast". Everything has its place but the most efficient traditional bows whether self bows, recurves or longbows are usually between 60 inches and 66 inches in length. At these lengths, these bows are stable, fast, accurate and can cast heavy arrows a long distance.

Fantastic education on the bow making and history. Thanks.

This was amazing, great, great instruction, loved the background of the Camanche. I can't wait to give this a try in 2023

That was amazing. You transformed that tree into a very effective weapon. Not only is it effective it is beautiful. I like all the information you gave us before you made the bow. I am very impressed.

Very impressive. I am revisiting archery from my youth with a survival twist and your work is outstanding.

Beautiful little bow and a great history lesson to go with it.

Wow just excellent, this whole thing. The information about the Comanche, your plan for the bow and the quality of the process and end result. Love it

i always had a bow from 10yrs old to about 15yrs im not an indian but i loved to shoot arrows, i am a retired tool and die maker so i appreciate the craftmanship and method to make the wood accurate and balanced, really impressive! i still love to learn stuff :)

Absolutely fantastic reproduction of the bow, well done…

Awesome video, really glad I found you. Haven't had luck making bows yet, but this video provides a very clear system to follow to shape the bow, rather than just hoping and guessing like I was doing. Subbed

Amazing. I absolutely love that 'thwp!' sound of the bow!

Fascinating and very educational ! A 50 lb pull would absolutely take down most game animals in NA ! I never knew that the native american bows were that powerful ! I thought they were in the 30 lb range because the Indian braves were so good at getting close to game ! When I saw the short distance between the bow and the string I wondered what the chances were for a serious string slap burn on the forearm though ! Yeouch !

I have been following your videos for a while but think this may (?) be the first time I have commented. Overall, I love your videos and presentation. This one perked my interest as I am "mixed-race" Kiowa-Comanche and was raised awareness of many of our traditions, particularly the life skills. I spent a lifetime now perfecting many of those related "folk arts" and related indigenous life skills... This was a great general "how-to" for the Comanche "short bow" or "bush bow." Excellent presentation!!! Here are some highlighted observations and/or alternative information to what you have presented: 1. Your staves (of any species) regardless of location (humid or arid) should never split if properly harvested and stored! If they are splitting, then something is being done incorrectly or a step missing... A stave should be a minimum of 300 mm longer than it needs to be whenever possible... For best stave quality the blank stave log/limb/bolt section with bark one should be "rested" in a stream, pond, or wet sand for at least 6 months with longer periods being better. Those rested for decades or longer are of the highest quality. "Resting" wood is a tradition going back millennia in many traditional cultures for wood, especially those cultures that have intact skills within "green" wood and timber working modalities... The stave removed from the bolt section should be riven and then "greased" immediately or fully covered in beeswax. While working a stave blank, it should be oiled/waxed continuously and never allowed to dry out until final finishing. Even then a bow should never be allowed to fully dry in the modern sense as the wood becomes too brittle with time. Waxing/oiling is part of traditional bow maintenance... 2. "Center Lining" a bow stave traditionally was done with charcoal added to some grease..or...a natural ink (too numerous to count) then a thin line was dipped in and snapped onto the wood...This method, again, is shared among many cultures when a line was needed as a point of reference on a hind, wood section, stone, etc. Thanks again for a great presentation and I look forward to more of your work!

A great sense of satisfaction and pride goes into having a hand made item like that, and to have a useful function is the real world pay off for all that effort.😃

Excelente trabalho, adoro isso...

Just found your channel... This is really awesome stuff!! Excellent description of your process 👍🏻

Fantastic video. Thank you.

Outstanding thank you.

That has to be incredibly satisfying to take that piece of stave and work with it, flaws and all, to create that bow. That bow was in the wood the whole time, it just took someone with the skill and patience to bring it out into the open.

im a welsbowyer in the uk, only i think only 2 people in wales still make traditional welsh longbows, (which the english nicked, but thats another story lol :) ) american short bows are few and far between, ive only ever seen one. good research and work

Looking at the background terrain takes me home.

Very interesting, especially the history. Thank you for the video!

Sweet craftsmanship

I am so proud of you Nephew, you have come a long way and learned so much. I love the Osage long bow you made for my Birthday. Just waiting for my new arrows to come in and ill let you know how it goes. ❤

Awesome info, just found out my great grandfather was camanche. Crazy little bow, highly effective though.

Peoples who fought on horseback always favored short bows, from the Mongols to the Native Americans. This was because it was easier to switch from shooting to your left or right side, since the bottom of the short bow could more easily be lifted over the horses mane. Peoples who used their bows from a standing position didn't have this problem, and so preferred the more powerful longbows.

Wow very impressed!

That was a great video -- very informative! Thank you.

Lovely job thank.

Been sitting on large chunks of osage for 35 years, cut form a 140 year old tree Made lots of kitchen utensils over the years learning the wood in hopes of making a bow with one of the larger pieces. Thanks for kickstarting me.

Sweet, can't wait!

Great video thanks for the education

Nice bow! Love short bows.

What an awesome video presentation of a not so easy process done with basic tools, knowledge of the materials and lots of patience. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and good luck with your web page.

EXCELLENT INSTRUCTION!!!

Awesome! Thanks for sharing this! :)

I believe it’s possible to use a bowline knot or a lariat knot for the upper loop of a bowstring.I have used the lariat knot, and it holds just fine.

Super cool! Great work, I love it.

Interesting video. Enjoyed that.

Very interesting I could never make a bow I don’t believe but it looks to me like you made a beautiful bar and I’m hoping to be able to see you make some more thank you very much God bless

Really interesting...thankyou.

That was fascinating.

Great video.. Great job. 👍 Greetings from Denmark.

Thanks for demonstrating your message for making a short bow out of orange wood. I'm going to be working with Pacific Yew wood. I'm sure some of your techniques will be very valuable in my instruction. I know I have to stay away from the dust of the Pacific Yew.

Incredible! Great video!

cool bow build!!!!

Awesome video!!!! 👍👍

That's a tight little bow my Man! Well done!

An excellent presentation. Congrats

I remember the Pope & Young book that did a TEST on original BOWS! The Apache bow had the lowest "Pull Weight" 28 pounds but "SHOT THE FARTHER YARDAGE!" I was very IMPRESSED!

I like your black and white bonnet with the pom pom. Nice Bow. Thanks 4 sharing 🙂

Excellent video

awesome video very interesting

Beautiful, functional bow. Happy hunting.

Really interesting video! That osage orange looks like it would be fun to work with. I'm still a greenhorn when it comes to bow making. This video was very helpful.

Cool stuff

Terrific information. Osage orange is easy to find.

Love the video! Love the shirt!

Thats better than my Mack 10, which can Jam, cool videos you make.

Hello, nice bow and thank you for sharing your very interesting video.

Lars Andersen's video on the Comanche got the A.I. to suggest your video. I felt like we were dropped into the middle of your process in this video so if there are others that lead up to this please let us know. -Was the stave split out out green wood? -How long was it drying before work began? (some plains natives supposedly soaked osage in water then bent it into desired shapes) -once the growth ring was established was all other work done on the back of the stave? -What was the traditional bowstring made of? -Were the bowstrings released when not in use? -What were the traditional fletchings? -How many fletchings? -What was the size and depth of the nocks? thanks

That’s awesome! Well done 👍

Those Shinto saw rasp are awesome

Those arrows are zipping outta there like a 🚀

I better watch this loving archery an married to Comanche princess for 20 yrs. (Not kidding! Grandfather lived through 13 bullet holes from Texas Rangers). She was a genius, speaking dozen languages with 5 masters degrees!

Thank you for sharing your knowledge on the subject. I’ve wondered how the different tribes made their bow and arrows as that was first, their hunting tool to supply the family with wild game. Lastly, it was a weapon to protect their families from invasion by the enemy.

To further the educational standpoint of your video, I think you could show how the Comanche used primitive tools to complete their bows. I am sure files and sand paper were not available to them at the time. I loved this video. First time watching

The speed on that thing!

Amazing!

Thanks for the cool video! I really like the bow you made. Maybe one day I'll see if I can make one too.

Osiyo, have you discovered any difference in native bows,, north to south. east to west. material, cordage, decoration. what about between horse back tribes like comanche to black foot? i think you need to do a more indepth series. great channel

Your knowledge and skill are amazing. I understand that speed/velocity is the goal, and a short bow should be able to recoil quickly. I have a seven foot piece of Osage Orange that I cut in Kansas. I am now too old to use it. I wish I knew a bowmaker I could give it to. Michigan, USA Detroit area.

Thanks Brother

Thats a really good build for primitive bow. Fast and light. Its funny that these must be held horizontally mostly because of their size and shape and sneaky hunting style. But the horizontal stance is very accurate if you master it. Its like shooting a crossbow. I prefer native style bows because they are easier to carry and handle than warbows. We also have short hunting bows here in scandinavia and in europe. Many tribes all over the world used short bows and they often had relatively long arrows. All primitive hunting bows used to be convenient and practical according to the surrounding environment. In my area they had to craft laminated bows from pine and birch because there werent much options. Slowly grown northern swamp pine is actually pretty good bow material.

I was trying visualize the rings as you explained the layers and what came to mind was a reverse leaf spring so your outer ring is the main leaf narrowing down to the handle

Very cool. Thank you 🙏

Awesome

Now u should try to make one with only the materials and tools available to them at the time. I'm not being a smartass, I couldn't do this with any tools without some reading and practice, I'm just always amazed at the stuff people could build and create with sticks and stones

Awesome stuff. The Comanches were legendary warriors and masters of the bow and horseback. Your bow looks good, but doesn't sound very fast, at least on video. Was it really at 51lbs when finished? What weight of an arrow did you have there?

It's a pretty awesome experience when your curiosity leads you to some real creativity. Loved this video, Stay curious folks. :)

Very interesting

Great vid thanks

i would have liked to hear which growth ring you chose to follow and the reasons you chose it. thanks

Best light horseman ever !

love an light

@Primitive Lifeways, so I need to chase a single layer before working on shaping the rest of the bow? Any idea if that applies to board bows also?

Thanks for video, are u making notches on comanches bow?

Good clip

Awesome video. Do u sale any of your Comanche bow and arrows. Would love one there beautiful

Curti⚡e este modelo mesmo que vou fazer,Power COMANCHES

Absolutely love your videos bro. Thank you for the simple explanations! Are there any more woods that are suitable to this design?