Making the Comanche Bow, A Bow Maker's Journey 

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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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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 :)

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

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

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

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

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.😃

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.

Fantastic education on the bow making and history. Thanks.

Absolutely fantastic reproduction of the bow, well done…

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

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

Sweet, can't wait!

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.

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.

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 !

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.

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.

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!

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.

Excelente trabalho, adoro isso...

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

Looking at the background terrain takes me home.

Outstanding thank you.

Awesome! Thanks for sharing this! :)

Fantastic video. Thank you.

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

Nice bow! Love short bows.

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.

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

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

Super cool! Great work, I love it.

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

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.

Interesting video. Enjoyed that.

Awesome little bow, beautifully crafted! You can see why these were favoured as a highly mobile and powerful weapon. Here in England we don’t have such a luxury as Osage orange, but I might experiment with hawthorn for a short bow project. It may have some of the qualities needed and will be a bit of fun to try out. Great video - thanks for sharing the knowledge! 👍🏻

Wow very impressed!

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

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

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

Incredible! Great video!

Awesome video!!!! 👍👍

Love the video! Love the shirt!

Great video thanks for the education

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

I think many people underestimate the draw weight of short bows. What they lose in draw length, and therefore anchor ability for the archer, can easily be forgiven with their gain in speed. Another nice bow build!

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.

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

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. ❤

Cool stuff

cool bow build!!!!

Terrific information. Osage orange is easy to find.

Beautiful, functional bow. Happy hunting.

That was fascinating.

Another great video Jeff. I love the short bow you produce, they seem a lot more versatile tool for hunting but something you don't see in the UK.

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!

awesome video very interesting

Lovely job thank.

My best bow was made from trifoliate orange. I like long bows, but hard to find a long stave in trifoliate. It had knots and crooks, but was very powerful and straightened up pretty good when unstrung. (no relation to oasge, more akin to orange trees but has giant thorns)

That’s awesome! Well done 👍

An excellent presentation. Congrats

Interesting tutorial, I would like to have seen how the original Comanche bow makers did it. Not that you had to use their methods but a "this is what the Comanche bow maker would have use here" sort of thing. Knowing they didn't have modern rasps, sandpaper, draws and such it would have been even more time consuming and delicate to produce per bow. Good tutorial now make 50 more for the next hunting party going out this week end, LOL.

Chichimeca warriors also carried short, fast and heavy bows. There is also various photographs of Wixarika people with short bows.

Excellent video

EXCELLENT INSTRUCTION!!!

Those Shinto saw rasp are awesome

Really interesting...thankyou.

The speed on that thing!

Amazing!

Dude lol I just finished one I made this one with hickory though oldsage to had to find round hear I went all out though turkey Talon arrow pass complete with full buckskin quiver I honestly think it's harder to copy there leather work than it is to make an copy there bows just because the work that goes into making leather but I totally agree with you about versatility an usefulness of the shorter bows is greater it's hard to pack a 6 foot longbow threw the woods without making noise you do great work bro keep it up

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

Good bow. I saw one once with elk molars on the tips to hold atring. Elk molars are ivory.

be interesting to know some details about the projectile - build materials, tip, FPS, joules upon impact, range, penetration and the like

Hello friend, how are you, greetings from Colombia, friend, what a good bow, I really like bows and arrows.

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

Great vid thanks

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?

@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?

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!

Awesome

wow buddy thats amaizing , you should sell them as i think they would sell well, knd regards mike in the uk.

Nice!