Even a simple bow launches an arrow faster than a spear-thrower launches its dart

The summary today

Only one set of measurements puts the bow and the spear-thrower on the same bench, and it dates from 1988. At Enfield, with Royal Ordnance equipment and technicians, the same person threw a 195-gram dart with a replica North American spear-thrower, used without a weight, and shot six bows, five replicas and one African original, while two optical screens 3 and 6 metres from the line measured the speed. The dart left at 23 metres per second. The slowest bow, a short Sioux hickory bow drawing 24.9 kilos with a 30-gram arrow, reached 30, and every other bow sat between 32 and 60; the authors also note that in earlier work spear-thrower darts, with and without a weight, stayed between 19 and 21. The bow's advantage in speed is clear, but it rests on a single test: one spear-thrower, one thrower and, for each weapon, the top speed of several shots, never the mean. And it concerns speed alone: the dart weighs more than six times as much as the arrow, and the authors themselves write that it strikes with greater force and penetrates deeply, even though it travels much less far.

Also phrased as: "bow versus spear-thrower"; "atlatl dart velocity"; "atlatl and bow compared"; "why the bow replaced the spear-thrower"; "self bow and atlatl"

Evidence

• 1988
  For Equipment tests Published later

  Six bows (five replicas and one African original), a modern crossbow and a replica North American spear-thrower in ash, used without a weight, all shot by the same person at Enfield using Royal Ordnance equipment and optical screens 3 and 6 metres from the line. The 152-centimetre, 195-gram dart leaves at 23 metres per second; the short Sioux hickory bow, 24.9 kilos, launches a 30-gram arrow at 30; every other bow sits between 32 and 60. The authors cite earlier work in which spear-thrower darts, with and without a weight, ran between 19 and 21 metres per second.

  Experimental archery: projectile velocities and comparison of bow performances · C.A. Bergman, E. McEwen, R. Miller

• 1988
  Context Equipment tests Published later

  In the same work the authors warn that the comparison holds for speed: the 195-gram dart, more than six times the Sioux bow's 30-gram arrow, strikes with greater force and penetrates deeply, and although it travels much less far than an arrow, at the short ranges used in hunting it would be just as effective. For each weapon the table reports the top speed of several shots, with no mean and no count of how many were thrown.

  Experimental archery: projectile velocities and comparison of bow performances · C.A. Bergman, E. McEwen, R. Miller

Status history

1. 1988 Reported The first and only measurement that compares the bow and the spear-thrower by the same method arrives. At Enfield the 195-gram dart thrown with the spear-thrower leaves at 23 metres per second, while the slowest bow in the test, a Sioux hickory bow drawing 24.9 kilos, sends a 30-gram arrow off at 30, and the other bows sit between 32 and 60. It is a single series of equipment tests, with one spear-thrower and one thrower, and the table gives the top speed of several shots, not the mean: reported. The advantage is in speed, not energy, because the dart weighs more than six times as much as the arrow.

Related

Research lines

• 22 studiesTraditional and historical bows, from models to archers
• 22 studiesHow much energy passes from bow to arrow: models and measurements since 1937

Other claims in this domain

• CorroboratedAlong its flight the arrow loses an appreciable part of its launch speed12 studiesStatus since 2011
• CorroboratedAs it leaves the bow, the arrow flexes and snakes around the riser instead of leaving straight19 studies · 47 archers measuredStatus since 2012
• ReportedA camera-based scoring system misreads some arrows: the ones barely sticking out and the ones that shift the target face7 studies · 2 archers measuredStatus since 2017
• ReportedA chest band with fibre optic sensors measures breathing and mean heart rate with small errors, and an archer can wear it while shooting2 studiesStatus since 2019
• ReportedA compound bow stores between 70 and 100 joules and sheds about two thirds of the force at full draw4 studiesStatus since 2015

See all claims on equipment and tuning