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There's a surprisingly high number of people in my extended social circle who picked up archery as a sport. It's actually a complex discipline with a huge rang

by Tade0 6mo ago

There's a surprisingly high number of people in my extended social circle who picked up archery as a sport. It's actually a complex discipline with a huge range of bows and projectiles to choose from, each having unique characteristics you have to train for. Training using VR equipment is picking up steam, as typically you need a sizeable amount of real estate to practice when the weather is bad.

peishang 6mo ago
Archery is a lot of fun - I go to a monthly archery gathering where the host has a bunch of really nice recurves.
munificent 6mo ago
Archery does seem like it's having a moment right now. I wonder if it's some combination of people wanting a more tactile hobby plus some vague apocalyptic undercurrents in society today.
- Tade0 6mo ago
  Over here it's a combination of having a tradition of historical reconstruction and fairly strict gun laws, that don't extend to other weapons. Case in point: you can open-carry a sword, unless you're displaying violent intent. Concealed carry of any obviously dangerous blade is prohibited, which spurred speculation on what to do with, e.g. a bread knife. Consensus in the community is that you need to hold a loaf of bread in the other hand.
bwv848 6mo ago
I always shoot 12 grains per pound, it usually gets me around 150-160fps, marginal weather is where the fun begins.
dmoy 6mo ago
> Training using VR equipment is picking up steam, as typically you need a sizeable amount of real estate to practice when the weather is bad. I always wondered, how does that work? Over in bullseye rifle we live and breathe dryfire (no ammo), but I understand the equivalent (no arrow) with a bow is a recipe for breaking the bow. Like my brain just cannot comprehend how to get enough reps to get good enough at a thing without being able to do dryfire at the volume we do for rifle.
- Tade0 6mo ago
  Answer is that it's the human body that's the weakest link here, as muscles get sore and tendons might get damaged if you overdo it. Prepping for tournaments is a field in and of itself as you need to time your trainings right to achieve peak form at the event itself. My sister, who's been doing this competitively for a decade now, showed me an excel sheet her team has - there's an optimisation problem you have to solve to get every member to their best shape within the specified timeframe. Also there are so-called "trads" - people doing traditional archery with period-correct technology, where the stakes are understandably lower. Also they ingest, ahem, aiming fluid each meeting, so it's way more casual than what modern competitive archers practice.

by Tade0 6mo ago

peishang 6mo ago

Archery is a lot of fun - I go to a monthly archery gathering where the host has a bunch of really nice recurves.

munificent 6mo ago

Archery does seem like it's having a moment right now. I wonder if it's some combination of people wanting a more tactile hobby plus some vague apocalyptic undercurrents in society today.

Tade0 6mo ago
Over here it's a combination of having a tradition of historical reconstruction and fairly strict gun laws, that don't extend to other weapons. Case in point: you can open-carry a sword, unless you're displaying violent intent. Concealed carry of any obviously dangerous blade is prohibited, which spurred speculation on what to do with, e.g. a bread knife. Consensus in the community is that you need to hold a loaf of bread in the other hand.

bwv848 6mo ago

I always shoot 12 grains per pound, it usually gets me around 150-160fps, marginal weather is where the fun begins.

dmoy 6mo ago

> Training using VR equipment is picking up steam, as typically you need a sizeable amount of real estate to practice when the weather is bad. I always wondered, how does that work? Over in bullseye rifle we live and breathe dryfire (no ammo), but I understand the equivalent (no arrow) with a bow is a recipe for breaking the bow. Like my brain just cannot comprehend how to get enough reps to get good enough at a thing without being able to do dryfire at the volume we do for rifle.

Tade0 6mo ago
Answer is that it's the human body that's the weakest link here, as muscles get sore and tendons might get damaged if you overdo it. Prepping for tournaments is a field in and of itself as you need to time your trainings right to achieve peak form at the event itself. My sister, who's been doing this competitively for a decade now, showed me an excel sheet her team has - there's an optimisation problem you have to solve to get every member to their best shape within the specified timeframe. Also there are so-called "trads" - people doing traditional archery with period-correct technology, where the stakes are understandably lower. Also they ingest, ahem, aiming fluid each meeting, so it's way more casual than what modern competitive archers practice.