What to look for when choosing a Longbow

When acquiring a longbow, you will want to know what your draw strength and weight are. You can find out this information if you are unaware, by seeking out an experienced archer to help determine them conclusively. Longbows are very large. Most tournament longbows weight around sixty pounds and models from medieval times weighed up to as much as seventy-five pounds. Unless you have an incredible amount of strength in your arm, or are extremely experienced, you'll want to begin with a longbow that weighs much less, for example one that weights anywhere from twenty to thirty pounds. They are also often custom made.
The media has played a huge part in contributing to the ignorance of people in their reasons for wanting to own a longbow. Much like in movies, people think they they will look cool simply holding or displaying a longbow without ever really knowing how to shoot it. If you purchase a longbow it should be for the right reasons. You should either be an already experienced shooter, or have some desire to become one. If you are truly serious about archery and longbows, you will want to start taking lessons to help you get on your way to becoming an expert archer and longbow operator.
Since there are many different kinds of bows one can use for the longbow, it can be difficult for the novice to decide. Before you decide on a certain bow, it is important to talk to archers who have more experience, as well as looking through catalogs that offer an assortment of them. Like with the longbow itself, it all comes down to how much you are willing to spend. The longbow as well as the arrows are only as good as they are expensive, which is an unfortunate yet necessary evil in archery. If you are willing to spend a good amount of money on arrows, you can get them specially designed for your unique sense of style and design. But remember that buying cheap arrows usually means inferior shooting to that of more pricey ones.
It is also imperative to treat your longbow with care, just as you would your own body. Mind its string, so as to prevent fraying. Always keep an extra string on hand, as well as remembering to change it annually, even if the condition of the string seems to be brand new, it still needs to be changed. When shooting in rainy weather, always remember to towel off your longbow and polish it regularly to give it that shiny new look.