string for bow [and arrow] (question)

[Jeremiah Johnson]

if you were in the wilderness, with nothing but a knife, and you needed/wanted to make a bow, would you just make some cordage and put it together, or is there a special kind of cordage to make that is more flexible? How would you do that?
Thanks!

[canid]

for a decent hunting bow, your cordage will need to be particularly strong, and fine enough to be able to knock an arrow over it. for example, boot lace is fine to a bow to hunt squirrel, but will probably not hold up against a 40-50lb draw weight. i would use several strand, braided of a fine and stout cordage, such as that spun up from nettle, dogbane, dock flower spikes, milkweed, agave, yucca. essentially any plant from which you can remove fine, long fibers can be prepared into cordage which is strong for it's given thickness.

[Rick]

Consider first that I'm not a bowyer, okay? Could you string it with snare wire? Not a commercial snare but I carry a coil of brass snare wire with me. Could that be used as the string? The SPRING is in the bow, not in the cord, right?

[canid]

correct.

just remember that there will be a focussed point of repeated flexion at each notch where the wire would be tied to the limb tips, and at the knock point, where the arrow is slotted, and that metal wire would wear out at one of those points before anywhere else [if it was strong enough to hold in the first place, which sounds probable]. when that gives, you might get a nasty cut. you would also need some kind of a serving, so the wire didn't split your arrows, or your fingers during draw and release.

[Rick]

But for short term survival, if you carry brass, copper (softer) or stainless steel wire AND know how to make an expedient bow you'd have the essentials of putting it together AND you'd save the energy required to find and make cordage. How'd I do boss?

[bladefrenzy]

Could you braid the inner strings of 550 cord? Also I have a small roll of hemp twine (Wow, dude ,lol) from wally world. I have heard that would work, but have no idea if the folks that told me knew anything. Thanks, Steve

[Rick]

Paracord, duh! I was gonna say that. What? I was. Really.

[canid]

rick: that sounds pretty plausible, yes.

blade: you sure could. you could also get away with just using the 550 as it, though in my experience it takes a lot of stretch. in a bow under 40lb it should be just fine. on an 80lb warbow, i've broken 550.

[Ole WV Coot]

Did I get lost? Thought you were talking about natural cording. If you were it would depend on the time of year what is green and what has no sap.

[Rick]

Actually, it was about making a bow in the wilderness. I know, it's hard to keep a handle on some threads. Folks keep drifting of subject like the time I had my 52 Chevy down by the river. Now that's a story let me tell you. Oh, yeah, bows. I was just trying to make one using less energy, which would be important in a survival situation like the time a drop of sweat from my friend Eddy landed on a rattlesnake. I thought sure that snake was gonna die. It was sick for a while but it survived. Shocked all of us, even Eddy.