Should i leave my bow strung

Leaving a recurve bow, especially an all wooden one, strung for long periods of time without use can cause the bow to retain some memory of this curve. This is a topic of surprisingly hot debate. However, there is a common theme among top manufacturers, trainers, and bow technicians that we can extrapolate from.

I would suggest leaving the bow strung. Stringing and unstringing your recurve bow can actually cause more issues than leaving it strung for shorter periods of time. One such problem is the risk of twisting the limbs. If you plan on not shooting your recurve bow for an extended period you should definitely unstring it.

This will help protect the structure of the bow and prevent loss of power and draw weight. So if you're going to shoot your bow off and on during the day, just leave it strung.

But, you know, if you're going to go a whole five hours without shooting it, then unstring it. Replace your string if it looks ratty. If your string looks old and worn, replace it. Strings are cheap, especially if you make your own. It's better to replace the string than to replace your bow because it broke because the string broke.

If you have any doubts at all about the condition of your string, just replace it. Keep some wax on it, too, because that'll make it last longer. Wax not only holds the string together, but it also protects it from moisture.

Don't store your bow by resting it on its tip and leaning it in a corner. When you have a bow strung, the bow will be under pre-tension. Depending on the type of bow this should be around 5 LBS. This means that if you leave the bow strung the limbs will always store 5 LBS of energy. This decreases the lifespan of the bow because the bow slowly loses its flexibility.

This happens regardless of whether you have the bow strung or not. But if you have the bow strung this happens much faster. Think for example of a rubber band. After a while, a rubber band will lose its flexibility. If you keep the rubber band stretched for a long time it will lose its flexibility much faster.

The same is true for a bow. Keeping the bow under tension will make the bow less flexible. Therefore, the draw weight decreases and the limbs will break faster. Depending on the quality of the bow, it might limit the bow's lifespan by a few months or a few years. But that is merely anecdotal evidence. Modern bows are built to be very durable, so a good bow can last a lifetime. In some cases, even if you keep a bow strung it might one or two decades.

But still, it would last longer if you would unstring the bow. However, all beginners—even some enthusiasts—are always looking to test out the limits of their bows. When they get their hands on a bow, they start to wonder, can you leave a recurve bow strung? If you do that, you will damage the bow, wear the strings down, and possibly break the bow or injure yourself.

Therefore, you should always avoid doing it. No matter how marvelous it is, even the bow has its limits. Each bow comes with a limit, the first being in the draw weight of the bow. Basically, the draw weight is a weight that dictates the power of the bow. Recurve bows are usually bows with less draw power, as they are made mostly for practice, tournaments, and hunting small game. Therefore, you cannot expect them to hold much pressure on the strings.

The first thing you should know is that the drawing power of the bow is its true limit. If you use it beyond that limit and try to apply more pressure on it than it can handle, the bow is surely going to break. So, what most beginners should do is to get to know all aspects of their bow. No matter if you are using a longbow, recurve bow, or a compound bow, you have to learn its anatomy, strength, weaknesses, and qualities.

Only then you can ensure a longer use of your bow over time. Wearing the bow down will happen, regardless of how much you take care of it. Likewise, that is exactly the point of why you should prevent wearing your bow down.

Good archery equipment is not cheap. So, if you are serious about archery, you should learn how to take care of your bow. Even if archery is merely a hobby for you, the maintenance of the bow is something you should learn, along with other fundamental skills.