Topic: Hornbow vs Warbow

GungSulWon makes hornbows and warbows.
In one youtube video they show how they make the warbow waterproof. I let them a comment question: what's the difference between the two, other than that and the price. I'll post any answer they give me here. Do you know of the differences that came to the design, after the transition of the Korean bow from a weapon of war and hunting to a sport? At the pick of its use, like in the Imjin War, could there have been many different designs in use?

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2 (edited by Mule 2015-09-04 16:52:06)

Re: Hornbow vs Warbow

The waterproofing isn't part of the 'warbow', that's just something extra he likes to do to his bows. You can see another regular Korean bow he's lacquered in this video and you can see a standard 'warbow' here with no silk/lacquer and just birch bark.

The warbow they sell isn't authentic and is a bit of a sham. It should be more reflexed, have a pronounced kasan ridge and have an almost Manchu style string bridge.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/12212152/01%20-%20sDc9J25.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/12212152/08%20-%2002X1cxv.jpg

Instead they've just made a regular Korean bow, put different tips on the siyah and put a lot less reflex on the bow. The lower reflex on the bow is why they say it's easier to maintain than a proper Korean bow. No need to heat tiller/correct it but this comes with much lower arrow speed.

So in the end what you're left with is a Korean bow that's easier to take care of but shoots slower. Also limb tips look a little different. It's all a bit disappointing really, I was excited about this bow and tried to preorder it but (fortunately) I was told all the bows they were making this year were already reserved/presold.

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Re: Hornbow vs Warbow

More reflex = more stored energy = more speed = armor penetration (war times). About the historical warbow: Materials same as hornbow?

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Re: Hornbow vs Warbow

I'm not sure about materials, probably the same. I don't see why they'd use anything else.

This is their reproduction war bow, very disappointing reflex:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/12212152/reflexwarbow.png

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Re: Hornbow vs Warbow

NickAntz wrote:

More reflex = more stored energy = more speed = armor penetration (war times). About the historical warbow: Materials same as hornbow?

Korean war bow's material were horn, sinew, fish bladder glue, and two different woods.  Bamboo was not used like current Korean horn bows, which are for target practicing.  So the big differences between the war bow and horn bow are the different tip of siyah, no bamboo was used on war bow, and the width and length is a bit different.  I believe war bows were a bit wider.

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Re: Hornbow vs Warbow

I also believe some people in Korea try to recreate war bows, but all they do is just changing the siyah.  I hope some real bowyers do research, and come up with truthful recreation of war bow.

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