Hi, new to the forum.

I'm building a pvc short bow. I cut a 3"-3' piece of pvc pipe in fourths lengthwise and strung two of them together. I haven't grinded it down to the final shape yet, but it shoots well so far.

I also made a longbow by getting 5 1/2 feet of 1/2 inch pvc and adding nocks to the ends and stringing it. it shoots well, but with very low draw weight (about 5 lbs.).

Have any of you attempted to make a pvc bow before?

Short lifespan? I made a 35-lb draw weight PVC longbow and I've had mine for about a year. I just took a 3/4 inch diametre piece of PVC, about 5 feet long, cut some nocks in the top and bottom of the pipe, strung it with a double stranded length of rawhide, and made my own arrows. It's actually outlasted the initial bowstring, so far.  Gotten pretty good with it, too. Usually shoot 33" long 1/4" thick wooden arrows with it. I've so far been able to put an arrow about 80 feet at a little over 3/4 draw. Anyone know if recurving the bow would add weight to the draw? I'd like to get the thing over 40 lbs draw weight if I can.

I wonder what backing the pc bow with fiber glass would do

I made one long ago out of a 15mm grey pvc pipe,it's now broken.It's not strong at all.The pipe is four feet long.The arrow can only reach 10 meters.

I want a stronger bow but I can neither get wood nor bamboo. Or can I use double pipe to double the power?Or taper the thing? ???

Maybe you made it out of material that was too thin or too old or had been exposed to direct sunlight for too long? Mine is still working just fine, but it was a little thicker. The material I used was about 20mm inner bore diametre, maybe a little wider, and was dark grey. And I didn't really cut it or taper it in any way. I just cut the pipe to the proper length (actually, it was a little long. in order to gain more yardage, I cut it down again to about 4 feet) and used a handsaw to cut a slit at either end, where I then slipped a rawhide bowstring into,(knotted securly so it wouldn't slip out) put a piece of round wood into the end to keep the bowstring from slipping out during the draw, and fired off some arrows. The only modification I made to the round pipe to make it a more comfortable bow was to wrap several layers of fabric around the handle area. From this, I was able to get a bow with a 35# draw weight at 30"

i once made one with 3 foot of 1/2inch pvc. it looked like a normal bow but i taped a couple of heavy duty rubber bands on the bowstring and to the bow this greatly increase its range and draw wieght. without the rubber band the bow would have been trash

Granted it's been a long time since I fired that bow, but I am pretty sure I meant 80 yards. 80 feet does sound extremely short to me, even for a PVC bow, especially one at 35# draw weight and I seem to remember some pretty good shots coming off it at 45 degree trajectory. I've since scrapped the bow and I'm working on a red oak D bow right now. I'm trying to get a bow of at least 45-50# draw weight so I can legally hunt deer here in VA. Interesting note about VA hunting laws with bows. In order to hunt deer, the bow has to be able to shoot an arrow at least 125 yards. There's no implied draw weight minimum, just distance. Anyone have any ideas why?

Easier to check in the field?

If the officer in charge has doubts about the legallity of a bow all he has to do is to find an empty field or road and have you shot an arrow. For drawweight he would need tools and knowledge how to use them.

Just a guess.

Willeke