African bows and archery

Timo Nieminen · 26th March 2013, 05:22 AM

Grayson's "Traditional Archery from Six Continents" calls them "bracer knives", but that doesn't bring much joy as a google search term.

They're used like finger tabs, with the blade hanging below the hand. Some examples in this thread: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1882

fearn · 26th March 2013, 12:02 PM

Cool. Now to figure out how to use such a knife to draw a bowstring.

I should point out that, contrary to Kukulz' speculation in the thread referenced, these knives were used with poisoned arrows. The point of using the knife was to take the strain of drawing the bow on metal, not on sensitive skin, and to have the knife ready in the hand, because it took some time for the arrows to kill.

Best,

F

26th March 2013, 05:22 AM	#1
Timo Nieminen Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 422	Grayson's "Traditional Archery from Six Continents" calls them "bracer knives", but that doesn't bring much joy as a google search term. They're used like finger tabs, with the blade hanging below the hand. Some examples in this thread: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1882

26th March 2013, 12:02 PM	#2
fearn Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,247	Cool. Now to figure out how to use such a knife to draw a bowstring. I should point out that, contrary to Kukulz' speculation in the thread referenced, these knives were used with poisoned arrows. The point of using the knife was to take the strain of drawing the bow on metal, not on sensitive skin, and to have the knife ready in the hand, because it took some time for the arrows to kill. Best, F