Thread: Announcing The SRP Logo Limited Edition Straight Razor

Originally Posted by Bruno

Robin hood would have shot with a longbow, not a recurve.
Not that hollywood cares of course.

Thank you for pointing this out Bruno.

If anyone is interested I would recommend the book "The Crooked Stick"

Once I learned more about the history of the English Longbow I came to understand how much of an impact it had on "our" (USA) history.
More info than I could possibly lay out here - but the bullets:

• England has to be defended
• Does not have the resources for a conventional Army
• Everyone is "enlisted" (required) to master the Longbow - and demonstrate that skill
• In exchange the Crown changes how they treat these "Common Men" - they become the Band of Brothers at Agincourt for instance (Magna Carta, Common Law etc.)
• Why? because they have the means to turn that weapon against said Crown should they be treated unfairly (And you see the reason for the 2nd Amendment very clearly - this was in the Founders frame of reference)

Originally Posted by MJC

Thank you for pointing this out Bruno.

If anyone is interested I would recommend the book "The Crooked Stick"

Once I learned more about the history of the English Longbow I came to understand how much of an impact it had on "our" (USA) history.
More info than I could possibly lay out here - but the bullets:

• England has to be defended
• Does not have the resources for a conventional Army
• Everyone is "enlisted" (required) to master the Longbow - and demonstrate that skill
• In exchange the Crown changes how they treat these "Common Men" - they become the Band of Brothers at Agincourt for instance (Magna Carta, Common Law etc.)
• Why? because they have the means to turn that weapon against said Crown should they be treated unfairly (And you see the reason for the 2nd Amendment very clearly - this was in the Founders frame of reference)

Don't put too much faith in that particular book. It perpetuates a great number of myths and fallacies, I'm afraid. See for example: www.deremilitari.org

Sadly I'd argue strongly that the longbow did *not* have the influence suggested here, particularly in view of Magna Carta. (Which incidentally had VERY little to do with enshrining the rights of the 'Common Man' and everything to do with protecting the rights of propertied landowners, i.e. the nobility.) Magna Carta came into being in 1215. The archetypal 'English' yew longbow wasn't English at all. It was originally Welsh and was largely adopted by the English following the Welsh wars of independence under Llywelyn ap Gruffydd who died in 1282. The bow that was so effective in the Hundred Years War, and therefore to which so many myths have been attributed, was this yew longbow. Other types of bows were used prior to the yew longbow, but apart from eastern composite bows, none could match their power.

Anyway, there's problem 1 of the argument: Magna Carta came into effect in 1215, the English didn't really make effective use of the yew longbow until the Hundred Years War, specifically the battle of Crécy in 1436. So the longbow had nothing to do with Magna carta which in turn had nothing really to do with the Common Man anyway.

As for fear of the commons and the need to treat them with respect, I would direct readers' attention to the aftermath of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. The 'Common Man' did rise in arms. They took prisoners, they executed Simon Sudbury (Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chancellor of England), they burned the Savoy and hunted John of Gaunt. And then they were crushed. When the 'Common Man' did rise in arms against the Crown - even in late 14th-century England when the longbow was at the height of its power - they were crushed like bugs. Thousands were hunted down and executed. In short the Crown had little fear of the Commons, even after they had been training with the yew longbow for generations.

As for the 'Band of Brothers', don't forget that was written by Shakespeare around 184 years after the battle itself. Henry didn't say those words, Shakespeare wrote them.

Oh, and one last thing: Robin Hood would most likely have shot what was conventionally called a shortbow. Although the origins of the Robin Hood myths are a whole other thread entirely, he, too, appears prior to the English adoption of the longbow.

EDIT: I should add - if one is interested in the material history of the longbow, this looks like a good book. (i.e. the bow itself, its construction and use, etc). It just has a bunch of problems in terms of wider social, political, cultural history

Cangooner exits left, removing his history prof hat, and returning us to regularly scheduled razor talk...

Originally Posted by Cangooner

Oh, and one last thing: Robin Hood would most likely have shot what was conventionally called a shortbow. Although the origins of the Robin Hood myths are a whole other thread entirely, he, too, appears prior to the English adoption of the longbow.

"This is the west sir, when the legend becomes fact, print the legend." (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance")

Originally Posted by Cangooner

The archetypal 'English' yew longbow wasn't English at all. It was originally Welsh and was largely adopted by the English following the Welsh wars of independence under Llywelyn ap Gruffydd who died in 1282. The bow that was so effective in the Hundred Years War, and therefore to which so many myths have been attributed, was this yew longbow. Other types of bows were used prior to the yew longbow, but apart from eastern composite bows, none could match their power.

This was due to the natural composition of yew. If you make a crosscut of a yew tree trunk, you get a visible distinction between the outside and inside. this is true for all wood, but yew has the interesting property that the outside is very good at resisting expansion, and the inside at resisting compression (or was it the other way around?). You also don't spend a lot of time aiming at full draw with such a bow, because long term compression of the inside might causing permanent deformation.

Anyway, due to this phenomenon, yew was acting like a natural 'lamination', giving the bow extra power. This is called a 'self bow'.

But only slow grown yew can be used, such as grown in dry places with not a lot of rain. Otherwise it grows too fast and becomes too spongy. I read it takes about 80 years to grow a piece of yew suitable for longbows. That is why at a certain time, England insisted that yew was part of trade with dry countries like spain. (1 stave of yew per barrel exported and things like that).

Bow quality yew is fairly rare and ridiculously expensive. And there is no guarantee it will work. I know a master bowyer who made a yew bow for himself, and it shattered on first draw.

Originally Posted by Bruno

Robin hood would have shot with a longbow, not a recurve.
Not that hollywood cares of course.

(facepalm)...oh well, hopefully it helped aid understanding

Originally Posted by unit

(facepalm)...oh well, hopefully it helped aid understanding

We have a smily for that:

Originally Posted by Greg59

I have never herd of the term recurve shooting. Would you inlighten me please?

Recurve bow. If it has one string, no wheels and looks like a "D", it is a longbow. Same except with tips that curve back "like a Cupid bow", its a recurve bow.

Originally Posted by PapaBull

Recurve bow. If it has one string, no wheels and looks like a "D", it is a longbow. Same except with tips that curve back "like a Cupid bow", its a recurve bow.

And, if I remember right, the recurve bow was invented by the Mongolians for power, accuracy and ease of use from horseback.

Originally Posted by Theseus

And, if I remember right, the recurve bow was invented by the Mongolians for power, accuracy and ease of use from horseback.

I don't know if they were the first, but they sure turned it into a weapon of mass destruction

#12 arrived in my mailbox Saturday, a nice present on the day I also passed my Journeyman's exam. So now I'm an electrician AND I have a great razor. Shaved with it yesterday, it was a real pleasure to shave with a smiling blade again. It's a nice heavy grind, and surprisingly talkative for as heavy as it is. My old Greaves & Sons wedge really muffles the whiskers, but this one transmits each one out as a distinct cut. Interesting, bright sound.

I think the smile makes the edge little more aggressive than it would be as a straighter blade. I got a lot of weepers, which doesn't usually happen. My fault, not the blade's; I'll have to lower the angle a bit from where I run it on the chin. That's where the blade got most snacky.

The hollows under my jaw hinges were sooo uneventful, thanks to the smile. Got right in there, where the straight profile always takes some extra attention. Very nice ATG passes under my chin, too, which is always the hardest test for a blade in my hands.

Thanks to all who made this happen, to PapaBull who made it, and to MichaelC who designed it. Superb ergonomics, Michael!