Price List

With each bow is a booklet containing advice on the best way to use and look after wooden bows. Storage and care in use are vital to get a long working life out of a bow. If not used for an extended period the bow needs to be treated "as new" and gently exercised prior to use. Wooden bows, being made from natural materials, can and will sometimes break. We provide a warranty to cover the repair or replacement of a bow within the warranty period. We are not responsible for return carriage costs or any other consequential loss, damage or injury which could occur when using our bows, as we have no control over the situations or circumstances under which equipment is kept, treated and used. Wooden bows have been in use for many thousands of years and few, if any, breakages have caused any injury to either the archer or any bystanders. We are proud that we do have a very low rate of breakage, under 2% of our production, nobody has been injured by any of our bows breaking

We make a wide range of Classic longbows using many Traditional woods and several woods that we have recently found to be very good bow woods. The range of materials on offer is very much determined by their availability and will vary from time to time. It is always a good idea to contact us to discuss your needs such that we can design and build you your ideal bow from the best available materials. Typically we will be making the following range of bows

Carriage Charges

Products	Region	Price
Bows (upto 5)	UK	£20.00
	European Union	£40.00
	Outside European Union (incl. customs clearing charge - not duty)	£150.00
Books/Accessories	UK	£3.00
	European Union	£4.00
	Outside European Union	£7.00

All prices are in GBP (Sterling)

Standard

This bow is an average speed longbow which is consistent and forgiving to shoot. Like all of our longbows it has a leather grip, horn nocks and horn arrow plate. The top nock is double grooved to enable the easy use of a stringer.

Up to 60lbs at 28ins with a maximum draw length of 29ins.
For bows over this draw weight and draw length we may be able supply bows by special order, price on application

Re-enactment Bows - Hickory Backed Lemonwood Available up to around 35# maximum. Higher weights can be made, at additional cost. These are simple self-nocked wooden longbows which shoot very well. These bows are made to suit re-enactors and beginners. 155.00 inc VAT
Basic Longbows - Hickory Backed Lemonwood These basic longbows have horn nocks and an arrow plate and are available either Left or Right handed and are made in weights up to around 50lbs @ 28in whilst we can make higher weights we would advise upgrading to a standard bow above 50lbs draw weight. 230.00 inc VAT
Medieval Style Longbow- Hickory Backed Lemonwood, as above Made in a Medieval style, bending throughout its length, these bows can be supplied either with or without a grip. When supplied with a grip we will usually also fit an arrow plate. When supplied without a grip we will put a bowyer\'s mark where the arrow will run. 230.00 inc VAT
Standard Longbow - Hickory Back, Hardwood Core, Lemonwood Belly An average speed longbow, which is consistent and forgiving to shoot. Typically supplied with a Purpleheart or Greenheart core although this may vary subject to availibility and price. Up to 60 lb draw weight and 29 inch draw length. For all standard longbows, for each additional inch over 29 or 10 lb over 60 lb an additional charge of �15 applies
280.00 inc VAT
Deluxe Longbow - Hickory Back, 2 Hardwood Cores, Lemonwood Belly Typically Purpleheart and Greenheart. A very attractive longbow exploiting the appearance and performance of the exotic hardwoods used. A faster bow than the Standard single laminate core but no less consistent and forgiving to shoot.
The bow shown in the photographs has a Purpleheart / Pau Amarelo core. 300.00 inc VAT
Super Deluxe Longbow - Hickory Back, Osage, Lemonwood Belly Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera SG 0.85) Grown in North America, this bright yellow to orange heartwood will darken to a russet brown colour with exposure to sunlight over time, this is one of our most popular combinations, and produces a fast, sweet shooting longbow 320.00 inc VAT

Classic

Bickerstaffe Classic Longbows - A range of bows using both more traditional and exotic woods. Note: For these Classic bows with draw weights over around 50-55lbs we tend to use a single growth ring of hickory as a backing rather than the more conventional edge grained hickory. As this involves both higher quality hickory and a lot more work there is a surcharge of �50 for these backings.

These are the bows that every archer wants. A simple yet beautiful bow which performs every bit as well as it looks. Fast, stable, consistent, forgiving and sweet to shoot. This is one of our most popular and sought after bows.

Classic Range These bows are typically faster and have a much longer working life than the standard range. They are made from the more exotic bow woods which are both expensive to obtain and are more time consuming to work with. As with standard bows the same additional charges apply for bows over 29 inch draw length and over 60 lbs draw weight.
Hickory backed Osage With a complementary hardwood core.
400.00 inc VAT
Hickory backed Osage With an Osage core 450.00 inc VAT
Hickory backed Osage All of the following bows have a single growth ring hickory back. This will give a longer working life and a faster shooting bow especially with the denser hardwood belly. This is available on any bow for �50.00 on top of the retail price. With a complementary hardwood core.
450.00 inc VAT
Hickory backed Osage Single growth ring hickory back with an Osage core 500.00 inc VAT
Hickory backed Greenheart Single growth ring hickory back with a Bloodwood core 550.00 inc VAT
Hickory backed Greenheart Single growth ring hickory back with a Snakewood core 650.00 inc VAT
Hickory backed Snakewood Single growth ring hickory back with a Snakewood core 700.00 inc VAT

Replica Warbows

What is a warbow? What should it be made of? What weight should it be? Etc.

Basically a war bow is an English Longbow designed to bend "full compass" as described by Roger Ascham and found on the Mary Rose. Traditionally, the bow should be made from European yew, typically around 100lbs at 30"..

Very little English yew is ever likely to make a good bow as most English Yew grows too quickly making it too brittle and with too much thickness of sapwood to make good bows.

Contrary to popular belief not all European Yew is suitable for making bows either. The wood that will make the best bows will fit the following criteria.

It will have come from an area where the growing conditions are poor in nutrients, typically at a high altitude, such that the wood will have grown slowly creating a hard and dense material with a lot of growth rings to the inch.

It will have come from the bole of a tree with a diameter not less than 8 � 10 inches and not more than about 20 inches.

Smaller diameter wood will be riddled with knots and pins and the properties of the wood will be quite rubbery. This means that you will be able to make a bow, up to quite high weights, but the performance of the bow will be poor and it will not shoot many arrows before it becomes quite soggy. This is because young, immature trees need to be flexible to bend with the wind.

As the trees grown bigger the wood becomes harder and more �bend resistant� such that it makes crisper and faster shooting bows, at a price, this wood is now that bit more brittle and less rubbery so you now have a good shooting bow but it is not a tough bow.

The next stage of growth of the tree takes the wood into an even more brittle state such that it is very hard and tough but does not bend too far before it will break.

So there you have it, Yew was without doubt the best wood available for making bows in the middle ages, but it was never a long lived item and certainly had it�s problems and limitations. It is these very limitations that suggest that some of the claims for draw weights of War Bows were well above what the materials could have coped with, the evidense tends to support weights up to about 100lbs at 30" - there is no firm evidence to suggest that bows could have been any heavier.� Finding materials that will handle weights up to 100lbs reliably is hard enough, add 50% more to the weight and it gets a whole lot harder to find suitable materials to work with.

All Yew bows can be made safer and longer lasting if you back them with Hickory, ideally the Hickory needs to be worked to a single growth ring, like a self bow back. Most Yew bows fail in tension when the sapwood lets go so the thin hickory backing can both prevent this and also provide a much tougher and more consistent bow. This will also enable wood, that is not suitable for making a self bow, to still make a reasonably good laminated bow.

However, yew is a softwood and no matter what you do with it Yew bows at the higher weights have a limited working life. It is entirely possible to have "shot out" a 100lb yew bow in under a year with regular use. It has been said that a medieval war bow in daily use could be "shot out" in about a month and the life expectancy in battle might be no more than 2 � 3 dozen arrows.

The problem is to produce heavy "war bows" that can be expected to perform year after year. The only way that we can do this is to use materials that were not available in medieval times and to make the bow using Hickory and Osage laminates, preferably with the Hickory worked to a single growth ring like a self bow. These bows are both tough and fast, they will become faster as they become more supple with use and will retain their weight and performance for many years.

Some "replica war bows" have been made using Lemonwood as a belly wood in the bow. This too can have it's problems as there is very little Lemonwood that will make a satisfactory bow at weights much over 60lbs, so whilst it is relatively cheap and readily available it is far from ideal in this application.

The above is meant to be a general guide to help people to avoid some of the difficulties associated with acquiring a good replica war bow that will both perform well and last.

Hickory backed Osage with hardwood core A single growth ring hickory back with an osage belly and a complimentary hardwood core. They are made in the medieval style and can be supplied with or without a leather grip. As draw weights are typically over 60 lbs and a draw length up to 32 inches ther are no additional charge applicable to these bows. 600.00 inc VAT
Single growth ring Hickory with an Osage Core A single growth ring hickory back with an osage belly and core. They are made in the medieval style and can be supplied with or without a leather grip. As draw weights are typically over 60 lbs and a draw length up to 32 inches ther are no additional charge applicable to these bows. 650.00 inc VAT

Kits

Let us help realize your dream. We can supply a Longbow kit containing everything you need in order to make your bow - a laminated stave (so you won\'t need a hot box), horn (ready drilled) for the nocks, a shaped horn arrow plate, a laid in longbow string, leather for the grip and full instructions.

Laminated Stave Typically hickory/purpleheart an Lemonwood. Horn, ready drilled for nocks, a shaped arrow plate, a laid in string, leather for grip and full instructions. Other woods and wood combinations are available from time to time, price on application. Very popular with amatuer bowyers from 140.00 inc VAT
Self Osage full length stave Raw material cut straight from the tree (seasoned ready for shaping) 160.00 inc VAT
Self Osage Billets (in matched pairs) Seasoned ready for splicing and shaping 80.00 inc VAT
Bow Woods We are sometimes in a position where we may have suffiecient stocks that we might be able to supply some bow woods to amatuer bowyers, in limited quantities.
If this is likely to be of interest then let us know what you are looking for and we will quote on price and availibility POA

Strings

It's impossible to show our full range of strings. Any string can be made to order in a variety of materials, normally Dacron or Fast-Flight. These can be laid in either single or double looped and in black or white or both.

However should you need a specific string we are more than happy to give you a quote. Simply let us know the string material and colour required, the number of strands, the string length and , for recurve bows how big the loops need to be in order to fit the limbs correctly. The string you really want is waiting to be made for you - let us give you a quote, you will be pleasantly surprised.

All sorts of strings can be made to order in a variety of materials, normally Dacron or Fast-Flight typically laid in, single or double looped, and single colour or black and white.

Important notes on string length
For double loop strings we need to know the length of the string, to obtain this, measure the length of the bow from nock to nock along the 'back' of the bow. We also need to know the draw weight.

Standard Longbow String - Single Loop For specific strings we will need to know:- The string material and colour required, and the number of strands or draw weight. The bow length, nock to nock. 12.00 inc VAT
Standard Longbow String - Double Loop For specific strings we will need to know:- The string material and colour required, and the number of strands or draw weight. The bow length, nock to nock. 15.00 inc VAT

Arrows

Bickerstaffe Bows now supply arrows that have been carefully spine matched to your specification, fletched (your choice of colours), named cresting for that individual touch and varnished (included in the price). These arrows are supplied full length with piles supplied loose or cut to length with piles fitted

Arrows Custom made to suit from: 75.00 inc VAT

Childrens

Bows based on our re-enactment & Basic ranges, made suitable for children.

Chidrens Bows Scaled down versions of the re-enactment/basic bows, size and weight to suit the child. Maximum draw length of 24" POA

Books

Books written by the owner himself, yes, thats right, Pip Bickerstaffe!

Keep checking for more information on a new book being released soon.

The Heritage of the Longbow A book covering many of the practical aspects of Traditional Archery including the manufacture and use of Bows, Strings, Arrows, Footed arrows and Self nocked shafts etc. Good practical value to any serious Traditional Archer 14.50 zero VAT
Medieval War Bows - A Bowyers Thoughts A book covering the results of my research into the bows, and other archery equipment, found on the Mary Rose. This is an evidence based book drawing on what can be learned from studying the actual finds and from building replicas in a wide range of yew from both Europe and America. 10.00 zero VAT

Additional Items

Additional items to complement your existing archery equipment..

Finger Tabs Available in 3 sizes Right or Left Hand 8.50 inc.VAT
Leather Bracers Available in 3 sizes 10.50 inc VAT
Cloth Bow Bags Medium Weight 15.00 inc VAT
Cloth Bow Bags Heavy Weight 22.00 inc VAT

If you require any information on products, kits, arrows, or general advice, then see the Advice Page