I was over at Bow Fishing Country looking around recently and spotted a thread about PVC Bows. It was actually a link to a 60lb PVC Bow for $10 over on "You Yube".

Once I got to You Tube and whammed in PVC Bow, all kinds of posts popped up about folks making their own Bows. Not near as nice as some of the artistic talent which people have shown here, but rather interesting.

I also realize some folks believe that if you do not put $$$$BIG$$$$ in the Bow equipment, then you are wasting your time.

Talked to a couple of buddies about them and it looks like some PVC will eventually be reformatted into Bows by us. Should be fun just to mess with.

1. Have you ever considered making a PVC Bow?

2. Do you think there should be a separate PVC Bow Season??????

looks fine for killing backyard bull’s-eyes at short range but I would never use it hunting. I have some concerns for hunting applications such as: long term durability, accuracy, and safety.

Those are the same questions my buddies were wondering about. One guy on You Tube had his wrapped in Duct Tape, which I'll guess was to contain the pieces if it did break. No idea at all about durability and for sure the Accuracy would leave a lot to be desired with "me" doing the String Yankin.

Can you imagine some blowhard with a $1000-$2000 Bow getting whupped by one though.

Had some time to mess with them today. Cut a couple of 3/4" and 1/2" PVC Pipes in half which made them about 5' long. Then cut a slit lengthwise on the 1/2" Pipe so it would compress and go inside the 3/4" Pipe.

Sprayed the inside of the 3/4" with Silicone and about the first foot and a half of the 1/2" Pipe. Compressed the 1/2" Pipe with my hands and pushed it in. Then sprayed some more and whammed it in with a Rubber Mallet. I feel sure I will not need a Rod in the center to stiffen it anymore, for my use.

Plan to work on making some kind of Bow String. I have a very large spool of Synthetic Tire Cord and will try to make them out of it first. Only concern is that it might Stretch. If so, I can always make a shorter one.
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Also heard that some folks Serve short pieces of Bamboo together to make a Bow. Might try that too if I can find some that looks like it would work properly. Apparently they take 4-8 small lengths of the Bamboo, overlay the Butts together with half in one direction and half in the other direction and Serve them together. The bundle of Butts end up forming a Grip area and the Bamboo Tips form the Bow Tips.

Some cut their own and hug it to dry by the Tips so it would be straight. And they said leaving the Bamboo out in all kinds of weather made them last only about a year. Plus they did not "coat" the Bamboo with any kind of Shellack, Varnish, Polyurethane or any Preservative. So, just keeping it indoors during inclimate weather should make a Bamboo one last a good bit longer.

I asked you this a couple weeks ago.....been drinking?

Nah, just having some very cheap fun.

Dude, let's see some pics and some deets on performance ...

Haven't got anymore done on mine so far, been too busy with other things.

But my old buddy Quagmire made one(in about 15min total after finding the pieces) and has shot it. His 3/4" PVC piece is 66" long and he centered a 2' piece of split 1/2" PVC on the inside by driving it in with a piece of 1/2" Conduit. He center-drilled a hole on each end down 1"(64" apart) and used a piece of Catfish Trot Line for his Bow String. Said he was surprised that the Nocks "Snapped On" the Line because it just happened to be close to the correct diameter.

He said his Brace Height ended up being 7" and of course I explained how that would NEVER work properly. After we got through laughing he told me that he spotted a Bottle Cap about 18' away and hit it with the first shot. And he tried to see just how far it would toss the very old Bent Arrow he was using and said it went about 83'.

Then we went into the nuiances of Arrow Spine, Balance. Tip Weight, FOC, etc. And he said he had thought about trying to put the Arrows in a Vise and straightening them a bit(maybe). Plus some of the Feathers were not attached real well and said he wasn't sure if the "Snake Flight Movement" was due to the Bent Shafts or perhaps the partial Feathering.

He mentioned he might split a piece of 1" PVC and slide it down over the 3/4" one to make a handle. Then fabricate some kind of Arrow Shelf. Said it dosen't want it too fancy.

As an after thought, he said it might be 20#-25# the way his is right now ""BUT"" it does not snap back as quickly as a regular Wood or Composite Shaft Bow does. That makes sense if you think about it being PVC. He thought it would be strong and quick enough to Stick-some-Fish though.

Finally got to shoot mine a bit. I do not anticipate Accuracy being one of the Hallmarks, with me doing the String Yanking.

Drilled two holes in the end of the PVC on each end. Then I tried sawing a String(Cord) Groove when it was 96deg and the sweat in my eyes(any excuse is better than none ) caused me to miss the Hole on one side.

Fortunately this being a High Tech PVC Bow, I just sawed that end off and drilled two more holes. Then I tied a Loop out of maybe an 8" piece of Cord so the Knot was inside the PVC. Did that on each end and forgot about doing a Slot.

Did a lot of fancy measuring and calculating to get the Bow String(Cord that Quag sent me) to the exact correct length. Tied the Top end to the Loop and decided to use a small Aluminum Caribeener(SP?) Hook on the other end to act as a Quick Connect device. Hooke dit up and the Brace Height was 1.5"!!! Decided not to recalculate and just Fudge Factored the Bow String a bit shorter. Brace Height was now 7.5".

Shot the PVC Bow 4-times, using a Glove on my hand as an Arrow Rest, with the arrows at lest hitting the 24"x24" Target(about 4yds away). Then I noticed the Aluminum Hook was stretching open and Stopped.

Also noticed the Totally Round and Smooth PVC Bow was easily twisting itself in my Gloved hand. So, I'd need to fix that as well.
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Stormy weather gave me a chance to mess with the PVC Bow some more. Got a very small Bolt-Together, C-shaped style Chain Link which can handle 220# force and it is working fine for a quick connect.

Decided to wrap the handle area with some Foam Pipe Insulation. I had some for a 1" Pipe and figured I could just trim it to size. But when I wrapped it around the 3/4" Pipe, the overlap appeared to make a nice Arrow Rest. Had to reverse the overlap so it would be going with the Arrow Flight though.

Almost Taped it in place but remembered some DAP Contact Cement I have. Put it on the PVC and inside the Foam Insulation, then let them dry for about 30min. You have to get it in place the First Time because the Contact Cement will not let you reposition anything. Once the drying time was done, I managed to stick the Foam on just as I wanted it.

That came out better than I expected. Haven't been able to shoot it anymore though because of the weather. It probably pulls 40#(+ or - a few).

Keep us posted! This is a great thread. We had a kids bowbuilding class at one of our shoots a few years back and they used "rattan" it worked great and the kids all got a bow along with string, arrows etc. that they made themselves.

Welllll.... I did get to shoot the PVC Bow in it's current configuration. Stayed fairly close about 4yds and "managed" to hit the Target.

Probably important to mention that I am(apparently) Left Eye Dominant and shooting the PVC Bow as a Lefty and Instinctive. But, I shoot my Mission Craze Righty and with a Trophy Ridge Firewire V3 Sight. So, I'm not really expecting the same Accuracy and it isn't.

Backed on up to 10yds and put a Kid Skin Glove on my Left(String Draw) Hand. No need for one on my Right(Bow) hand now that I have the Foam Arrow Shelf/Grip. (The Over-Lapped portion of the Foam fits perfectly in the Crease my hand makes when I fold my hand at the Knuckles.) Still managed to hit the Target(24"x24") which kinda surprised me. Using 1-Up and 2-Down without an Arrow Nock. Put some Red Magic Marker on the White Bow String(Cord) so I could see if it shoots different as I move up and down the String.

Never having shot a Bow as a Lefty Before, nor Instinctive, I'm guessing most of the Group Size(more like a shotgun Pattern ) is due to my Trad Inexperience and perhaps the PVC Bow not having a Center Cut. The Arrows go into the Target with the Vanes skewed to the Right. Thinking about adding something to simulate a Berger Button, but that might just make it worse. Fun to mess with though and good exercise for my ancient muscles.

Noticed the Vanes were cutting into the Foam Grip Hand Rest right next to the PVC Pipe. Then Quag and I were talking one day and a Plastic Tie-Wrap happened to come up. He immediately said, "That would make an Arrow Rest worth trying!"

Put one on the PVC above the Foam Grip so it would "flex" forward and cut the Tag end off where it is maybe 3/8" long. Also added a Tie-Wrap to the fine Bow String(cloths line) and snugged it up - for a Nock. It is snug but I can slide it with a bit of effort. Also noticed the guys at Bow Fishing Country mentioned they Nock waaaay High to get their arrows to adjust properly, so I tried that along with three-down.

Much better, but it still needed something. Kept looking at it and decided it needed something "similar to" a Berger Button. Another Tie-Wrap was put on above the first one, cut the Tag end off Flush and Filed the Tag end smooth with the Lock. This allows me to rotate the Fake Berger Button around the Pipe to adjust how far it sticks out.

Ended up with them both directly to the side of the Pipe when seen at Full Draw. Much MUCH better. Arrows began flying straight and hitting without any skew. Kept shooting.

Bow is taking a small bit of curved set even though I un-cloths line it every time I shoot it. Poundage now feels about 32#-35#(maybe).

Began shooting the Craze yesterday and it still just puts me in awe about just how accurate and smoooooth it is.

Then to the PVC and the shooting is so much improved that it is difficult to describe. The arrows are impacting square to the Target and the old Pattern is becoming a Group. They tend to land in a Vertical Line now, which I interpret as probably just my Form needing a bit more Fine Tuning. Three-down is working pretty good because I can anchor my Trigger Finger at the corner of my mouth and my Thumb behind my ear.

Really enjoying both.

Replying to the OP, NO and NO

Hey fgulla, #2 was for LoBoGA's benefit. He seems to get a bit upset when there are separate Seasons for anything that hasn't been personally whittled from a tree.