Comanche Bow vs Cherokee Bow - Which Bow is Faster?

Welcome to the Primitive Lifeways channel on YouTube. You know, I get a lot of questions about different bows and especially the ones that I show how to build on this channel. One of the most common questions is, which bow performs better and faster, the Comanche style bow or the Cherokee style bow? In this video, we'll test each one side by side. All right, so here are both bows from top to bottom that we'll be using throughout this demonstration and this field test. And I will take the first several shots by eye, meaning I will not use a chronograph for the first several shots. I'm hoping to obtain one through our local archery club. They're a little bit expensive, so hopefully I can borrow one and then that will give us a true scientific number in which bow outperforms the other. So it's a lot more precise and we'll get numbers on the board to see which one is actually better, either the Comanche bow or the Cherokee bow, or maybe they both shoot perfectly even. We'll have to see. So the first few tests, like I said, I'll let you eyeball it and I'll let you be the deciding factor through arrow speed. And then we'll get a little bit more precise, hopefully within the next couple of days, and especially after the snowstorm passes. So I have hunted with both of these bows following all Arizona regulations and guidelines. Both of these are fantastic bows. They're very fast and they will kill large game such as deer, mule deer specifically in this area. I've also hunted javelina with both of these. Fantastic performing bows, just wicked fast. So looking at the first bow, this is the Comanche style bow. This is a self bow. Both of these, I should start off by saying they're both made out of the same materials, Osage orange wood, and they both draw 45 pounds at 20 inches of total length. So back to the Comanche bow. It's a little bit wider compared to the Cherokee bow. It is a self bow, no backing attached or laminated on. You can see that we have a setback in the handle and the limbs are just slightly pushed forward into reflex. This is 42 inches in measurement from tip to tip. The second bow is the Cherokee bow. This one's a bit narrower. It's about an inch wide and it just tapers very slightly towards these tips. No setback in the handle. This is a true D shape profile, no reflex limbs. The difference, as you can see, laminated on the back, we have that thin strip of rawhide. And in my practices and hunting and target practicing with this bow, it does not affect the performance at all. What rawhide does is it simply protects the back from blowing up, especially with multiple pin knots throughout its structure and a thin growth ring structure as well. That's just adding an extra measure of safety for long-term survivability on this bow. So this one is also measuring 42 inches from tip to tip. So the arrow that I'll be using, this is wild rosewood. You can see at this black line, I have it measured exactly at 20 inches. That's where we'll pull to. I have a 70 grain field tip and then the tail end is fletched with turkey wing feathers. So I'm going to let the snow storm pass, hopefully pretty soon. We'll get down to the archery range and start putting these bows to you side by side. When looking at this film footage, the arrow speed shows no difference between the bows. In order for you, the viewer, to get a more accurate measure of which bow is faster, we need to send the arrow through a chronograph. Hunter's Choice is an archery store in Prescott Valley, Arizona, which allows customers to use their chronograph to measure arrow speed. With a wide range of products, this shop is a must visit and is highly recommended. In this next segment, you will see which bow is truly faster. So as you can see, we have a clear winner. The Comanche style bow definitely outperforms the Cherokee style bow in a shorter profile. This is quite honestly, one of the fastest bows I've ever shot. And design really does dictate the purpose, but also expanding on that, design will dictate how fast that arrow shoots out of the string once it's casted. So the Comanche bow definitely outperforms. I knew it all along. You know, when you hunt with these bows and you target practice side by side, you get an idea of which bow truly does outperform the other. And once again, this is an extremely fast bow worthy of hunting with. Same thing with the Cherokee bow. The Cherokee bow is no slouch, but pound for pound, this Comanche bow is extremely fast. The only bow in a short profile on a self bow that does outperform the Comanche style bow that I know of is the asymmetrical design. That's an extremely fast bow. It outperforms by a few feet per second more. So there's a few different factors that we can talk about that plays a really important role in how to maximize the performance of the bow and what affects the speed and performance of the bow. So the one thing that the Cherokee design has that goes against it is exactly that, the design and the profile. So you can see that this limb, both of these limbs are almost a straight profile. There's very little narrowing in the tip, whereas the Comanche style bow, you can see it starts out wide and it pinches in towards that tip as you go up with both limbs. Bottom line, the narrower the tip, the faster the bow will shoot. In any design, in any profile, it doesn't matter if it's backed or if it's a self bow. Again, the narrower the tip, the faster the bow. You narrow the tips, that arrow will launch at a rapid speed. So now let's talk about arrow material. The arrow material really does play an important role on how fast the bow performs and shoots. So assuming we're using the same grain weight field tip and the same diameter wood, it comes down to wood selection and species. So the lighter the material, the less dense the material, the faster the arrow will shoot. The heavier and more dense material, the slower the arrow will shoot. So woods like wild rose, cedarwood, arrow weed are local to this area. Those make a very, very fast arrow. And cedarwood, it sure will spoil you. You gotta go a little bit east from here to find it. And most of the cedar is cultivated. We have a very close relative and that's juniper, but juniper is a little bit more dense and resinous compared to cedar. I like to hunt with cedarwood. It's a feather light material and it performs exceptionally well. But just for the purpose of this video, there's nothing wrong with wild rosewood. Wild rose is a light material, I've hunted with it. And just to keep things fair, we used it throughout this entire experiment. So once again, I like to use rosewood, arrow weed, and cedarwood. Other materials that are a little bit heavier that grow in this localized area, mountain mahogany, oak, and then locust species. Those are a little bit heavier. They shoot a bit slower, but safer on the bows. The lighter the material, you're starting to get to that point of dry firing a bow. So there's really a happy medium. And once again, rosewood is that happy medium while still offering a lightweight compared to some of the harder woods out in this localized area. So I hope you did enjoy this video. If so, help us out, give this video a thumbs up, subscribe to the Primitive Lifeways channel on YouTube, and share this video throughout social media. It really helps us to grow, expand, and reach a wide, diverse audience. I'm Jeff with PrimitiveLifeways.com. We'll catch you in the next one. Take care. Thanks for watching.