I imagine that the volley force of such arrows in the thousands would surely knock a man in plate silly. 6 thousand Longbows, such as at Crecy, firing at an enhanced volley pace of 10 arrows per man per minute is a release rate of 60,000 arrows every 60 seconds, astonishing. High quality plate can withstand being deeply pierced, but the concussive effect of continuous large-scale volleys, especially at close range, must have been devastating. You've still got it mate. Respect.
I seriously think that the English bowman had a few men able to pull bows upwards of 250 pounds. If we have men now who with 5 or 6 years of training can pull (slightly) over 200 imagine what a man in his prime could do who has been shooting for 20 years. With proper carbon steel arrow heads which were possible obviously at the time no armor could stop it except maybe a shield.
revisiting my god kevin. that's even more impressive the second time around. i can only imagine 500 men doing that would be like walking through a wall of arrows. god bless and protect you. take care. thank yew gary
Important to notice that once plate armor was available the sound of battles changed completely with many reports of a deafening sound coming from arrows hitting the enemies. Many knights could not hear each other because of the thousands of arrows breaking and deflecting on the metal breastplates.
That's an interesting point, I never really thought of what it must have sounded like. I bet it would be really hard to discern voices and words with those helmets on, all of the sounds of the horses ect. Then to add in the sounds of arrows pinging off the armor...it must have been quite intense.
@@thehistorysquad I remember I used to watch your how to shoot a longbow (and matchlock musket!) videos, quite often frankly, and showing others as well, being amazed at how good your shots were and how simple you made it look. Each arrow a hit, look at that! And I've always loved your accent, it even inspired me to roleplay a fictional character once. Good one, all the best. :)
Very impressive, especially considering the weight of the bow. I LOVE the fact that you do not have a quiver ala Hollywood. Can you imagne what would happen to an archer if he had to fish arrows out of a quiver slung on his back? Well done.
Here in the USA I thought a shotgun was enough of a deterrent for home invaders. Imagine getting peppered with arrows by some mad Englishman. Nothing but love brother I love these videos
I've been finding uploads of you kevin, preforming, some in robin hood getup, some at Warwick.... I saw an old video of you shooting over a river into a hay bail, and getting someone from the audience timing you. I am really new (1 year abouts) to finding you, I had no idea you where so renown. I wish I could have seen you in person!
Great shooting ! I think shooting while setting difficult conditions for yourself was interesting though so no loss on both of the videos since we did get to see you doing some amazing speed shooting now.
Love seeing you shoot! I’d like to see you shoot the same but with the target starting at the bows full range, then see how many you’d get off before they could get to you. You’d have a big target area as you’d realistically be firing into ranks of men.
@@thehistorysquad Nice one, that’d be good to see. Could I ask, I’ve always wondered how effective a few ranks of bowmen would have been during the Napoleonic wars. With their rate of fire and lack of any armour on the targets, I’ve always though they could have been good, especially as skirmish units. I know firearms ended the wearing of heavy armour but there seems to have bee a cross over period where the bow could have held it’s own, until guns got faster to load and more accurate.
Wow that was really impression I wish I could get a better look at your bow how far back to you pull it I love the sound it makes that just was so cool
I know you have shot muskets before, I just wondered your view on the old musket vs longbow debate? A company armed with lowbrows vs a company armed with muskets, I wonder who would win?
Great question, thanks. Would you mind if I answered this more fully as a Q&A video? Briefly though I think providing the musketeers got a volley off first before the bowmen could unleash hell, the musketeers probably.
Cheers Gordon, I'm not absolutely sure now. When I bought it 15 years or so ago it was 95lb, but it's had a hell of a lot of arrows through it since then, so it'll be no where near that now.
Outstanding shooting! And a belated welcome to the new world from America 🇺🇲Thank you for the great content 👍 Now, I have to get myself a longbow 🏴 Any suggestions for a high quality Bowyer?
@@thehistorysquad thank you! Is there anyone in the UK you would recommend for a very traditional English longbow, I have been looking at some Bickerstaffe bows and the Fletcher co arrows many thanks again for all your great content 👍 PS did make your own padded armor kit? It is very well done. Cheers from the States!
Did archers ever use the movie tactic of placing arrows in the ground or leaning against a wall instead of in a quiver to lessen reload times or eliminate the need to carry them?
Hi Peter, actually yes, there are contemporary illustrations of archers with their arrows in the ground. I've done the same as well, when I was shooting regularly at Warwick.
@@thehistorysquad Cheers Kevin - as a longbow archer myself I was just curious. Excellent videos and please, keep them coming as they hugely informative!
@Kevin. try putting the arrows in the ground in front of you. lean forward from the waist and noch the arrow. As you return to an upright possition, you both take aim and draw the bow so as soon as you hit full draw, you have already aimed. Release and repeat. With a little practice, much higher rates of fire can be achieved using this method. One arrow every two / two and a half seconds is a relaxed pace, one and a half seconds or better possible. It also has the added advantage of coating the arrowhead with dirt / mud / excrement for additional lethality.
The problem with "X number in a minute" is that throughout the medieval period a minute did not exist, except in relation to measuring angles. As a measure of time it was unknown and impossible to calculate; time was in hours, mainly the canonical hours (around every three modern hours) but hours could vary in length according to the season, or be estimated by means of waterclocks, burning candles or scratch sundials - none of these were remotely accurate and time was calculated by the Church on a purely local basis. I recall the case of two monasteries built within hearing range of each other's bells, which caused constant confusion since they were using slightly different timings for their services.
Great comment 👍🏻. I used to say, in my public presentations, "the battle started at X, but who said, how did they know, was someone walking around with an hour candle?" 😉
Good question. It's interesting how the Duke of Wellington, apparently tried to raise a company of longbowmen for his campaign during the Napoleonic Wars. He believed that the power of the longbow and good longbowmen could deal with the French cavalry. Come WW1, it was the Germans in fact who were looking back to medieval warfare and weapons and were looking at the medieval style catapults to hurl explosives at enemy trenches. Aircraft on both sides used flageolets, which were steel arrows that they dropped. Fascinating eh?
@@thehistorysquad was the longbow used in the English civil wars 1640s? I would’ve figured they could’ve mowed down a musketeer army ....too many wouldves and couldves in my rootin tootin Texas theories hahaha...
@@THINKincessantly The problem is...........it takes a LONG time to train bowmen competent enough to do such a thing. It takes yeas of practice to get strong enough and accurate enough with a heavy poundage bow. So, if you need some "today", you're most likely out of luck regardless of how effective they may or may not be. Could you imagine volleys of arrows arching down into trenches during WWI though? The trenches were often close enough for it to be doable I suppose. The best part is they don't hear them coming, unlike artillery fire and your average soldier had no real armour, unlike the days when these bows were in common use.
13 arrows in a minute, and not a scratch on the Cross of Saint George. Perfect by all accounts haha
I imagine that the volley force of such arrows in the thousands would surely knock a man in plate silly. 6 thousand Longbows, such as at Crecy, firing at an enhanced volley pace of 10 arrows per man per minute is a release rate of 60,000 arrows every 60 seconds, astonishing. High quality plate can withstand being deeply pierced, but the concussive effect of continuous large-scale volleys, especially at close range, must have been devastating.
You've still got it mate. Respect.
Thanks!
They’ve got armour piercing arrows
I wish I was there!!!xxx
I seriously think that the English bowman had a few men able to pull bows upwards of 250 pounds. If we have men now who with 5 or 6 years of training can pull (slightly) over 200 imagine what a man in his prime could do who has been shooting for 20 years. With proper carbon steel arrow heads which were possible obviously at the time no armor could stop it except maybe a shield.
It's like a guy being hosed down by a riot control hose
13 in a minute is impressive, I’d be pleased with that!
i enjoyed your movies years ago so am delighted your making updated ones again. good shooting. thank yew.
revisiting my god kevin. that's even more impressive the second time around. i can only imagine 500 men doing that would be like walking through a wall of arrows. god bless and protect you. take care. thank yew gary
Nice shooting! He’s still got it!
Saw you doing this at Warwick Castle - it was amazing to watch and still the best entertainment I've ever seen at any castle.
That's so kind, thank you 👍🏻
Important to notice that once plate armor was available the sound of battles changed completely with many reports of a deafening sound coming from arrows hitting the enemies. Many knights could not hear each other because of the thousands of arrows breaking and deflecting on the metal breastplates.
That's an interesting point, I never really thought of what it must have sounded like. I bet it would be really hard to discern voices and words with those helmets on, all of the sounds of the horses ect. Then to add in the sounds of arrows pinging off the armor...it must have been quite intense.
I love the whistling sound the arrows make!
Excellent by any standards, such a well informed guy brilliant education for all .kevin rocks
It's so good seeing you back after many years! I'm glad you're doing well and look, you are in damn good shape!
Well done, keep 'em flying!
Thanks Fabio, it's been a long time, but it's good to be back shooting and creating the kind of history content I want to 👍🏻
@@thehistorysquad I remember I used to watch your how to shoot a longbow (and matchlock musket!) videos, quite often frankly, and showing others as well, being amazed at how good your shots were and how simple you made it look. Each arrow a hit, look at that!
And I've always loved your accent, it even inspired me to roleplay a fictional character once.
Good one, all the best. :)
@@ValendianCrafts gosh, thanks.
Sir, that's a helluva display for "a man of our age". Well met.
Cheers Mike 👍🏻
Absolutely amazing channel. Fantastic video, Kevin. Shooting like that makes an Englishman proud. Please keep up the good work 🤘🏻
Cheers Vae, much appreciated 👍🏻
Nice shots! 🏹 It's definitely obvious that you've got some experience with a Longbow.
That was pretty impressive !
Bloomin great effort, well done
Very impressive, especially considering the weight of the bow. I LOVE the fact that you do not have a quiver ala Hollywood. Can you imagne what would happen to an archer if he had to fish arrows out of a quiver slung on his back?
Well done.
Exactly 😜 Thanks for watching.
The arrow holder was really interesting.
Here in the USA I thought a shotgun was enough of a deterrent for home invaders. Imagine getting peppered with arrows by some mad Englishman. Nothing but love brother I love these videos
😜 thanks
Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Thank you!
13 arrows, now times that by say 6000 at Agincourt, 78,000 arrows in the first 60 seconds, some bugger is going have a pretty bad day.
I've been finding uploads of you kevin, preforming, some in robin hood getup, some at Warwick.... I saw an old video of you shooting over a river into a hay bail, and getting someone from the audience timing you.
I am really new (1 year abouts) to finding you, I had no idea you where so renown.
I wish I could have seen you in person!
Ah, yes I've been around for some time. Thanks for watching and your kind comment 👍🏻
Great shooting ! I think shooting while setting difficult conditions for yourself was interesting though so no loss on both of the videos since we did get to see you doing some amazing speed shooting now.
This guy is definitely ready for the zombie apocalypse
Love seeing you shoot! I’d like to see you shoot the same but with the target starting at the bows full range, then see how many you’d get off before they could get to you. You’d have a big target area as you’d realistically be firing into ranks of men.
Thanks Dave! I'm working on it. I'm still searching out here for a nice big piece of land to shoot regularly on, so I can do some range shooting.
@@thehistorysquad Nice one, that’d be good to see. Could I ask, I’ve always wondered how effective a few ranks of bowmen would have been during the Napoleonic wars. With their rate of fire and lack of any armour on the targets, I’ve always though they could have been good, especially as skirmish units. I know firearms ended the wearing of heavy armour but there seems to have bee a cross over period where the bow could have held it’s own, until guns got faster to load and more accurate.
I wonder what the English said when they first encountered real fast shooting horse archers
It sounded something like a gurgling sound as blood filled their throat and lungs ....but otherwise would sound something like Bugger!!!
You are very talented
Excellent work!!!! 👍👍
Wow that was really impression I wish I could get a better look at your bow how far back to you pull it I love the sound it makes that just was so cool
😜 I've had a lot of practice
this was a cool one
Thanks for the story I enjoyed that too much
You're welcome 👍🏻
I know you have shot muskets before, I just wondered your view on the old musket vs longbow debate? A company armed with lowbrows vs a company armed with muskets, I wonder who would win?
Great question, thanks. Would you mind if I answered this more fully as a Q&A video? Briefly though I think providing the musketeers got a volley off first before the bowmen could unleash hell, the musketeers probably.
@@thehistorysquad Yes of course, please do. I look forward to it!
Loving these vids!
What draw weight is your bow?
Cheers Gordon, I'm not absolutely sure now. When I bought it 15 years or so ago it was 95lb, but it's had a hell of a lot of arrows through it since then, so it'll be no where near that now.
Brilliant
I can safely say, you got more on target than I would've done
Cheers Ed 👍🏻
Outstanding shooting! And a belated welcome to the new world from America 🇺🇲Thank you for the great content 👍 Now, I have to get myself a longbow 🏴
Any suggestions for a high quality Bowyer?
Hi Donald, I'm still searching in the Americas myself, so I'm afraid I can't offer a recommendation other than from the UK. Thanks for watching 👍🏻
@@thehistorysquad thank you! Is there anyone in the UK you would recommend for a very traditional English longbow, I have been looking at some Bickerstaffe bows and the Fletcher co arrows many thanks again for all your great content 👍 PS did make your own padded armor kit? It is very well done. Cheers from the States!
Did archers ever use the movie tactic of placing arrows in the ground or leaning against a wall instead of in a quiver to lessen reload times or eliminate the need to carry them?
Hi Peter, actually yes, there are contemporary illustrations of archers with their arrows in the ground. I've done the same as well, when I was shooting regularly at Warwick.
Wonderful
Thank you! I'm looking forward to lots more shooting next season 👍🏻
Have you ever tried to see how many arrows you can keep in the air at one time?
Yes, I have - if memory serves me correctly it was 3 or 4. 👍
Very good to see you back again, Kevin. Quick question - what was the poundage of the bow you were using? Just curious to know.
Hi Andrew, thanks for catching up. It started off as a 90# bow, but I'm sure it's reduced in power over the years.
@@thehistorysquad Cheers Kevin - as a longbow archer myself I was just curious. Excellent videos and please, keep them coming as they hugely informative!
I definitely couldn't have pulled that feat off, takes me "forever" to knock an arrow and aim.
Far faster rate of fire and more accurate than a musket. Alas, it took years to train a longbowman but only days to train a man to fire a musket.
@Kevin. try putting the arrows in the ground in front of you. lean forward from the waist and noch the arrow. As you return to an upright possition, you both take aim and draw the bow so as soon as you hit full draw, you have already aimed. Release and repeat. With a little practice, much higher rates of fire can be achieved using this method. One arrow every two / two and a half seconds is a relaxed pace, one and a half seconds or better possible. It also has the added advantage of coating the arrowhead with dirt / mud / excrement for additional lethality.
Is your longbow 81-83" long? Looks about that size.
I think it's about that, but can't remember exactly, sorry.
👍🏼
Thats pretty dang good it would have saved you.
Did I hear the missile whistle? 🏹
Yes you did 😉
I think he killed him. lol! Medieval technology not as weak as we think.
The problem with "X number in a minute" is that throughout the medieval period a minute did not exist, except in relation to measuring angles. As a measure of time it was unknown and impossible to calculate; time was in hours, mainly the canonical hours (around every three modern hours) but hours could vary in length according to the season, or be estimated by means of waterclocks, burning candles or scratch sundials - none of these were remotely accurate and time was calculated by the Church on a purely local basis. I recall the case of two monasteries built within hearing range of each other's bells, which caused constant confusion since they were using slightly different timings for their services.
Great comment 👍🏻. I used to say, in my public presentations, "the battle started at X, but who said, how did they know, was someone walking around with an hour candle?" 😉
If you had the job of designing an archery unit or company during WW1.
How would you do it? What would that look like? Royal Company?
Good question. It's interesting how the Duke of Wellington, apparently tried to raise a company of longbowmen for his campaign during the Napoleonic Wars. He believed that the power of the longbow and good longbowmen could deal with the French cavalry. Come WW1, it was the Germans in fact who were looking back to medieval warfare and weapons and were looking at the medieval style catapults to hurl explosives at enemy trenches. Aircraft on both sides used flageolets, which were steel arrows that they dropped. Fascinating eh?
@@thehistorysquad was the longbow used in the English civil wars 1640s? I would’ve figured they could’ve mowed down a musketeer army ....too many wouldves and couldves in my rootin tootin Texas theories hahaha...
@@THINKincessantly The problem is...........it takes a LONG time to train bowmen competent enough to do such a thing. It takes yeas of practice to get strong enough and accurate enough with a heavy poundage bow. So, if you need some "today", you're most likely out of luck regardless of how effective they may or may not be. Could you imagine volleys of arrows arching down into trenches during WWI though? The trenches were often close enough for it to be doable I suppose. The best part is they don't hear them coming, unlike artillery fire and your average soldier had no real armour, unlike the days when these bows were in common use.
@@MrBottlecapBill ahh, makes sense now....especially for back then, thanks for the effort and reply.