The Bow and Arrow
In the history of weapons, there are few that have stood the test of time like the bow and arrow has. Oh, you could say that guns have stood the test of time, but you’re talking guns, you’re talking a couple of hundred years. When you’re talking about bows, you’re talking about a weapon that goes back to prehistoric times. Not only that, but while guns have become the predominant weapon of today, bows are still used.
You can still find primitive tribes today, who use the bow as their principal weapon. But that’s not all; even in our “industrialized society” bows are a favored hunting weapon by about 20% of all the hunters in the United States. With that much usage, nobody can honestly say that the bow has been left in the past.
A Better Choice For A Survival Weapon… Even Over Firearms?
But what about as a survival weapon; is a survival bow a realistic choice over a firearm? A lot depends on personal preference, but there’s a lot to be said for a survival bow.
To start with, bows are not registered and their sale is not traced like firearms are. While technically there is no firearm registration in the United States, the reality is that there is a record of every firearm sold. If the feds want to find out who has guns, they can. They can even find out what kinds of guns you have.
Considering the liberal outcry against guns, having a survival bow is a good backup for any other weapons that you might have. If the government ever actually starts confiscating guns, it will give you a good usable survival weapon, both for hunting food and for defending yourself.
But even without that, the bow has some advantages over the gun.
Advantages Of A Bow and Arrow
First and foremost, it’s a silent weapon. Although you can buy silencers for guns (more correctly called “suppressors”), they are expensive and require a special permit from the ATF. That is clearly a registration of firearms, even if it isn’t a whole gun.
As a silent weapon, a survival bow has several advantages as well. A gunshot can be heard from a long ways away, attracting attention that you might not want. If you have bugged out and are trying to hide out from people who might want to steal what you have, hunting with a rifle may not be a good idea. On the other hand, you can hunt extensively with a bow, without anyone knowing you are there.
The same applies if you are forced to use a bow as a self-defense weapon. If you are good at moving silently in the woods, you can commit excellent guerrilla warfare with a bow, much more so than you can with a gun. The people you are fighting against won’t be able to use sound to locate you, like they would with a gun.
Some would say that the bow isn’t a good weapon because of its slow reload rate. But those are people who haven’t learned how to use the bow quickly. Ancient texts have shown that archers in many different cultures were expected to be able to fire their third arrow, before their first hit the ground; and they were expected to do that accurately. There aren’t too many who can beat that with a rifle.
Then there is the issue of ammunition. Rifle and pistol cartridges are heavy. If you’re at home, then the weight of your stockpile of ammo isn’t an issue. But if you’re forced to leave your home for any reason, then it becomes a big issue, especially if you have to do so on foot. That stockpile of ammo won’t do any good, because you’ll only be able to carry a few boxes with you.
Arrows can be reused, but bullets can’t. Oh, you can reuse the cartridge case, but you have to have the equipment and supplies to reload with you. Are you going to carry that with you in your backpack? I think not. I know that I can’t carry all that weight.
You can also make arrows in the wild, although our modern bows have enough force that they would probably split many homemade arrows. But by lowering the draw strength of the bow and making high quality arrows, you could still use your survival bow in the wild, long after running out of commercially made arrows.
It’s A Matter Of Time
Ultimately, it all comes down to your personal opinion. I have both. While I prefer using my rifle, there’s no way I would try bugging out into the wild, without my bow. If I have to survive for a prolonged period of time, I’d rather trust in the bow than the rifle. After all, people have done so for thousands of years.