How did we get from traditional archery to rocket science?

I have a hammer story to tell…

Terry (the sane brother) got a hammer he really liked, and because he is such a nice guy, he gave one to each his 3 brothers for Christmas. Nice guy. Several years later we were putting a roof on Dad’s house, and the hammers got mixed up. Didn’t think much of it… at first. Then Terry came over dropped my hammer in front of me, and said “Your hammer sucks.” I couldn’t convince him that I had not modified the hammer, until he tried Mike’s (the mean brother) hammer and decided he didn’t like that one either.

I also know a slater that used the same slater’s hammer for 18 years, because “The new ones don’t work.”

We adapt. If you are shooting bare bow, and all of your arrows are bent in the same direction, and to the same degree they will all shoot the same, and after 10,000 shots (give or take) you will be accurate. I am not convinced that the ABSOLUTE spine is all that important. What IS important is that the spine is CONSISTENT. Or….. The spine that YOU are used to. Which may be a lot different from what it is supposed to be.

If you look at all of the shapes and sizes of both bows and arrows over the eons it is obvious that there is a lot of variability in what works.

Remember that if I wore pants with a 36″ inseam, I would do a face plant before I got out of the kitchen.