The Next Innovation in Archery?

For the past couple of years I’ve wondered what the next big innovation in archery was going to be. Obviously the last major leap was the compound with its cams but what was going to be next? Well, here might be the answer …

While YouTube surfing I regularly come across this German gentleman (Joerg Sprave) who is a great tinkerer with bows and crossbows. His channel (The Slingshot Channel) is pretty interesting as he appears to have an engineering background and likes to fiddle. His latest video is all about the Lancehead F1 Limbless Crossbow. Thats right – LIMBLESS!

It uses coiled springs in drums to store the energy reducing the classic Crossbow shape to something looking like it came out of a Sci-Fi movie. With the bolt being wound back behind the trigger, the crossbow technically has a bullpup configuration! Meaning the power stroke is much longer than normal so more OOOOF! to the shot.

The video was pretty interesting and you have to wonder … is the limbless compound the next step in archery. Once compounders start thinking about it there could be a lot of options for configuration. The drums could be configurable allowing the power to be wound up and down. I imagine even more fiddling could be done with timing or even locking them in place allowing cables and strings to be replaced. This would make the bow press obsolete. Limbs are a traditional part of a bow but its not like the b*ggers with their cams and scopes and release aids feel the need to stick to even vaguely traditional bow components!
Then again, this might have been trumped for wow factor. Joerg just came up with his own unbelievable innovation that’s a completely new class of archery. A semi automatic, pump action compound! Yes, that sounds bizarre but you can read about and watch demonstrations of the “Instant Legolas” here.

Source links below …
The Slingshot Channel – Lancehead F1 Limbless Crossbow
Lancehead website