Are Bows Electric?

Would you like some toast and a chat about muffins?

Since the turn of the millennium, electronics and microchips have found their way into everything. Cookers, fridges, tv's, electric toothbrushes rigged for WiFi .. even the humble toaster* can come with as much processing power as a cray supercomputer (the 1970's version at least). But with the usual level of monomania on this site ... what about bows? Have they been chipped and wired yet? Well, yes and no. The use of electronics and chips is allowed, forbidden and there are grey areas. Its all very complicated but tends to shake out into specific areas, some legislated by World Archery for practical reasons and some not so much. For this article we're going to talk about electronics on and around bows that are a no-no in competition .. because it gets hard to draw demarcation lines! Outside of competitions, no-one cares what you get up to.

Home made timers clipped to quivers used to be common

Electronics on and around Archers: This is reasonably simple yet immediately problematic regarding definition which constantly needs redefined. WA rules of shooting for competitions (Book 3, Article 11.3.1**) clearly state that watches, smart watches, fitness trackers (if not used for aiming or feedback) and phones (if kept in quivers and bags, not mounted and not used for aiming or spotting) are all allowed on the line with phones mainly for scoring apps or photo opportunities. Timing devices not attached to equipment are ok which means all those kitchen timers clipped to quivers SHOULD be ok. We think! "Equipment" here is vague and should only apply to bows but judges might rule otherwise. Obviously turn your phone to silent as there is little more annoying than someone's phone starting to ring while you are on the line .. even if the ring tone is AC/DC's Shoot to Thrill. ;o)

However, the moment a device is mounted or integrated into equipment, it becomes illegal in competition. What specifically do we mean here? Attached to the bow, sight, stabilizers, or any part of the archer’s equipment. Devices such as electronic levels, electronic sight aids, digital peep systems, sensors mounted on the bow and cameras or phones attached to spotting scopes (explicitly ruled illegal). Looking at the above it would seem that most of these kinda hint compound being at it again with more help to the shooter from engineers. These are all banned because they provide information or enhancement beyond what the rules permit. It should be noted that many training tools fall into this banned category. So items like accelerometers and bow-mounted sensors become illegal the moment they're attached .. note: that's only during competition.

The most heinous of the above being those used to enhance visual spotting or aiming. Now aiming we understand - an ipad as a hi-res targeting screen would be wild - but World Archery explicitly ruled that Smartphones or tablets mounted to spotting scopes to enhance the image are illegal. This was clarified in an interpretation requested by Archery GB that such devices “directly contravene Article 11.3.1”. Which is a shame cause this particular "cheat" is awesome .. feels like you are watching yourself shoot on TV! Fortunately, there's nothing to stop you enjoying this in practice. :o)

No electronics (yet) so no rules against it.

And if you think the target limitations above are harsh, hunters in the US have even sterner restrictions. For example, they aren't allowed to put GPS on their arrows - yes, the technology exists! This is argued that it would aid in limiting the suffering, and recovery of, a wounded animal as it would be no trouble to find the poor thing. Instead the blood trail must be followed in the traditional manner. Wildlife agencies classify GPS as unfair technological advantage (like scopes, cams and release aids are fair! Ed) along with things like drones and thermal imaging. If GPS arrows were allowed, it wouldn't be a massive step to see smart broad-heads, impact sensors, real‑time trajectory correction and integrated cameras. Those wildlife agencies have been drawing a hard line early to prevent hunting from turning into a tech‑driven pursuit rather than a skill‑based one. World Archery has taken something of the same hard line in target although obviously compound gets away with their scopes and cams and release aids .. oh my.

So to close our peek into electronics on bows, its probably best to keep digital off our kit except in specific practices ... unless its something useful like a coffee cup holder/heater mounted to your bow. We can see all kinds of benefits for that ... like keeping your caf hot and on hand for a quick sip when you head up to the line to shoot, extra vibration suppression via fluid mechanics or putting your target partner off with the sweet sweet wafting smell of caf .. something for Glasgow Archers R&D to investigate we think.

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* Who can forget the great foreshadowing of the future from 1991 .. Talkie Toaster (pictured above)

** World Archery Rules Book 3 article 11.3 - For athletes of all divisions the following equipment is not permitted:

• 11.3.1 Any electronic or electrical device that can be attached to the athlete's equipment.
• 11.3.2 Use of any electronic voice communication device, headsets or noise reduction devices in front of the waiting line. Electronic devices used for monitoring physiological data, like wrist worn fitness trackers, smartwatches and heart rate chest bands are permitted and data is allowed to be communicated electronically to the paired electronic device, as long as the monitoring device on the athlete is not visually intrusive (e.g. no eye-tracking devices, no head-mounted EEG devices etc.). Mobile devices such as mobile phones are permitted in front of the waiting line for running software that simply allows the athlete to plot arrow impacts on the target as one would on printed paper used for the same purpose is permitted. No software that aids in bow sight adjustments may be used anywhere on the archery field (which includes any space either in front of or behind the shooting line up to the spectator area).
• 11.3.3 NO CAMO .. NONE NADA ZILCH! What is it with you people? You aren't Rambo!