How do you shoot with a chain bow? It's not even elastic.

makkun said:
How do you shoot with a chain bow? It's not even elastic.

Bows don't work like that. A bow's power comes from it's limbs, not the string. In fact, it would be less effective if the string was elastic.

eidolon said:
Bows don't work like that. A bow's power comes from it's limbs, not the string. In fact, it would be less effective if the string was elastic.

The limbs are made of steel. Now, explain that!

DUHEED said:
Magic.

Steel can bend too you know.
Or maybe it isn't steel but rather a carbon-fiber shell.

I'd rather say, I hope she's a vampire or otherwise has supernatural strength, because that thing can't possibly be operated by human hands. The draw of the typical longbow already goes up to 150 lbs and requires no small amount of strength to be used properly. I can't even imagine the draw of a "chain bow".

That said, it's still a pretty damn cool weapon.

Actually, I imagine that a 'chain bow' would be much easier to nock the arrows. Provided the frame of the bow is flexible enough, that could be a viable weapon.

Just, God forbid if the chain should snag your arm on the recoil.

Just, God forbid if the chain should snag your arm on the recoil.

whoops there goes my arm

This is an awesome weapon for an awesome character.

Lmao, You guys made this picture even better with your logic.

And now imagine that trident and hammer

are the arrows.

You mean they weren't to begin with?

Also, if the limbs weren't a complete solid but made up of smaller connected metals, that would give it enough elasticity and power to make it somewhat more viable. Compare one of those exercise coil bars to an iron pipe for better imagery.

People said:
- Various things about the viability of the chain bow -

Well, a bow's power comes not only from the elasticity of the limbs but also their weight. If you'll recall 'f=ma' from your high school physics class, it makes sense that whatever material has the best spring/mass ratio is what will be the most effective, as well as the obvious prerequisite that the material "springs" back.

For the limbs it can be argued that the way they're constructed and what they're made of could provide more force than wood along with a lighter weight, but the chain could easily be replaced with multiple flaxen bowstrings wound together to be more effective. Or just a chain with smaller, more weight/strength efficient links to retain the whole coolness factor of the weapon.