Quote Originally Posted by Knaight View Post
I've got a question about bows.
In composite bows, are there any issues with temperature extremes? I'm wondering if differing thermal expansion rates could pose a problem, particularly if you took a bow made in somewhere particularly warm to go penguin hunting or something.
The Inuit seem to have used bows of wood, bone or antler backed with sinew cabling. These cordage backed bows probably count as a form of composite. Obviously such a weapon would have to work fairly well in the cold to be worth the considerable bother of making. This suggests that the components of a composite retain their material properties in serious cold. This page gives some details.

I don't know how extreme cold would effect the glue for holding the layers together - which in temperate climates can take on the order of two years to set fully. I could see being repeatedly frozen during that time causing issues, but really have no hard evidence. Since a cordage backed bow can be made entirely with knotwork, unfortunately the Inuit designs just don't offer any insight here.