Quote Originally Posted by Knaight View Post
Sorry, let me clarify. I'm less concerned with how they work in the cold (quite well, as we see) and more of what happens if you take a bow made in a very warm place to the gold, or for that matter try to take one of the Inuit bows mentioned to something like the Sahara. It's the change in temperature that I'm wondering about, not the temperature itself.
Unfortunately I have no actual information on this question. My experience is that wood retains its flexibility in the cold, although I can't say I've ever made a study of the issue. I'd guess sinew and horn are similarly well behaved, simply because they're very dry. Maybe a bit stiffer, but flexing the limbs a bit could well sort that out.

The thing I think most likely to be problematic is the glue. Unfortunately hide glue isn't something I have any actual experience with, so I cannot really begin to speculate.