Thumb Draw Archery: A Traditional Technique with Modern Appeal

Archery has been practiced for thousands of years, and over time, different techniques have emerged in different parts of the world. One such technique is thumb draw archery, which has its roots in Central Asia and has been used by nomadic tribes for centuries. Today, thumb draw archery is gaining popularity around the world, as people rediscover this ancient technique and its unique benefits.

So what exactly is thumb draw archery? At its core, it’s a technique that involves using the thumb to draw the bowstring, rather than the fingers. This allows for a smoother and more consistent release, which can improve accuracy and reduce the risk of injury. Think of it as the primitive version of the trigger release used on Compound Bows today.

One of the key benefits of thumb draw archery is its simplicity. Once the method is mastered, there’s little room for error in achieving a clean release.

Another benefit of thumb draw archery is its versatility. This technique can be used with a variety of bow styles, including recurve bows, longbows, and even modern compound bows. This makes it a great option for archers of all skill levels, from beginners to experienced hunters with proper training.

In addition to its practical benefits, thumb draw archery also has a rich cultural history. This technique has been used by nomadic tribes in Central Asia for centuries, and it’s still practiced today by traditional archers around the world. By learning thumb draw archery, you can connect with this rich cultural heritage and gain a deeper appreciation for the art of archery.

The biggest learning curve for getting proficient at thumb draw is aiming. You’ll find many different schools of thought out there on how to aim correctly but I find that most of them require excess bow movement and tend to frustrate the student. At Odinson Archery, I’ve simplified this method to an easily teachable form to have students on target in record time.

If you’re interested in learning thumb draw archery, there are many resources available to help you get started. You can find instructional videos from Odinson Archery on various methods of training to become a skilled thumb draw shooter.

Here’s a Basic Tutorial on a Consistent Thumb Draw

With practice and dedication, you can master this ancient technique and experience the unique benefits of thumb draw archery such as speed shooting and multiple ways of deploying arrow into the shooting hand.

If you want to gain more knowledge in using the thumb draw technique and learn more about the Alan Odinson Method of Archery; I will be teaching LIVE at Fieldcraft Survival for the 1st Time Ever!

You can find the class HERE

Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced archer, this technique offers a range of benefits and can help you connect with the rich cultural history of archery. So why not give it a try and see how thumb draw archery can elevate your archery game?

–A ODINSON

“Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick; You Will Go Far”.

Anyone else have issues with their knees? Old injuries from jiujitsu or weight lifting that can nag you from time to time? As I approach my mid 40s, I find a great deal of use in having a good walking stick that I can take to town with me on those long walking days or on hikes into the mountains with the family.

However, if you’re like me, you want a multi functional walking stick. Sure, you need something that will hold you up and give you the support necessary but what about “other” uses?

What if I need a walking stick to protect myself?

Have you seen those videos of guys hammering away with supposed “fighting walking sticks” only to get KOed or thrown to the ground?

You need a ONE HITTER QUITTER!

Look no further than the Odinson Mjolnir Walking Stick!

Our walking stick is designed light enough to carry anywhere but heavy in ALL the right places.

• Customizable to whatever length you may need
• Hickory Shaft w/ rubber end for gripping
• Solid Steel ball, rounded to fit the hand comfortably that’s great for clobbering Orc
• Thick yet light weight design for easy carrying throughout the day
• Everything mechanically attached and triple hafted in place for solid stablility

Mjolnir Walking Stick – $120 +shipping

When it comes to survival situations, having a reliable weapon can be the difference between life and death. While guns are often the go-to choice for many people, they can be loud, heavy, and require ammunition that may not be readily available in a survival situation.

That’s why many survivalists turn to a more traditional weapon: the bow and arrow.

Using a bow and arrow for survival requires skill and practice, but it also offers a number of advantages over other weapons. Here are some of the key benefits of using a bow and arrow in a survival situation:

1. Lightweight and portable: Unlike guns, which can be heavy and bulky, a bow and arrow is lightweight and easy to carry. This makes it an ideal choice for situations where you need to move quickly or cover a lot of ground.
2. Quiet: A bow and arrow is virtually silent, which makes it an ideal choice for hunting or self-defense situations where you don’t want to draw attention to yourself.
3. Versatile: A bow and arrow can be used for a variety of tasks, including hunting, fishing, and self-defense. This makes it a versatile tool that can be used in a wide range of survival situations.
4. Sustainable: Unlike guns, which require ammunition that may not be readily available in a survival situation, a bow and arrow can be used repeatedly with minimal maintenance. This makes it a sustainable choice for long-term survival situations.

Of course, using a bow and arrow for survival requires skill and practice.

Here are some tips for getting started:

1. Choose the right bow: There are many different types of bows available, including recurve bows, longbows, and compound bows. Choose a bow that is going to fit your body type but also easy to repair in the field.
2. Practice regularly: To become proficient with a bow and arrow, you need to practice regularly. Start by practicing your stance and grip, and then move on to shooting at targets.
3. Learn to hunt: Hunting with a bow and arrow requires a different set of skills than hunting with a gun. Learn to track animals, read signs, and shoot accurately from a distance.
4. Build your own arrows: In a survival situation, you may not have access to store-bought arrows. Learn to build your own arrows using natural materials like wood, feathers, and sinew.
5. Learn to fish: A bow and arrow can also be used for fishing. Learn to shoot accurately at moving targets like fish in a stream or river

Taking these skills with the bow and arrow and learning to effectively use them will be the difference between whether you survive or perish in a survival situation.

Adding a bow and arrow to your arsenal is the key to becoming a sustainable survivalist.

— A Odinson

Archery has been around for thousands of years, and it’s enjoyed by people of all ages today. Even though archery has evolved over the years into many different forms, the many benefits to picking up a bow and arrow haven’t changed.

Here are just a few reasons why archery is a great hobby to pursue.

1. Physical fitness: Archery can be a great way to stay in shape. It requires a lot of upper body strength, and regular practice can help tone your arms, back, and shoulders. Additionally, drawing a bow can help improve your posture and promote better overall health.

2. Mental focus: Archery requires a lot of mental focus, making it an excellent form of relaxation and stress relief. When you’re shooting, you need to focus on your breathing, your stance, your aim, and your release. By doing this, you can clear your mind and create a meditative state that can be incredibly calming.

3. Improved confidence: The thrill of hitting a bullseye can be incredibly rewarding. By practicing regularly and improving your technique, you can build your self-confidence and feel a sense of accomplishment each time you hit your target.

4. Building discipline: To be a good archer, you need to develop a lot of discipline. You need to practice regularly, maintain good form, and stay focused on your target. By doing this, you can develop discipline that can be applied to other areas of your life, such as work or school.

5. Social engagement: Archery can be a social sport, and many archery clubs and organizations offer opportunities to meet other people who share your passion. This can be a great way to make new friends and build a sense of community.

The benefits that can be gained are limitless . Whether you’re looking to improve your physical health, mental focus, self-confidence, discipline, or social engagement, archery can be an excellent hobby to pursue.

Give archery a try and you too will see the many benefits it has to offer.

— A Odinson

“I practice multiple times a week and I’m STILL off target!”

” I just can’t seem to get decent groups consistently”

Throughout my 20 plus years of archery experience and training, I have noticed that there is one MAJOR flaw that most of archers have in common.

This one simple practice has caused more training scars for archers than ANY other practice out there. Each time I find myself at the range with my Assassin Bow , I see other archers doing it and training others to do it as well.

I’m willing to bet that you’ve done it too.

Almost ALL of you are practicing TOO FAR AWAY from the target.

“But Odinson, it’s a bow…..you’re supposed to shoot far away?”

Let me explain…

When it comes to truly mastering the bow, everything comes from your form and the ability to maintain that form throughout your training.

How many people do you see go to the range, stand at the 20 yard line and begin their practice there?

You’re that guy/gal aren’t you?

ALL TRAINING should begin and end with form work.

This is not done at the 20 yard line. Your form work should be done at the 5 yard line.

The goal isn’t about hitting bullseyes here. You should be focused on the process of making your shot.

How is your stance?

Are You Consistently Anchoring In the Same Spot?

Is Your Bow Arm Locking Down?

Are You Plucking The String?

How’s Your Follow Through?

Can You Close Your Eyes & Consistently Make That Shot?

Your goal is to FEEL the shot. This is the time to consciously take time to focus on every aspect of your shooting process. Don’t worry about bullseyes right now. Breathe, feel the shot and take an assessment of your process. Looks for consistencies in your shooting form and arrow performance.

The common thing I hear from beginning archers is that they don’t have enough room for archery training. At those beginning stages, MOST of your archery training should be done at very close ranges to perfect that form.

All you need is 5 yards.

This will build the foundation for consistent groups and a true instinctive shot.

This will also help eliminate common issues like target panic, plucking the string, Lockdown and inconsistent anchor.

Here’s my Personal Routine:

Warm Up (absolutely necessary for longevity)

Form Work (Close Range 5 Yards) – 10 to 15 minutes

Practice Whatever Technique Of The Day at Chosen Range (thumb draw, speed reloading, etc) – 30 minutes or more

Form Work (Light Training Bow 5 Yards) – 10 minutes

The light bow at the end gives my body also a chance to sort of “cool down” from my archery practice. That’s one of the great benefits of something like our Trainer Pack and having that extra lighter version training bow. As an older archer, I definitely appreciate the value in that.

Try this routine, stick with it and I’m willing to bet you’ll start seeing those groups tighten up and your accuracy improve.

— A Odinson

“You must hate compound bows!”

Wait, wait, wait…..keep your finger off the trigger and hear me out.

I’m actually a fan of compound bows but here’s the issue I find with many in the survival community. Much like any other tool on the market, each has their job. While I can take a pair of pliers and remove a screw, a screwdriver would be the better choice. In the task of selecting a bow for survival, there’s a set of criteria that needs to be considered when selecting that specific tool.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have my bows tested in the field by survival experts and also several outdoors/survival publications. When discussing what they were looking for, a clear list of what was necessary for someone living out of a pack for a week or longer who depended on a bow to provide food was developed.

When looking at these factors, we unfortunately came to this conclusion:

COMPOUND BOW SUCK FOR SURVIVAL

Here are a 3 of the issues we found:

Maintenance

– Should your compound bow fail in the field, you’re pretty much done. While they do have these small bow press kits you can take into the field with you, you’re looking at a big job here. You’ve going to need a specialized string, bow press kit and have the knowledge to safely do this in the wild. Issue with your cams? Issue with your sight? Lose your trigger release?

I was small game hunting a few years back and had the string break on my Assyrian Bow . The maintenance is merely inserting your foot and replacing the string. What happens if you don’t have a string? Guess what? You can MAKE ONE!

A simple tool with less moving parts is ideal when Murphy’s Law is in effect.

Arrows

– This is one people don’t think about enough. Should you break an arrow or lose an arrow in the field with a compound, what do you do then? However many arrows you are carrying better be enough cause you’re not going to be able to make more. I can’t tell you how may times I’ve seen people bring bows on survival shows and lose their arrows shooting at game.

The amount of force and flex coming out of a compound bow is tough to gauge when crafting arrows in the field from natural materials. There’s a reason you don’t see wooden compound arrows. You’re likely gonna get an explosion or a broken arrow in the hand.

With something like a recurve or Odinson Slingbow, there are a variety of materials at your disposal to make your arrows out of.

You essentially have an endless supply of ammo.

Weight

– When finding yourself constantly on the move, each pound added feels like a ton. If you’re someone in the realm of SHTF carrying a bugout bag or just on a long wilderness excursion, lighter is better. Most compound bow average around 3 to 6 pounds in weight. Combine that with your gear, pack contents, water, etc and that becomes a big deal.

Now take something like the Assassin Bow that weighs under a pound, can be unstrung, is only 42 inches long and you’ll see there’s not really a comparison. Someone can carry something like a MCA Pack or a Silent Assassin Pack and ALL of that gear still doesn’t equal the weight of the compound bow alone.

THOSE ARE “THE BIG THREE”

There are more but I’m sure you get my drift.

If you haven’t given thought to your specific tool selection for a bugout bag, SHTF situation, scouting or whatever it may be; I’d highly recommend taking the time to weigh all of these factors in. Decide your goals, what you’re going to be doing and go from there.

Hopefully this makes everyone think rather than default to just being triggered by the title

A Odinson

The Odinson Archery SlingBow offers an affordable option for those looking for something lightweight and compact for their packs or field use. The SlingBow is capable of shooting any size arrow with any style of fletching. You can use your own custom arrow purchased from Odinson Archery or you can use regular plastic vain arrows as well.

The Odinson SlingBow has a built in V style arrow rest that enables the user a sturdy place for their arrow to sit while offering an easy pass for the arrow when released. High performance bands are used to get a sufficient speed for an effective shot with the arrow on your target or game.

The Odinson SlingBow is an excellent choice for bowfishing, small game hunting or target shooting.

You can have all of the benefits of a small game, takedown bow without the excessive cost! This will fit perfectly in a day pack or bugout bag.

PRICE – $20 + shipping

AS SEEN IN MANY OF MY VIDEOS!

When it comes to back quiver designs, you can’t beat a 3 point back quiver. With three points of control, it allows for a very secure back quiver perfect for just about every aspect of archery. This all leather quiver is firm enough to hold a solid form allowing ease of loading and unloading the quiver but also flexible enough to give you a moderate form of hold when bending over. While it is not as secure and isn’t quiet like the Silent Assassin, it is our next in line for silent back quivers.

This back quiver also features an arrow divider for separating your arrows in the quiver as well as a small leather pouch for storing other small equipment in the field.

Price = $75 + shipping

“That’s a beautiful bow but I’ve had bad experiences with PVC Bows” – Rick B

I get this comment a lot from jaded people who were ripped off by some so called “PVC bowyer”. You end up getting a low quality PVC bow made with a $10 heat gun by a hobbyist, who bought their pipe from the yard at a local hardware store, that breaks on the first shot.

You’re not gonna believe what Rick B had to say about his Odinson Archery Assassin Bow at the end of this.

I get it, Rick.

You see, my first PVC bow was from one of these guys also. It was uneven, low powered and broke after a few shots. Since I was a kid growing up reading Green Arrow comics, I’ve wanted one of these lightweight compact horse bows. My parents were hard workers who provided for my siblings and I but buying a $500 horse bow, a $200 quiver and $150 worth of arrows was out of the question.

I thought to myself “FINALLY, I’ve found a solution!”

When that bow broke, my heart broke along side it.

From this heart break, Odinson Archery was born.

That’s why I’ve devoted my entire business to correcting those experiences for my customers by:

• Learning about the chemical composition of PVC and what it takes to make a strong PVC bow
• Buying the most purest possible PVC on the market
• Specialized Heating & Treating that PVC to make it as durable as any wooden or composite bow on the market
• Making sure our bows perform equally or above industry standards compared to big name brands through rigorous speed testing
• Hand crafting every single bow to the customers specs
• Making sure my customers had a guarantee on their bows and gear

Last but CERTAINLY not least, making it AFFORDABLE for the hard working individual or family. Families who were like mine and kids like me that just wanted to learn about the wonderful experience that is archery. It’s why I created things like The Family Pack so that families could enjoy archery together.

Talking to Rick B, I was able to convince him to give us a try and this is what he had to say:

“OMG, THIS THING IS AMAZING! My other bow kinda felt like a toy but this thing feels like a weapon. Been shooting it every day since I got it. Guess I’m gonna have to get some bows for the kiddos now cause they keep wanting to shoot mine. LOL!” – Rick B

Thank you, Rick.

That right there is why I do what I do.

Online haters and those seeking to spread negativity come and go but these are the people that matter to me.

— Alan Odinson

Tartar Horse Bow (Fiberglass/Oak/Black Walnut)

For those looking for an even more traditional style bow, the Tartar Horse Bow is the way to go! Made of a super durable laminate Oak/Fiberglass design, this bow is light and shoots extremely fast. Measuring at 49 inches overall and capable of tremendous draw lengths exceeding 32 inches, this is the perfect bow for those interested in a solid horsebow to last for generations to come. The bow is ambidextrous and features protective black walnut siyahs for added protection.

TARTAR BOW 35LB – $275 + shipping

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TARTAR BOW 45LB – $275 + shipping

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TURKISH HORSE BOW (BAMBOO/FIBERGLASS LAMINATE)

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Known for their amazing speeds and great distance shooting ability, Turkish Horse Bows are the best bang for the buck. This Turkish Horse Bow features an ultra strong, lightweight bamboo/fiberglass laminate for years of shooting. Coming in at a mere 43 inches in overall length, these bows offer a wonderful compact design perfect for shooting in tight brush where room is a luxury. These bows are also ambidextrous so you can enjoy traditional 3 finger or the classic thumb draw. Draw length on this bow is capable of 32 inches!

TURKISH HORSE BOW 35LB – $265 + shipping

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TURKISH HORSE BOW 45LB – $265 + shipping

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TURKISH HORSE BOW 50LB – $265 + shipping