How to Build a primitive sinew backed cedar survival bow

After forging a tomahawk and bow building knife, Clay Hayes uses the primitive tools to build a sinew backed eastern red cedar survival bow from a freshly cut tree. This video covers the entire primitive bow building process. Clay begins by roughing out the longbow from green bow stave and before backing the bow with sinew and tillering after the sinew dries. Eastern red cedar is in the juniper family and it is very common throughout the east and Midwest. It’s replaced by other closely related species, common juniper, rocky mountain juniper, and a few other species as you move into the western states. They will all make great primitive bows if they are backed with some other material like rawhide or sinew. The availability of this bow wood, the fact that it works easily with hand tools, and also dries very quickly make it a great choice for a quickly made wood bow or survival bow. Adding sinew will protect the bow’s back and add a lot to the performance of the bow as well. As the sinew dri