When most people think of archery equipment, they think about bows and arrows, maybe accessories like sights and quivers. However, believe it or not, clothing is just as important. That’s why we’ve included it in our series of archery commandments:
COMMANDMENT 6: ALWAYS WEAR APPROPRIATE CLOTHING.
If you missed the other commandments, find them here:
- Commandment 1: Aim Only at Your Target
- Commandment 2: Never Dry Fire Your Bow
- Commandment 3: Don’t Be a Tough Guy
- Commandment 4: Always Use a Bow Stringer
- Commandment 5: Don’t Ever Shoot a Cracked Arrow
- Commandment 7: Always Exercise Good Archery Form
- Commandment 8: Be Careful at the Range
And don’t worry. If you don’t know what “appropriate clothing” entails, just keep reading. We cover it all.
What Should You Not Wear for Archery?
If you don’t learn anything else from this article, it should be what not to wear. This is arguably more important than what to wear because inappropriate clothing can be highly dangerous when shooting a bow.
The big no-nos include:
- Open-toed shoes: There are both sharp and heavy things around that could fall on your feed.
- High heels: Archery requires balance, and high heels don’t help with that. A powerful shot could even knock you off your feet.
- Jewelry and watches: These can catch the bowstring, which could injure you or damage the bow or your jewelry. This includes everything from rings to nose piercings. Take it all off or out before you go shooting.
- Long hair: It can easily get caught in the mechanics of the bow. If you have long hair, tie it up.
- Loose clothing: This is yet another thing that can get caught in the bow or moving bowstring.
- Wrist buttons: Long sleeve shirts are fine, but if they have buttons on the cuffs, that’s a no-go. Bowstrings often slap the wrist after a shot, so a wrist button is right in the way. If you have no other option, at least roll your sleeves up.
What Should You Wear for Archery?
Now that you know what not to wear, you have a little flexibility when it comes to what you actually wear. As long as it’s relatively tight-fitting, you’re probably good. That could mean something as simple as jeans (without holes and loose thread!), a t-shirt and sneakers.
Of course, you should also dress for the weather if you’re shooting outside. A long-sleeve shirt or sweater works fine as long as it doesn’t have buttons and isn’t too loose. When it’s hot, shorts or a skirt are also okay as long as it isn’t too loose and flowing.
On top of that, though, there are specific things you need to wear to be safe, comfortable and accurate when shooting. Let’s go through them.
Arm Guard
Because you have to hold your bow in front of the bowstring, shooting a bow often causes something called wrist slap, especially with traditional bows like recurves. This is what happens when the bowstring slaps your wrist after the shot.
If you’re new to archery, you might think, “I’m tough, I can handle it,” and that attitude might even work for a shot or two. However, trust us, after multiple shots, it’s going to start hurting. Eventually, without an arm guard, you’ll end up with a bruise and maybe even broken skin.
An arm guard is just a piece of fabric attached to your forearm that absorbs the shock from the bowstring so it doesn’t hurt the skin beneath it. Some are full sleeves, but most are attached with bands that use Velcro or laces.
Our Recommendation: Prowithlin Archery Arm Guard
- A complete protection: 8.7inch in Length, 3.3inch in width, 0.12inch thickness, can offer you a protection from biceps to wrist when you are archering. Let your inside of forearm feel no hurt!
- Brilliant material: Sturdy and lightweight. Processed cowhide gives a premium feeling, air holes also give proper ventilation.
- One size fits all: The archer bracer w/ three adjustable straps provide a good fit, suitable for both right or left hand shooters.
This is a great arm guard if you’re starting out. It’s inexpensive and straightforward. What we like best is that it’s easy to put on yet you can wear it for a long time without it starting to itch.
Archery Gloves
We definitely recommend archery gloves if you’re shooting a traditional bow. If you’re shooting a compound bow and are using a release, it’s not absolutely necessary, but it can still protect your fingers just in case.
For traditional bows, you pull the bowstring with your fingers, and like with wrist slap, even if it isn’t painful after one shot, it will be after several. Plus, gloves simply give you a better grip and more stability. That equates to more accuracy.
While normal gloves can often work as well, archery gloves only cover three fingers—your index, middle and ring fingers—because these are what you use to draw the bowstring. They have reinforced fabric on the finger pads and anchor at the wrist.
Our Recommendation: Seektop Archery Glove
- Three-Finger Designed : The 3 fingers shooting gloves have a cow leather non-slip pad at the tips that eliminate any pinching or discomfort.
- High Elastic and Durable : The glove is made of high elastic and soft polyester material.Light-weight, breathable and durable.
- Adjustable Velcro Strap and Sophisticated Sewing : On wrist,you can adjust elasticity and tightness according to your hand size.Bring you perfect wearing experience.Improve the durability of gloves.
- Three-Finger Designed : The 3 fingers shooting gloves have a cow leather non-slip pad at the tips that eliminate any pinching or discomfort.
- High Elastic and Durable : The glove is made of high elastic and soft polyester material.Light-weight, breathable and durable.
- Adjustable Velcro Strap and Sophisticated Sewing : On wrist,you can adjust elasticity and tightness according to your hand size.Bring you perfect wearing experience.Improve the durability of gloves.
We like this glove because it comes in multiple sizes and is highly elastic, so it’s easy to get a good fit. This gives you a better grip on your bowstring. Plus, you have multiple color choices to match your personal style or help with hunting.
Tournament and Club Dress Codes
The advice we gave above applies to shooting for fun at the range. If you’re going to participate in an official tournament, though, you will likely have a specific dress code. Similarly, if you join an archery club, they may require their members to wear certain things when practicing or competing. These extra archery clothing requirements may include:
- Certain uniforms or shirts
- Length requirements for sleeves or pants
- Limits on clothing colors
- Bans on camouflage
- Limits on fabrics like denim
- Bans on logos, advertisements, or text
Of course, every club and tournament makes their own rules, so it would be impossible to tell you exactly what to expect. Nevertheless, you can read through the USA Archery dress code to get an idea.
When In Doubt, Just Look to Robin Hood
Perhaps the most famous archer of all time, Robin Hood can teach us more than just how to shoot well and tick off your local sheriff. He can also teach us how to dress for archery. Just think, Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Loose clothing isn’t for archery.
Robin Hood has been depicted in numerous ways over the years, and admittedly they haven’t all been shining examples of appropriate archery attire (looking at you Kevin Costner and your big puffy shirt), but most are pretty good. Take a look at this image of Russell Crowe as Robin Hood in Ridley Scott’s adaptation:
So let’s check off the boxes:
- Robin Hood is wearing the thickest arm guard we’ve ever seen. That’s quality protection.
- His shoes are toed and heeled.
- His clothing is close fitting without any buttons.
- He isn’t wearing any jewelry, even though he’s presumably stolen a ton of it.
- It’s hard to see in this particular shot, but if you watch the movie you’ll notice Robin Hood wears tabs on the fingertips of his shooting hand instead of a full glove.
While you don’t need to go look for a Merry Men costume at your Halloween shop, dressing like Robin Hood in the sense of close-fitting clothing and appropriate safety gear is essential to having a good archery experience. So just remember your sixth archery commandment:
ALWAYS WEAR APPROPRIATE CLOTHING
- Commandment 1: Aim Only at Your Target
- Commandment 2: Never Dry Fire Your Bow
- Commandment 3: Don’t Be a Tough Guy
- Commandment 4: Always Use a Bow Stringer
- Commandment 5: Don’t Ever Shoot a Cracked Arrow
- Commandment 7: Always Exercise Good Archery Form
- Commandment 8: Be Careful at the Range
