How Loud Should An Imbued Shattershot Arrow Be?

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by DAT

80 db (Noisy office, electric shaver, alarm clock, police whistle) sounds very high for a bow.

Bowstring suppressors (High-Tech, p201, in the Bow Accessories box) knock that down to 60db (Conversation, cocking or reloading firearm).

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by DAT

80 db (Noisy office, electric shaver, alarm clock, police whistle) sounds very high for a bow. A quick internet search has people quoting less than <45 db for the bow, and >45db for arrow hitting a hard target.

I imagine that a real warbow of 110+ lb. draw weight easily makes as much noise as an electric shaver for the moment of loosing, especially if the bowstring slaps into the leather bracer protecting the bow hand.

Electric shavers are not that loud. As a child, I remember I could hear my father shaving from my room, next to the upstairs bathroom, but not from any other room in the house if the bathroom door was closed.

The police whistle feels subjectively much, much louder than any electric shaver I've heard, though. Louder than typical alarm clocks too. So maybe it's a problem with the chosen benchmarks, as there seems to be wide variation within the dB bands.

As a GM, I wouldn't have any problem with allowing a 50-lb modern compound bow to be considerably less noisy than a typical low-tech warbow, even without a bowstring suppressor.