Archery

Your point is well taken.

E.g. longbow, recurved bow etc.
single, dual, hybrib cam bow etc.
E.g. Aluminium, carbon, wooden arrow etc.
E.g. Finger tab, chest guard etc.- are they necessary?
this is for the training in the olympics=)

If your goal is to get to the Olympics, you can only go one route, that is the recurve bow. Longbows and compounds are not allowed in the Olympics.

It then boils down to your budget. Olympic style recurves vary in price from $400 for a complete set to over $3000.

If money is no object this is the complete setup of my dreams
Riser: Hoyt Helix or Win&Win Inno
Limbs: Samick Masters
Sight: Shibuya Ultima RC carbon
Plunger: Beiter
Clicker: Beiter
Rest: ARE
Stabilizer: 30" Doinker Quadraflex with V-Bar, 10" side rods
Arrows: Easton X10 with Tungsten points or Carbon Express Nano Pro.
Finger Tab(and yes it is very necessary): Win&Win 360
Chest Protector: Angel
Arm guard: Beiter
String: 20 strand 8125 string with Majesty center serving

Now when you’re building your rig, here’s my first advice. Get together with a coach. Choosing a coach is like choosing a doctor, they’re not all built the same. Even coaches with the same certification level doesn’t usually have the same knowledge level. So shop around and find out each coach’s teaching style.

Here’s another advice about equipment, the riser is the one thing that you can keep forever. So get a good one, one that you like. With risers nowadays, most of the mid to top tier risers will outperform just about anyone alive. So it boils down to feel and looks. Some risers come with narrow grip, some with fat grip, it’s all a matter of preference. Some riser like to jump out of your hand, some just rolls off, also preference. But at the beginning, find a riser that you like and then get yourself some cheap, light weight and crappy limbs. Practice with the cheap limbs and slowly get to your target weight. Don’t jump up too high as you will destroy your form in the process.

As for the finger tab, it’s mandatory. I’ve seen what shooting without a finger tab does and it ain’t pretty. A fellow I was shooting with at a tournament had never used finger tabs, he’s a construction worker so a pretty tough guy. Well, problem is he usually never shoot more than 20 arrows at practice. At this tournament you need to shoot 144 arrows on the first day and another 100 arrows on the second day. I was surprised he made it through all the way. But at the end of the tournament he had quarter sized blisters all over his finger and string hand was shaking from the pain.

Chest guard, is there just in case. If your form is good, you will need one to keep the string off your shirt. Most beginners don’t have the perfect alignment yet, so they usually don’t wear chest guards.

I’ve wanted a bow for the longest time and I’ve finally decided to get one. However, I’m not sure which is the best for me. I don’t really want a compound bow, I’m hoping for a nice simple wooden one. I’m good at a 60lb test so I at least know that much. I probably would mostly just be playing with it for target shooting but it would be nice if it was capable of shooting game if I chose to later on. Any advice? Thanks ahead of time!

If you don’t want a compound, I seriously suggest you lower that poundage. If this is your first bow, even a 30 pound recurve can teach a grown man some very bad habits. I don’t know what you do for a living, but the average person doesn’t normally use the muscles used in archery. About the closest thing to an archer is a rower or a rock climber. Even these folks sometimes have issues with drawing a bow properly. If you’re just using it for target, there really is no reason to have a high poundage, for hunting even a 40 pound will do.

The first thing I would advice is to find an archery range. It’s the easiest way to decide which is best. Most archery range will have a lot of other archers there, go during the day on a weekend. Talk to the other archers and look at their bow. Ask first if you can handle the bow, most archers will be more than happy to let you hold their bows as long as you ask first. If you’re in the us, go to www.usarchery.org, and do a search under Directory Search. A range is better than a store, the archers there have no sales agenda. An archery store, though is the next best thing if there are no ranges in your area.

There are two types of recurves, the take down and a one piece. The one piece is nice to look at, but the take down offer you the best in terms of value. With a take down you can buy the riser and get a lower poundage limbs first. Once you get stronger and develop a good solid form, then you can simply buy the limbs later on without having to spend more money on the riser part. A take down also allow you to adjust the limb weight at the beginning. There’s a trick to that, I can tell you if you decide to go this route.

The Martin X-200 is a good one piece wooden bow, not too expensive. For takedowns, Samick now has a subdivision called TradTech that makes ILF takedown wooden bows. Samick itself has several takedown bows that are pretty good.

i have had fun with primitive bows n arrows of aborigines but need gud compound bows or longbows ……do i get it in india???coz i dont wanna pay 15thousand duty on 25 thousand purchase….

it will be easier in Delhi
go to the shooting range near sainik farms and you shall get a good deal

ok so i need some arrows, they dont need to be top brand or anything im only a beginer, i want a 12 or 6 pack for cheep but i cant find any. Can someone post a link to a good site or store or even if your selling them.

thank you

Cabella’s is having a sale. I received a mailer yesterday.