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Buying Equipment

 

 

Novices that regularly shoot at the club Sunday sessions may decide to buy their own bows. This is beneficial for novices once they reach the point where they feel they have their technique sorted but club equipment is starting to hold them back. Club equipment is good for learning technique but having your own bow makes a huge difference in both scoring and confidence, as your bow will be tuned to your own needs. There is also the added bonus of not needing to share equipment with others.

 

It is worth mentioning to the club if you are considering buying equipment as some seniors will have some of their replaced equipment available to novices for a lot cheaper than buying new. As well as this we can give you any advice you may need and answer any questions you may have.

 

The easiest though not necessarily the most cost-effective way to get equipment is to go to a shop. There they will allow you to try out different equipment first, offer advice, and tune your bow to suit your needs. Otherwise you can find equipment online, or use a combination of the two.

 

This is a brief guide to the equipment available, and in particular what is recommended and not recommended by the club. We find most people spend in the region of £300 - £400 for all starting equipment. Seniors insist one of the most important things is colour scheme so feel free to go as wild or as coordinated as you like. Bright and different colour schemes are warmly welcomed!

 

Bow Length

 

First of all you need some idea of your bow length. Having the right bow length ensures the maximum arrow speed and smoothness of the shot. If your draw length is too short for the bow you will not be pulling them to the point where they are the most efficient, if it is too long you will pull too far and likely cause damage to the bow. One way of telling this is by measuring your draw length comparing it below.

 

  • 22" to 24" => 62" bow

  • 24" to 26" => 64" bow

  • 26" to 28" => 66" bow

  • 28" to 30" => 68" bow

  • 31" and longer => 70" or 72" bow in the extreme case

 

Risers typically come in 23" and 25" lengths, which are then attached to limbs that are of short/medium/long length.

 

It is important to note that almost all bows (watch out with Hoyt) use the International Limb Fitting (ILF) system. This means you can mix and match risers and limbs which uses ILF. A 25" riser becomes a 66" bow with short limbs, a 68" bow with medium limbs, and a 70" bow with long limbs. These are the most common set-ups.

 

Riser

 

The most important thing when it comes to risers is to try before you buy - the easiest way of doing this is to go to an archery equipment supplier and try a range of risers to see which feels the most right for you. You are unlikely to change the riser for some years, so the choice has to be the right one!

Some recommended budget risers (take a look on some of the shops' websites towards the bottom of this page for more details):

 

  • < £100: SF Axiom Plus

  • £100 - £150: SF Premium, Raven Prestige FX

  • £150 - £200: SF Forged Plus, Hoyt Horizon

 

You may wish to look on forums and other websites to see other views on risers.

Many more expensive risers are available, though the price does increase very steeply from the budget bows. See shops and their websites for these.

 

Limbs

 

Novices are advised to buy the cheaper sets of limbs, as with more training you will need to replace them for ones with higher poundage. Poundage at around (24 +/- 2) Ibs for ladies and (26 +/- 2) Ibs for gents is a good start. Some shops offer limb exchange programmes that can swap your limbs for higher poundage ones within twelve months of the date of purchase. Aim4sport (Bedfordshire) and Chiltern Archery (Buckinghamshire) are shops known to offer this, as well as Silver Arrow Archery (on the Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire Buckinghamshire border).

Popular cheaper limbs are:

 

  • SF Axiom Plus (around £50)

  • Samick Vision (around £60)

 

Arrows

 

Some seniors recommend using club arrows during indoor season, and buying arrows around Easter, before outdoor season. This helps spread the cost of equipment, and it is at longer distances outdoors where they make the difference. It is a case of personal preference if you would like your own sooner.

 

It is advised to go through the shop when buying arrows - so their length, spine (stiffness) and point weight will be suited to you - however if you wish to go through cheaper online methods seniors can give advice on how to find a close match for you.

 

Aluminium arrows are recommended for beginner to intermediate level archers. The most popular arrows in the club for novices (particularly for inside shooting) are the Easton XX75 arrows - these are aluminium, tough compared to some other aluminium arrows, and are a good price, at around £50 for 8 (complete from the shop). Other aluminium arrows are available on browsing the shop websites, including X7s which are around £100 for 12 (or £65 for 8) and said to be the leading aluminium arrow.

 

It is usually after a good technique has been established, and during outdoor shooting, that carbon-aluminium arrows come into play. These are more expensive than aluminium arrows, but are much lighter (therefore faster with a flatter trajectory) and more durable. Most popular in the club are the Easton ACCs, at around £140 for a set of 12 (complete from the shop) and the Easton ACEs, at around £280 for a set of 12 (complete from the shop). The ACEs are one of the lightest carbon-aluminium arrows available, and one of the most popular arrows used in competition in the UK.

 

Sights

 

There are many decent sights out there, and you get a better sight the more you pay for it, so the idea here is to get one that suits you and is in your price range. However the one thing everybody agrees on is to AVOID CARTEL SIGHTS as these are renowned for breaking and causing problems.

 

Other

 

The rest of the equipment includes: string, button, arrow rest, armguard, finger tab, finger sling (if used), chest guard, quiver, bag.

Other, non-essential items are: stabilisation, clicker, arrow puller

With these bits you cannot go far wrong, except for the arrow rest where most suggest sticking to the Hoyt Super Rest. Other than that it is about using what is left of your budget once your bow is paid for.

 

Shops

 

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