ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT

WHAT TO AVOID:

• Avoid cheap bows you commonly find online like on Amazon, or in-person at places like Big 5 Sporting goods. Many bows that sell for under $100.00 are too cheaply made, and provide an unpleasant, or even unsafe shooting experience.

  • Examples of Non-Ideal Bows:

    • "Ambidextrous Bows"

    • "Budget Bow Kits"

    • "Fake Compound Bows"

    • "Full Fiberglass Bows/Longbows"

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:

• For most things, you want to stick to the main/popular archery brands for your equipment. Many well-known brands offer more economy options for entry-level bows that perform well and have good durability.

  • Examples of Affordable, Decent Quality Brands:

    • "Sanlida"

    • "Galaxy"

    • "WNS"

    • "Kinetic"

    • "Fleetwood"

    • "Sebastien Flute"

    • "Samick"

    • "Bear"

    • "PSE"

    • "Mission"

• A good recurve bow should be at least $150.00-250 or so, which means that the manufacturer probably uses better materials which undergo better quality-control checks.

• A good compound bow can be as low as $500 for a decent beginner setup. Extremely budget/cheap compounds can come with a variety of issues when it comes to consistency, material quality, and ease of maintenance.

• Draw Weights:

  • This refers to how much effort it takes to pull the bow back and hold it at full draw. (i.e. A bow with a16 pound ("16#") draw weight requires 16# of force to pull and hold it back.

  • For most beginners buying their very first bow, it's usually not recommended to start with a bow over 24# (recurve) or 40# (compound), unless you've been shooting for a while already, or participate in another back-muscle heavy sport like rock climbing.

    • Archery is about shooting arrows consistently into the target over multiple arrows. You want to make sure that you have a bow powerful enough to send the arrow as far as you need it to go, but also not so strong where you can only draw it back a few times before feeling tired.

WHAT TO AVOID:

• FIBERGLASS ARROWS!!!

  • Most cheap arrows you'll find as part of children's bow kits or off Amazon (under $50 per dozen) will be made out of cheap fiberglass.

  • Fiberglass arrows have a big tendency to shatter on impact with anything other than the softest sections of archery target bales, and also easily chip/splinter even after proper use. Any small crack or splinter in an arrow shaft compromises it's integrity and should be thrown away. Shooting compromised arrow shafts WILL lead to fiberglass shards in your body.

    • Most archery shops don't carry fiberglass arrows at all anymore due to the risks associated with them.

  • Even without the safety concerns, fiberglass arrows simply don't fly as well as arrows made from any other material. There is a good reason why they're considerably cheaper!

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:

• Arrows and their accessories can come in a variety of materials with very wide price ranges. Usually, a decent beginner set of arrows should start around $40.00 for a set of 6. Although that might sound like a lot of money per arrow, you can reuse them indefinetely so long as you take care of them!

• Proper Material Options:

  • Wood

    • Still popular in traditional archery disciplines, wood arrows aren't seen as much in the archery world.

    • Good wood arrows can actually be more pricey than other material options and less consistent in terms of material quality and performance. Many archers only get them because their discipline/bow type requires them, or for the traditional aesthetic.

  • Aluminum

    • A popular choice for target and hunting arrows, aluminum arrows are one of the more common types of modern arrow options.

    • Aluminum arrows have the most durability out of the different material types which is good if you accidentally shoot a tree or the ground. However, they are more prone to bending/warping out of straightness and are extremely hard to re-straighten out if needed.

  • Carbon

    • The most popular material type for modern arrows, especially in long-range shooting (i.e. the Olympics).

    • Carbon arrows are fairly durable, but have a greater risk of shattering or chipping if impacting anything other than a target bale. However, they are less prone to warping/bending out of straightness than aluminum and wood arrows.

• A Properly Sized Arrow:

  • Arrows are NEVER "one-size-fits-all". Proper arrows should be fitted to your bow type, draw weight, and body size. If you've ever shot an arrow and it wobbled ("fishtailed") out of the bow or entered the target at a strange angle, the arrow was probably not fitted to you and/or your bow. Your arrow should fly and enter the target as straight as possible.

    • Spine

      • Each arrow should have a "spine" number, which tells you how stiff the arrow is. The heavier your draw weight/the longer the arrow you need, the stiffer you need your arrow to be, and vise versa. An arrow too stiff will fly out of the bow with a wobble or at an odd angle, and an arrow too weak can shatter/fly off target.

    • Length

      • This depends on an array of different factors, but at the very least, you want to make sure your arrow isn't too short, as this creates a big safety risk. Your arrow should at least stop a few centimeters before the bow shelf/arrow rest/your hand when drawn fully back, depending on your bow type.

WHAT TO AVOID:

• Finger Savers/String Guards

  • Though Archery Only actually installs them on our rental bows, these aren't ideal for a personal bow setup as they create a lot of vibration and drag on the bow string, and also wear our your finger tips faster than alternatives as the material still scrapes against your skin.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:

• Fingertabs/Gloves

  • To protect your fingers from the actual bow string when shooting, archers should wear a proper leather fingertab/shooting glove that is well-fitted to your hand shape.

  • Alternatively for some traditional shooting styles, a metal/bone/leather thumb ring is worn.

• Release Aids

  • Specifically for compound shooters or para-archers, release aids/triggers may be required for your discipline.

• Armguard

  • This protective accessory goes on the inner forearm of your non-dominant arm (or whichever arm is holding the bow). This protects your arm from getting badly bruised by the bow string if something is off with your form or equipment.