How to Choose Archery Equipment by Bill Wee
Choosing the right equipment is to get the best your budget allows you to buy. For every item there are so many alternatives. Let’s start with the basics.
How to Choose your Bow Handle/Riser
Starting with the old trusted die-cast, Hoyt Eclipse is still cheap and performing well all the way to 90m. Win & Win’s WInstar II is a good buy for Intermediates. Then we go upwards in performance and price to the fancy titanium alloy CNC machined ones with perfect north/south alignment: Hoyt’s perfectly aligned Nexus, GMX & the latest FM/F4 are top of the world!
How to Choose your Bow Limbs
Stick to the best made for reliability & performance: Hoyt’s F4, F3, F2, TX900 with foam core, followed by wood core 550 and the glass 330 in that order. Cheap and good is Win & Win’s KAP Winstorm limbs as a stepping stone before rising to the top end. The fancy carbon gives 2-4% speed advantage. But remember the foam core of Hoyt’s makes them waterproof and they are not heat sensitive, with lateral stability on release.
How to Choose your Bow Sight
There are so many fancy looking ones. You need to choose one that is silent and doesn’t fall apart and yet not too expensive. I’d recommend France’s Arc system as the best in its price range and reliability. For intermediates, the Cartel 2000 is budget friendly.
How to Choose your Plunger Button
Cheap and best is the new Cartel Triple we helped develop. Then it’ll be USA’s Cavalier and Beiter’s, in that ascending order in pricing and quality.
How to Choose your Long stabilizers
Long stabilizers need to fit each archer in length. The stabilizer’s absorbing vibration is the most vital criteria in helping your performance. Mostly I’d say 26″ & 28″ are sufficient. Carbon/aluminium and not plain carbon and glass mixed with no core like many poor Korean copies. Best is still Easton’s new X-10. Cartel’s new Triple and their gold labeled ones for intermediate archers. Beiter’s is heavy and pricey. A shock absorbing end cap will be advantageous.
How to Choose your Short stabs
Not critical in absorbing vibrations. Any cheap Korean carbon will do. The short stab merely balanced the long stabilizer.
How to Choose your Clicker
Beiter adjustable is best. Archers will need shorter clikers for Korean Bows, and will need to use Korean. Bend the clicker before screwing down to increase the tension. Want something fancy? Cartel Korean magnetic – a copy cat version worth trying out.
How to Choose your Arrow Rest
Best to use Spigarelli’s new magnetic Innox stainless steel though the cheaper Spring version is also available. Hoyt plastic is cheap and good but will not last long. Cartel metal and W&W magnetic (cost more and won’t last) can be tolerated for intermediates.
How to Choose your Bow String
The vital bit in your bag of tricks! I compare it to the driving force of your car engine. You can have the best bow. But if the string is not correctly fitted out and chosen, your fancy bow will NOT perform to your expectations. I will go for Dyneema 75 from Brownell or BCY 02 (it’s identical). 16 strands average, going up to 18 strands for heavier bows (44lbs and above). The latest string material is the new Astro Flight, which is the best today. Have a pro make a good string to get all the strands equal in tension. Leave the commercially made ones to intermediate shooters. Black for outdoors and white for indoors. Get your brace height and tiller correctly set. And the nocking point must be at the correct uplifted angle. I have seen too many archers who shoot having no idea where their nocking point is! Worn out strings will have serving which will have moved and will affect the nocking point. A constant check with the string gauge is an important step in your equipment setup. Remember to wax the string loops regularly and twist them anticlockwise for right handers.
Good luck with the sport!
- See my page Archery Arrows for a writeup of what arrows suit you.
