Kaya Korean ?

[Comox Tom]

Does anyone care to comment on the Kaya Korean bow ? It has been around for some years now , so they must be doing something right.
It looks tricky to string .

[Thomas Duvernay]

It's a good starter bow.

[Thomas Duvernay]

Today, I met with the main fellows from Kaya Archery, including Mr. Kwak Yun-sik, the owner. They picked me up at my place in Gyeongsan and we drove to my traditional house 1-1/2 hours away, as they wanted to see my bow collection and talk about bows.

I am really impressed with them and their company. All three of them originally come from FITA shooting. Mr. Kwak, a member of Korea's national team and formerly of Win&Win bows, has been practicing Korean traditional archery for the past several years and is now a 5th dan (master). Although the company, Kaya, is relatively new (only a few years old), they are dedicated to improving and innovating their product line. They are wanting to develop some new models, including a hunting bow and non-Korean style horsebows (such as Hungarian and Turkish).

They are open to suggestions on what people would like to see. If you have some ideas, please let me know and I'll pass the info on.

A picture of the four of us today. Mr. Kwak is the one on the right.

[Gokmen]

That's interesting Thomas.
I just ordered a kaya korean bow and should get it these days.

I am highly delighted to read that they may try a Turkish design as well.
I am using my bows a lot, on foot and on horseback and at some point they break and become asymmetrical.
I especially have a bad experience with the Grozer base Turkish bows. Still I used them as the look and design were one of the closest to the originals.

I was surprised when a Korean friend of mine showed me his Korean bow and said he had it for 10 years!

Another point why I am happy is that even though there has been trials to make replika Ottoman non-hornbow bows, they are pretty slow.
The Korean bow limbs are incredibly fast. I already had the idea to modify and use the fast Korean bow limbs for an Ottoman/Turkish bow.

I wonder how high they can go with the poundage..?
Keep us updated.

Gokmen

[daryush]

I think making the jump from a Korean bow to the Kazakh bow shown in another thread would not be too difficult. When strung, the curves look quite similar...

[osmiu]

I think that everybody impatiently wait that turkish bow made from Kaya . we sure do .

[Stephen Selby]

Tom, do you still have one of the FRP Chinese bows that you had made for me? I think that would be a good line to follow - especially with a little modification to the siyahs, which were a bit klunky. If they move fast, they can come to HK to see my collection.

[Thomas Duvernay]

Stephen,

I have one of the FRP Chinese bows in the States. I still have the reproduction Chinese horn bow (it was stored at the bowyer's house--I hope he didn't sell it ).


T

[Peto]

Do you have someone same informations about Wind traditional fighter korean bow from this site?

http://www.aixbow.de/shop/holzbogen.html#jagd

Who made it? How it shotting etc.?

[ginni]

I dont know who make this bow, but on the bow case is written ?made in china?.
It have the same dimension like a long hwarang-132 cm-, is very light (265 gramms; a hwarang have 330 to 385), is fast and quiet but not very reliable. I have seen some with faults of construction. Is painted very ugly, like a pair of skis, red and black. Kaya looks much reliable (made in korea).

[Peto]

Thank you ginni.
...yes, kaya is my love...

[Orda Khan]

How does the Kaya compare with the Hwarang? The Hwarang is a great performer and looks good as well, whereas the Kaya bows I see for sale have an ugly patterned covering over the limbs and grip.

[Peto]

Thats no so bad. And shotting butefull and generaly for me, as beginer, price is very good, but in future... buy maybe hwarang.

[osmiu]

loool
it's just a question of taste . and money , eventually .
Hwarang , Kaya , Fighter . All of these are good bows . And all have actually the same price . Below 200 Euro . 150 if you are lucky enough . If that are the conditions , you must buy Hwarang , no doubt . Is the best of all that 3 .
Now ... if you order Hwarang from net , from resellers , at 450 Euro price , I must tell you that Hwarang just don't deserve all that money if Kaya and Fighter are still on the market . Performance differences are small compared with huge price differences . This is my personal opinion and nobody in this world can make me change it !
In feeling , Kaya is a closer bow to Hwarang that Fighter . But Fighter is smoother than both . In performance , Kaya and Fighter are comparable , but below Hwarang . But not with much . Fighter need serving before first use . And it is reliable , but for people who care for their bows . Looks more sensitive to dry shots than the other 2 . The red painting can be removed easily from it , resulting a all-black bow . For a beginner in thumb draw , is a good bow . Require much less torsion in the handle . Kaya is a stiffer bow . Closer to Hwarang . It is easier to advance to Hwarang from Kaya than from Fighter . I did't like it the leather pattern , too . But in the end is about how a bow perform .
Conclusion : at below 200 Euro/Hwarang ... the Hwarang is the winner , no question . Above that price on Hwarang , my choice is for cheaper bow between Fighter and Kaya . Or just flip a coin . And that is it . For me , anyway .

[jack farrell]

Osmiu; What was that brand of bow we were buying last year in Korea? The maker was there with lots of bows and I think Ginny bought several.

He also made a synthetic bow with waterbuffalo belly and real birchbark covering. Has anyone an opinion on that bow?

Jack