Who's Bow is BEST???

[Szabi Nagy]

GALAHAD: Is there someone else up there we could talk to?

[M Hardman]

Yokhua,
from what you have posted it seems to me that you think that Saluki's bows and 'Hungarian' bows are comparable entities. What you are comparing is one entire set of bow designs and a single bowyer's work. By making the sweeping statement, that Hungarian bows are 'furniture' and ugly, ignores that fact that grace is objective. One archer may think a bow is pleasing to look at, whereas the next may think it is horrible.
There is nothing wrong with this, after all, everyone has is allowed an opinion. However, a 'Hungarian' bow could be any bow made in Hungary, made by a Hungarian or made to a Hungarian design. You will alienate many people by stating that the 'Hungarian' bow is ugly, and 'furniture' simply because they do not all stand up to one outstanding bowyer's work.

If however, you compared single bows alone, and explained why X bowyer's bows were better than Y bowyer's bows, you would avoid your gross generalisation.

I hope you do not take this as a personal affront.

Flynn, I hope you do not mind your thread being hijacked yet again.

Regards

[greg.krankurs]

teehee Szabi Nagy (is it Szabi or Nagy, I know Hungarian put their last name first, but i am not sure)

anyway, i doubt the intended person got the reference, but just letting you know it did not go to waste haha

[greg.krankurs]

I concur with M Hardman.
What exactly are you calling a HUNGARIAN bow, are your comparing individual bowyers or shape of the bow or the design. The intricate design is not appealing to everyone, some people prefer a more simple natural look. Please don't over-generalize.


Flynn:
What makes a best bow is really a broad category which includes many personal preferences.
Can ya give us some narrower criteria.
i.e. How good it looks, how heavy it is, Price, draw length, Speed, stacking, how culturally authentic it is (good luck with this one =P), what materials it is build from. and so on.
This specifications should decrease the ammount of generalizations like "furniture" or "wall decoration" that you will get in return.
hope this helps,
cheers

[Szabi Nagy]

As your in Devon, you could order a Grozer through the Honiton Quicks outlet, if you wish to test it before buying.

Hope this helps.

I think, this is the most important point. Choose the bow that feels good in your hands. A personal example - when I was thinking about buying my first bow, I checked a lot of websites (bowyers's pages, bow tests, forums, etc). I decided to go for a certain bow from a certain bowyer. However, as I tried this bow and others in the archery shop, finally I got a bow from a different bowyer.
Szabi
(p.s. thanks Greg! )

[barb1881]

I totally agree, testing out different bows, by different makers is paramount to finding the right bow for individuals, especially for mounted archery.
Between my husband and myself we have 3 bows.
A Kassia Hun (32#) I bought in 2002 - weighs more than the other bows, is larger, slower and harder to manoeuvre around a horse than the others, stacks with some handshock. Also, from a woman's perspective, the handgrip is kinda large/bulky, I can only fit 3 or 4 arrows in my bow hand when using it.
Then I got a wood laminate Saluki Bow (42#). Light, easy to manoeuvre, fast, slim, I could go on and on. As someone said they come quite dear, but in my opinion are totally worth the money.
The 3rd bow I just got my husband in the spring. It's SKB Samick Sports Traditional Korean Recurve (40#), also a wood laminated. Bought for just over $200 cad it's also light, small and easy to manoeuvre, fast, a really good bow, but not a Saluki! The only real drawback to this bow is that it says "SKB Samick Sports" in large text down the lower front of the bow.

I've shot some other bows as well (Grozier, Toth, Spitfire), but none have impressed me as much as my Saluki or the SKB.

[Orda Khan]

The Saluki bow pictured is indeed very nice. Does anyone have pictures of any other models? The bows featured on the Saluki website, the Ibex, Oryx and Turk are ugly (IMO) by comparison.

[greg.krankurs]

David Gray has some on his site,
but i don't know when it was last updated
http://www.krackow.com/asia.html

[Orda Khan]

Thanks Greg, I've seen the Krakow site and where I can appreciate that some will gaze in wonder at those bows, they do not appeal to me. Maybe it's all the intricate decoration, or maybe the shape, I honestly could not say but the Turkish bow is just not for me.
As has already been stated, bow choice is a personal thing and the archer has only to be guided by what feels right for him/her.

For what it's worth, only recently I ordered a Falcon1 laminate Hun by Kassai for my wife.

[greg.krankurs]

No worries =P
I do prefer a simpler look of horn and wood myself as well. I do not mind the decorations on those bows, but with price tags as those, i would be afraid to shoot them. Not my idea of a beginner bow.
I've shot a Falcon, great bow. It was actually the first bow I tried, it totally got me hooked. Swift arrows for your wife I am sure she will love it.

On a different note: I have a Mongolian bow (horn-sinew-wood composite) build in Mongolia and a TRH Hungarian from Grozer (in TRH laminations aside from wood there are 2 artificial substitute layers, one behaves like horn and one like sinew). The thing is, these 2 bow are so different from each other. While I prefer my Grozer, the mongolian appeals to me in different ways. For example, The Grozer feels fast when you shoot it but compared to the Mongolian composite it feels like a toy. Shooting the mongolian is almost empowering. Now don't get me wrong, Grozer bow is no toy, just relative to my Mongolian's power (i think they only differ about 5lbs in draw weight).
I guess I typed all that up to once again emphasize the point that you must try different bows and bowyers to find your true love (or loves =P).

[Bede]

This thread is getting complicated. I can't help adding to it. I bought a Groser Chinese bow a few months ago and, though I am going to make some cosmetic changes (the string bridges), it shoots quite well. I am short so full draw is only about 32 inches. It doesn't appear to stack and it allows me to practise with a Qing cylindrical thumb ring at the drawlength and string angle that is appropriate.

However, I have drawn original Qing bows and they are smoother and more comfortable to shoot. In that sense we have to make compromises between what we can afford and what we want. This bow is a perfect practice bow for me, but there are differences in the way it looks and performs from the original. I make the compromise because, unlike Yokhua, I cannot make or repair an original, but I do want to practise in the Qing style because I find it to be very good exercise.

One of the people I shoot with has a Saluki bow like the one in the picture and it is very smooth to shoot. I am hoping to get some spare time to speed test and compare some of the bows I have and calculate their efficiencies, but don't hold your breath.

[Orda Khan]

What one can afford is probably the greatest governing factor here.

Incidentally, Bede, what cosmetic changes are you going to do with the string bridges? Just curious.

[TradArcher]

Hi

I played with lot of different off the shelf bows and custom made for me, natural composites and modern materials. If someone will ask me which one (modern) is the best for me answer is simple - Turkish TRH. I have two of them for competition and one natural for orthodox gatherings  and for “Sunday shooting”. All three (around 60@34)really works perfectly but I can shot TRH in all weather conditions: rain, snow and extreme hot weather. The other thing is show me other budget (370euro) bow which gives 70 m/s and not gets stiff like bone on more than 32 draw ...
All the best
Janek

[greg.krankurs]

Hi TradArcher,
Do you have any pictures of these Grozer bows. I own a TRH hungarian, and might get a TRH Turkish next. Do any of your bows have decorations?

[Bede]

I am going to replace the angular wooden string bridges with antler ones modeled on the Qing bow I have. The Qing bridges are more rounded and look less likely abrade the string than the narrow ones supplied.