hi guys ! been some time since i posted here and wanted to share my recent experiences and probably add what little value i can to this forum which guided me immensely on my trad journey.
i recently got a sky wildfire Ilf with 2x longbow limbs in carbon foam limbs style. the bow is in lost camo and seems relatively hi tech. i will be covering the entire experience of getting the bow and shooting it under various heads.
research- easy thanks to tradgang and like forum.
had a lovely time interacting with jim neaves and the folks over at sky archery including mr belcher. they were patient and helped me in my queries very patiently.
5 stars for the same- while it may not seem a big deal we overseas customers not in america need the extra bit of reassurance as any issues are not easily addressed.
build time and delivery- i would rate this a bit subpar, build took a bit longer and packing could be better looking at the international nature of package. but the bow made it to me well and hence no issues!
build quality- great, the riser seems overbuilt and is hefty, included stringer is functional but overall build quality is great.
shooting - it is a 60 lb bow at 32 and i was out of the game for some time due to back issues so initially had a tough time but gradually have developed synergy with the equipment. the effect of this bow has been to make my 50 lb bow seem lighter and a breeze to shoot. i have been getting good with my old bow, while the wildfire is no slouch in the accuracy department.
speed - just chronoed my bows and here are the arrow weights and speed
trinity longbow 53 @ 32
beman ics bowhunter with 125 gr fieldpoint- 183 fps
ics bowhunter with 150 gr heads- 172 fps
arrow dynamic heavy hunter with 125 gr - 160 fps
sky wildfire 60 @ 32
axis 300 spine with 150 gr - 190 fps
axis 300 with 125- 200 fps
ad heavy trad with 150 gr- 188 fps
black eagle 300 with 150 gr- 189 /188 fps
total arrow weights are lowest of 478 g and highest of 613 grain.
now for a comparo with the trinity longbow-
the beauty of wood can not be denied and the falcon is so light she seems alive after the sky wildfire who thumps the target with great authority. i was having issues with arrow flight with the wildfire and moving the nocking point up has sorted it out.
for some reason my trinity longbow sends the axis 300 spine full length arrows like a dart and the heavy arrow point combo thumps the target with authority. one issue i had with my falcon is that the nock overlays shattered one after the other - spoke to my bowyer and he admitted that it is not unknown especially with black wenge. he also advised me on self repairs and even offered to do it if i could ship the limbs to him or if i wanted the materials to do it up myself.
that is what you need in a custom shop , the ability to address issues in a constructive and proactive positive manner unlike some other concerns.
summing up the pro and cons of the bows as i mentioned above
trinity falcon-
beauty to look at
light and dead in hand
accurate
creaks when drawn for the first time or after a gap of a few minutes, keep shooting and she is a silent riveting machine.
Sky Wildfire-
all business looks
fast and accurate
heavy enough that u know after a day of shooting
can swap out limbs mount sights etc
need to find a better grip
in my experiments with broad heads i have been shooting zwickey eskilites , woodsman wensel and simmons tigersharks. the trinity falcon likes the axis 300 and woodsman combo but the head is not very durable as compared to the zwickey eskilite or simmons.
the simmons work well with the black eagle arrows and my wildfire, the zwickeys go well with either but are noisy out of my wildfire.
hope this helps someone in his search for trad perfection.