66"-68"

[swampthing]

In glassed, Hill style longbows, that are custom for your draw: is one, cut to the length using the formula of 60" plus the last digit of your draw, ie; 28" draw=68" bow, still a better choice or with the glass bows does one step down 2" in length because of the glass? I understand this may bump up speed a whopping 4fps or so, but, do you give up too much stability for it? I understand f.glass changes some of the requirements.
Now for the short version, is a 66" custom Straight Limb/Slight S.Follow too short for a 28" draw?   Or is 68" the "only way to let it fly."?

[StanM]

Hey Swampthing, here's my experience. Some of it will depend on the length of the riser. I've owned a 66" Hill bow and a 66" Sunset Hill by Nate Steen. The Sunset Hill bow had a shorter riser and was a little smoother draw maybe, but really hard to tell too much difference. Recently I built a straight limbed slightly string follow bow that is a little over 68". Most accurate bow I've shot in a long time. If I were to order another Hill today it would be 68 or even 70".

[straitera]

IMO, don't read too much into the length thing. Have shot Hills only for 32 years w/o problems. Your shorter draw is suited for a shorter bow; however, it doesn;t mean you cannot realize huge benefit from a longer bow. Find one (short or long) you can't live without & shoot it ragged.

My bows are most comfortable 68" & up prefering the 70". 31" draw has something to do with that plus I'm 6'2". 66" is short to me. One of my hunting bows (Big 5) is 66" & smooth. Longer is noticeably smoother & I do not like shorter bows nor shoot them consistently well.

[JRY309]

I've had and shot Hill's from 66" to 70",I draw 27" and my favorite is my 66" Hill.But you draw 28",I think I would go with a 68".

[SpankyNeal]

The "slight string follow" in your statement is the key! You can get away with a shorter string follow bow than you can a straight or reflex because of less early preload in the limbs. A 66" string follow feels a lot like a 68" slight reflex on the draw to me. You also will lose a little performance with the string follow that will be made up for with the shorter length. A 66" string follow would work just fine with your 28" draw - Nate Steen would probably build you a 67" for the best of both worlds!

Spanky

I have a 68" half breed from a blank that I made a little more whip ended, Schulz like, and left more meat around the handle risers, to move the bend out.  At 57.5@26" it is relatively very fast for the draw.  There is advantages in the Hill design if the tips work more in my experience.  Don't be afraid to ask for a leaner meaner version if you go with the longer bow. If I had a 68" draw I would not be afraid of going to a 69 or 70", so long as the bow was lean and mean all the way out to the tips.