Good starter bows, and wood vs alum or carbon?

[Capt Gibson]

Well, I wanted to read some after I joined and before I started asking these questions.  I found a good bit of information for starters, but as everyone knows, information changes with time and I wanted to get the latest opinions and knowledge available.  When I return from Afghanistan, my fiance' really wants to get me a traditional bow.  I shoot compound all the time but want to make the change to a recurve or flatbow preferably, primarily because of the looks.  I just happen to prefer the looks of a a bow with a few "curves". I have seen many bows on here for sale and would not be opposed to telling her to get me a good used bow.
Also, I would rather shoot traditional arrows instead of alum or carbon, and wanted some tips on them as well.  I understand the constistencies may be different and they are not as "reliable" as alum or carb, but I believe I really want to shoot them.  That being said, there has to be some very reliable and consistent arrow makers out there who can turn out a good product.
So if you don't mind, please let me know the most recent facts and or opinions about my endeavor when I get back from over here this fall.  Thank you very much for your advice and patience.
Captain Clay Gibson
Our Country, Not Ourselves.

[SveinD]

Hi Clay  
When it comes to arrows there are a few factors that play in. What kind of shooting will you mostly be doing?
If you are planning to go stumpshooting most of the time, I would recommend carbon over wood. Especially if you reinforce the carbon tips with alum shafts as per this link made by our member, Daniel, aka Yononindo :  http://www.youtube.com/user/yononindo#p/u/6/M_Gm5Zf9G9g

However if you would like to keep it more traditional, the next best thing is bamboo shafts.
A lot of people from my archeryclub use them in the woods, and they are right up there with carbon!

If you are mostly doing 3d and target archery wood will be fine as long as you hit, though some hay/straw targets are packed very hard and can, if you're unlucky, break it. But that does not happen very often..
And there are wood options as far as arrows goes as well.. Ash, f.ex, will make a lot stronger shaft than Cedar would, but I'm not clear on all details there!

As far as the bows go, it depends on your budget and preferred bow length. For 1-pc Recurves 64" and under, there are a lot of good reputation bows to choose from. The Chinook by Dan Toelke/Montanabows, Whisperstik Mojostick, Hoots Custom, Fedora Bows, Cari-Bow, Schafer Silvertips, Rose Oak Bows, Ron La Clairs Shrews, Black Widow & Saluki Bows to name but a few! There really is a lot to choose from.
But as everyone else would say, not all bows fit everyone, so the best thing is to try a bow first, see if the grip fits, if the weight is right, if the "feel" is there etc.
Some bowyers have a "Try Before you Buy" program, but the easiest thing to do is head down to your local club, check out some bows and talk to people, maybe even try them out.
Only problem there is that it's not waiting for you when you get home  :p

Good luck in finding a bow, and post some pics of the results  

[Rob DiStefano]

clay, give this a good read first ...

 www.tradgang.com/docs/trad.html