I would like to share my shooting experiences at the Kalamazoo expo with those of you that are interested. I will rate the many bows that I consider the top 5 recurves and top 5 longbows.
Recurves : #5 Black widow one piece- Very fast and smooth bow, little handshock (vibration). Made the list almost purely for it's speed.
#4 Predator Classic - Extremely fast and smooth. Craftsmanship was good, very smooth bow that I found very accurate.
#3 Great Northern Ghost - Snappy quick bow, extremely high quality craftsmanship, no handshock and hit where I aimed it beautifully.
#2 Bob Lee Ultimate Micarta riser - Super smooth and absolutely ZERO handshock, this bow is absolutely dead in the hand, extremely good craftsmanship and very quick.
#1 Fox Breed - This bow was my favorite overall bow and I ordered one this weekend after shooting everything at the show. The bow is extremely fast, smooth, dead in the hand and beautiful. It has an "offset" grip that I found to be fantastic.
LONGBOWS:
#5 Tomahawk 3 piece - This was the surprise of the show for me as I owned an original diamond one piece and found it poor. This bow is very smooth, quick and easy to shoot. It has no handshock what so ever.
#4 Navajo Aztec- Very nice bow, quick and VERY smooth, dead in the hand and easy to shoot. I shot this bow several times and if not for the very low grip, I may have purchased one.
#3 Great Northern Traditional - This longbow was a real sweety, extremely smooth and built to Jerry's exacting quality standard. Perfect lines and had a great easy shootability. Eventually this bow will make it to my stable of longbows.
#2 Fox Traditional - Offset grip was awesome, speed was high and this bow is super smooth. I was tempted to order one to match my incoming Breed recurve. Nice classic looks with great wood options and beautiful quality of blended woods.
#1 Super Shrew - I finally got a chance to shoot a lengthy shrew. The 62" model fit like a glove and the famous shrew grip/riser is tough to beat, I love the forward riser. I could not put this bow down and shot it on Sunday morning when there were no lines to shoot. This bow was as accurate for me as the Fox breed that I ordered, just one step behind in speed. This is a great longbow. The 10 month wait is not the best but I would love to own one.
I shot many, many bows over the weekend and shot a few duds too. I don't want to post the duds as this is my simple opinion, but I will say that there are a couple of bows there that in my honest opinion, should not have the high price tag that the bowyers are asking. Some of these bows were noisy, shook my hand/arm to death and the quality doesn't nearly warrant a $700 price tag. If you are interested in knowing what some of the duds were, PM me and I will share my opinion. Maybe save someone from a bad sight unseen purchase.