My New Bear Kodiak Arrived!

[mullet]

I sure hope mine comes in soon. Our season starts in August.

[69RECURVE]

Mine finally did come. Actually after waiting four months the guy at the pro shop at the Bear factory in Gainesville said he went to his boss to tell him how long I had been waiting so he told him to grab one out of the line and call me to come get it. So that is what I did. It is a 50# beauty. It shoots within one foot per second of my original '59. It just might be my go to bow this season.

The bow was actually sold to me from "Escalade Sports". It seems they may be a contractor and not have anything to do with Fred Bear Archery?

At any rate the bow really shoots well I just love it.

[Phil Magistro]

They own Bear archery.

[Horney Toad]

Anyone ever shoot a new one with an old one side by side and compare them?

[TRAP]

Our local archery shop has a 45# and 50# on the rack

Trap

[damascusdave]

Trap, I am just getting some opinions about this before I try it...I do not have access to one so I cannot check...it seems to me that the new Kodiak is not reinforced any more at the tips than is a 1960 Kodiak...both have fiberglass overlays...the new one as I understand comes with a fast flight string...I think you can see where I am going with this...would you shoot an original 60 with a padded loop fast flight string?

[Phil Magistro]

DD, you asked a question a long ways back about whether the new 59 was the same or close to the 1960.  There are some differences.  The 60 has a deeper hook in the recurve which also makes the bow shorter in overall length than the 59 when unstrung. The sight window on the 60 is a bit bigger and cut a bit lower than the 59.  The grip area on the 60 is fuller and has more of a palm swell than the 59.  The limbs are thinner in depth on the 60 but narrower on the 59.  I haven't used a skinny string on the 60 yet but plan to.  I have tried skinny fast flight strings on all my other vintage bows and have no problems. Here are some cell phone photos that show that.  I replaced the grip on my 60 and it is just a touch thicker than the original.

 

 

 

[damascusdave]

Thanks Phil...I just wish I could access a thread I started on here quite a while back about 1960 Kodiaks...it seems like threads get deleted automatically after a certain time period...Wade Philips posted a picture of ten '60 Kodiaks from his collection to illustrate the differences in limb tip shape, limb taper and grip size...we have got so used to mass produced items all being essentially the same that we sometimes forget there was a day when that did not happen...we proved in that thread that there were 1959 bows in the same serial number sequence as 1960 bows...can you imagine that happening today?

DDave

[Robert Marvin]

those old Wade Phillips threads are a treasure trove-he doesnt post anymore?

[damascusdave]

Not sure what happened with Wade...I know he was working on a book...maybe it is taking all of his efforts and he does not have time to post...that is going to be a must read for anyone interested in things Bear...and Phil I have to ask you about the specs on the particular '60...I need one for trading material if you might be willing to part with it

DDave

[Phil Magistro]

It's 45#, 60" long.  I'm going to keep this one.

Phil

[damascusdave]

I need on between 50 and 53 pounds...this is not your average trade

DDave

[EricW]

DDave. I just spoke to Wade a few minutes ago. He's been pretty busy with personal things and has had computer issues the last couple of months. Our club had our annual Bowjam last weekend and he was busy helping with that also.

[damascusdave]

Thank you, Eric...tell him we miss his expertise and insight on here

DDave

[jeff w]

Anyone having a longer draw shooting a new model ('59) Kodiak?  (I pull 30 1/2").   I haven't been able to find one locally to even look at, so any thoughts regarding draw length would be appreciated.

[TRAP]

They, like the original, are pretty smooth at 29, but at a 30"+ you'd really need a 64" bow I think.

I know guys that regularly draw 56" and even 52" vintage Bears to 28" but I wouldn't.  

Trap