Looking for input on Dryad Orion and A&H ACS

[Pokerdaddy]

Trying to decide whether to order a Dryad Orion or an A&H ACS longbow.  I put an ad in the classifieds but haven't had one come up that has piqued my interest.

If you've shot one or both of these bows could I get your thoughts?  

Both of these are obviously great bows, so no bashing either way.  Just curious what you really liked about one or the other.

Thanks!

[Bjorn]

If the Orion has the ACS limbs I would suspect they are equal. I have several ACS bows and they satisfy me more than any other bow.

[damascusdave]

Just checked out the Dryad site...you can buy a bolt down Orion with carbon limbs (non ACS) for the price of a set of ACS CX limbs

DDave

[Phillip Fields]

I haven't shot the Dryad, but my A&H ACS has been my go-to bow for years.

[old_goat2]

I like the Orion risers a lot lot more, both are superb but I think the Orion is a little tougher, Orion is like the corvette and the A&H is like a Maserati. I don't know if Mike has any of the old model CG limbs but they are phenomenal and were marked down to $400. I think they might have a set of those on a nice looking riser at  www.rmsgear.com
Yeah, still three sets of ACS CG limbs on the Dryad website, I have a set of the CG and the new LBX and they are both super quiet and fast.  I personally wouldn't go shorter than the 15" riser, but that's just me.  http://www.dryadbows.com/instock/instock.htm

[Pokerdaddy]

Thank you so much for the thoughtful input both in the thread and via PM!

[Onions]

Never shot a Dryad, but I love my ACS. Do yourself a favor take a drive over to ACS shop.
You will throghly enjoy spending time with Larry Hannify.

I will be at the GLLI this weekend, if you want to shoot my ACS longbow send me a PM and we can try to hookup.

chris <><

[Friend]

Have owned both and definitely have my preferences.

The differences are personally significant.

[JohnV]

PD, you are not that far away from A&H Archery so a field trip is in order!  Nothing better than to speak one on one with the bowyer and have a chance to "test drive" a model.  I have been shooting A&H bows since they first started production and have not purchased another bow make since.  John Havard designed the bows for A&H Archery.  He is now designing the bows for Dryad so I would assume there is little difference in the performance between the two brands.  It really should come down to cost and personal preference.  You can't go wrong no matter which you go with.

[nineworlds9]

I wrote a review a year or two ago on both testing them back to back and I overwhelmingly chose the Orion ACS.  The A&H bows shoot just fine and look a little more "traditional", more like a D bow vaguely, and you can get some serious mass out of the solid aluminum risers they offer.  Dryad can make a low grip Orion riser etc so to me it's no contest with which I would pick.  The ACS CG limbs on the one I had could hang with a Centaur easily.

[old_goat2]

Sent you a pm

[Onions]

JohnV...I might be wrong but I am pretty sure John Harvard did not design the limbs for A&H. The limb design was develop by O.L. Adcock, then John Harvard bought the rights/patent to the technology. A&H and John were partners, which licensed A&H to build the limb design. Which is the same partnership arrangement with Dryad.

chris <><

[Steve O]

Originally posted by Onions:
JohnV...I might be wrong but I am pretty sure John Harvard did not design the limbs for A&H. The limb design was develop by O.L. Adcock, then John Harvard bought the rights/patent to the technology. A&H and John were partners, which licensed A&H to build the limb design. Which is the same partnership arrangement with Dryad.

chris <><

Onions is correct.

[JohnV]

The ACS concept and first bows with the ACS limb design came from O.L.  John joined O. L. later as a business partner and later separated from O. L. to form A&H Archery.  John spent a lot of time refining the limbs and riser(s) at A&H Archery.  He is doing the same now at Dryad.

[Orion]

Performance wise, there probably isn't a lot of difference between them.  The Orion has much more of a recurve riser (though A&H is now making a recurve riser or two as well.  I tend to like small risers and own several ACSs. They do everything I want them to do.  

I have one observation about risers that are made to accept both recurve and longbow limbs.  Most such risers, including ILF risers,  are designed primarily for recurve limbs and have a more obtuse limb pad angle.  Works well for recurve limbs, but robs just a little performance from the longbow limbs, which would benefit from a more acute limb pad angle, developing more early load as a result.  

The standard A&H riser has an acute limb pad angle designed for longbow limbs. I haven't seen an Orion riser up close, so don't know it's relative limp pad angle. Can change the pad angle on an ILF bow, of course, by cranking the limbs down, but that's still not usually enough to get the best performance out of longbow limbs, IMO.  Not everyone would agree with me on this point, of course.