I know it’s a lot of words, but READ ALL OF THE RULES BEFORE SIGNING UP!!!!!!!!!
While I do ask that you consider waiting until a future swap if you haven’t built a shootable bow before, the Bow Swap IS open to all levels of bowyers. Your goal in entering the swap should be to challenge yourself and pour your heart and soul into making a bow for your recipient by the deadline; it SHOULD NOT be to score a sweet bow for yourself. The bow you get in return may be from a less experienced bowyer, and other than testing it out upon receipt, it may just collect dust in the closet. But that is the nature of the swap. I have passed along several of the bows I’ve received in prior swaps that just didn’t get used much, sometimes modifying them to better fit new recipients. But that didn’t lessen the excitement I had when opening up my package. And it definitely didn’t change how proud I felt about the bows I sent to my recipients.
By signing up for the 2018 TradGang Annual Bow Swap you are entering into an agreement with the other participants that you will abide by the rules of the swap below and are on the hook to deliver a bow to your recipient (hereafter referred to as ‘victim’) by the due date. We expect you take your obligation seriously and not leave someone hanging because you procrastinated until the end and then life got in the way. I intend to be very proactive in holding you to this commitment, including leveraging TG’s almost 47,000 member network to show up on your doorstep and provide encouragement if necessary. If you’re not sure you want to be held to this kind of commitment, don’t sign up.
IF YOU’RE STILL ONBOARD:
Good! Sign up by posting in this thread and please list the following information: your draw length, desired draw weight within a 5-10 pound range, right or left-handed and whether you will be building a glass or wood bow, one piece or takedown for the trade. If you are making a glass bow and want glass in return or making wood and want wood in return, please note as much. (Personally, I like to get a bow I wouldn’t make myself.)
Once you’ve signed up, PM me your shipping address as well as a good phone number and email address to reach you at if anything comes up. I reserve the right to individually reach out and make sure that it’s a good number to harass you at later if necessary before I assign a bowyer to you. This contact information will be kept private.
Signups are now open and will be closed in two weeks at Friday night at midnight (East Coast) January 19, 2018. I will PM you your victim’s information as soon as I can get it all ironed out (see above about contact via phone), but I promise no later than Friday 1/26. If you need additional info on your victim, PM me and I will gather it for you so you don’t have to worry about tipping your hand.
DEADLINE:
I’m moving the deadline left a little as too much time just seems to encourage procrastination for many. You’ll still have at least four months. For new participants or bowyers who shipped late last year, the deadline to ship and provide me a tracking number is Friday, June 1st. For prior participants who shipped their last bow on time, the deadline is Saturday, June 30th.
As with prior years, if you shipped late or are a new sign up, your builder will be holding your bow until you ship and provide me a tracking number. This is so we can try to keep someone from receiving and not sending. Anyone that is complete and was asked not to ship on account of their victim being late will not be on the list of shippers to hold.
There will be a 30 day grace period after your shipping deadline. During this 30 days (and hopefully prior) I expect you to be in constant communication with at least myself if not the larger forum on your progress. If I don’t hear from you, I will be calling at all hours of the day and night to get updates. If that proves fruitless, I plan to arrange a TG member posse to show up at the address I have on file for you to see if you need help finding your phone. Any bowyers who do not ship by the end of the grace period will be asked to forward the bow they received directly to their victim; or if the bow is being held I will have your bowyer ship directly to your victim. (I will work something out with the victim if that bow’s specs are too out of whack.)
Don’t forget to leave time in your schedule to shoot the bow in before shipping. No one wants have their bow change shape, drop pounds, or even break 100 shots after receiving it. That should all happen prior to shipping so that the bowyer can take corrective actions. Which reminds me: you should leave time for stuff to go wrong that need corrective actions. If you break a bow when shooting it in, that 30 day grace period is going to seem awful short. Look through the old threads – many bows have been broken during these swaps (often by me.)
COMMUNICATION:
The choice as to whether to do another swap this year wasn’t a slam dunk. The only way this annual swap is going to stay alive in the future is through good comms by all participants. A lot can be forgiven and worked out with good communication. Keep us up to date on your progress in the Progress Thread; that’s half the fun of the swap. Reach out to me at any time if you have concerns, have come up with problems, have an emergency, etc. The Gang here on the Bench is a pretty helpful and generous group if you share what’s going on and ask for help. But there’s also little patience left for people who just stop communicating when they fall behind and keep this swap unfinished until the New Year. I wasn’t joking about the posse.
The only thing you don’t communicate is who your victim is. That’d just ruin the whole thing. That includes too many hints in your posts or pictures that may give it away. If there is only one left-handed person requesting a 65 pound bow, consider not talking about the weight of the bow or reversing your pictures before posting. Et cetera…
UPON RECEIPT:
You need to post some pictures. Your bowyer may post the most beautiful pictures in the history of bow porn prior to shipping, but that doesn’t remove your obligation to post at least one full draw pic with your new bow. I don’t want to hear any excuses about camera batteries in a sock drawer. Find a teenager somewhere to take a picture for you if necessary, or call me and I’ll see if we can get the posse to visit and help you out.
Feedback is a tricky thing. No one wants to hear you think the bow they worked hard on is only good for kindling. At the same time, we don’t all need to get trophies. Still, keep your feedback positive and constructive. If as a bowyer you would like honest feedback no matter how harsh, tell your victim as much offline but be prepared for the good, bad, and ugly – you asked for it.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:
We have had a few out of country entries in the past. If you have an issue with shipping a bow out of the country, send me a PM sooner than later and we will work it out. Note that when shipping overseas the value you put on the customs forms will often be the basis on which your victim pays taxes to receive the bow. While you may think your bow is worth $1000 on the open market, trying to insure it for that may cost your victim a lot of money.
Same as prior years: to keep it as honest as possible, no one who has signed up to TradGang after the date of this post can enter.
Over the years there have also been a few concerns about liability, so I will throw in that anyone who receives a bow in this trade is doing so at his/her own risk and in no way can hold anyone responsible in any way should a misfortune occur due to the use of said bow.
LET’S DO THIS!
Topic: Now Closed: 2018 Bow Swap Sign Up Thread (Read 8102 times)
