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. By signing up for the 2020 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. If you’re not sure you want to be held to this kind of commitment, don’t sign up. We had a great swap last year with no bows late, almost none in the grace period, and quite a few early. Let's keep it 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.
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. This contact information will be kept private.
Signups are now open for three weeks, closing February 3rd at midnight (EST). I will PM your victim’s information as soon as I can get it all ironed out, but I promise to try to try to see if I can hopefully with a little luck get them out no later than Friday 2/7. 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. Note, if there are simply not enough people signing up this year, I reserve the right to call it off. I don't know what that number is exactly, but I'm hoping we can get at least 18-20 people to make this interesting. I'll admit, the interest thread has me worried...
DEADLINE:
You have four months to get your bow shipped; the shipping deadline is Friday, June 5th. Remember not to wait until the end because: (a) everyone likes to see bows getting delivered early, (b) lots of stories of bows that didn’t make it to the finish line and a plan B (or beyond) was required, and (c) we all get curve balls in life we have to work around.
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. Note there is no distinction in the deadline again this year for newbies, and no holding of bows until newbie ships. (I do reserve the right to tell a bowyer to hold a bow if I start to worry about progress by their victim.)
COMMUNICATION:
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 and a requirement. If Roy can figure out how to post pictures, he can probably help anyone else do the same. 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 am still not joking about the posse.
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.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:
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.
International shipping: I understand that not a lot of people like the idea of signing up for a big shipping bill, but it's not much fun if only one person says they're willing to ship internationally and the international victim pretty much knows who's building their bow. Therefore, I'm going to assign victims without consideration of where they live at first. For those that end up with an overseas victim, I'll reach out to you and make sure you're willing to make a bow that can be shipped (ie a takedown of some sort.) As for the shipping costs, there are several people on the bench who are willing to help cover the cost above and beyond domestic shipping and I'll work that with you directly. If you're willing to help with the costs, please PM me and we'll work it out as needed when the time comes.
Over the years there have also been a few concerns about liability. I don't think it's an issue as no one is paying for a bow. However, if you sign up you are agreeing that anyone who receives a bow in this trade, including yourself, is doing so at his/her own risk and in no way can hold anyone responsible should a misfortune occur due to the possession or use of said bow.
That's enough verbiage. IT’S GO TIME…
Topic: 2020 Bow Swap Sign-Up Thread - CLOSED (Read 3278 times)
