Talk me out of an ILF

[Petrichor]

Every one I have shot has been loud and ugly. Not to say there aren’t pretty ones out there but they remind me of our friend with wheels. No thanks. Do yourself a favor save some money and get you a one piece bow and be happy.

My idea is once I have an ILF setup I like best, I know what kind of bow I want to shop for. That's the idea anyway. 

I would think there are easier ways to find what you like.  Went to Colorado a few years ago spent a day at RMS range and shot everything to my hearts content. After that I know very well I like mid length recurves and very long longbows.

[GCook]

Personally I like the looks of a one piece bow but long distance and air travel with one is more challenging.
My two piece 58" longbow barely fits in my compound airlines approved case. My three piece fits in my suitcase.
ILF is not my cup of tea but I know some who do really well in competition and hunting with them.
I say give it a go.

[Miner49er]

I can't talk you out of that!About a week ago I received my new 17 inch Border ilf riser and 40 lbs Raptor longbow limbs.Wow, never would cover it.Wood,phenolic and carbon fiber riser.It has an adjustable side button and you shoot off the shelf.Makes short and easy work tuning arrows.It is crazy fast and is as quiet as any bow I have.Best dollar eighty I ever spent.

[mjh]

Like a lot of folks here I've shot a lot of bows, owned a few and had worked my way into a couple of one piece recurves  and a takedown with two sets of limbs., they were all  Blacktails.  Toss in a few longbows and other yard sale finds now and then over the years.   Sure I could have about a 3rd set of limbs for the Blacktail.  But what about the 4th or 5th or 6th.   Your starting to talk about a lot of $$$.  I waited a long time to get an ILF bow.  I didn't like the metal risers I was seeing.  I had opportunity to shoot 1/2 dozen or more ILF bows.  I liked what I had seen from Dryad and was able to shoot several Dryads.   Eventually have bought a Dryad with limbs as well.  My motivation was having one riser on which I could put any weight limbs I might need or want.  The riser is working out great, the cost of limbs has been reasonable, only have two sets of limbs.  All my recurves are set up similarly, same length, some weight variations between 40 and 54 lbs.  Only using two different sets of arrow for all three bows.  Could fine tune this a bit and will likely continue to fine tune this part of the set up. I have yet to hunt with the Dryad.  Have hunted with the Blacktails.  This year I will be hunting with the Dryad.   I think I shoot it the best.  Choose the equipment you like and are proficient with.

[Trumpkin the Dwarf]

The only real argument I can make against ILF is that there are a lot of bowyers who need all the help they can get with this economic downturn. We've already chosen to handicap ourselves with a stick bow, might as well support a small business while we're at it. That said, there's a few custom bowyers making ILF risers and limbs, so I guess that argument doesn't hold too much water either.

[Ben Maher]

I have hunted with ILF rigs off and on for 10 years . From the Aussie desert , to the humid tropics to back pack hunts in New Zealand’s Sth Island ...
They give up nothing IMHO in terms of durability and mine is as quiet as any recurve I have owned ...

All wins , no downsides imho ...

It’s just a limb connection system , that’s all .

[Tooner]

It’s just a limb connection system , that’s all .

Exactly.   

Just like any other takedown, ILF can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be.  I have an ILF riser that has no screws or bolts in it other than the limb bolt.   None.   

[Yooper-traveler]

The only real argument I can make against ILF is that there are a lot of bowyers who need all the help they can get with this economic downturn. We've already chosen to handicap ourselves with a stick bow, might as well support a small business while we're at it. That said, there's a few custom bowyers making ILF risers and limbs, so I guess that argument doesn't hold too much water either.

I agree, Morrison, Stalker, CD, Dryad etc...  Lots of US guys making and selling wood and metal ILF set-ups.   

[dnovo]

Ok I’ll help.
You don’t want one! Don’t buy it! 

[NYRON]

I designed our new ILF riser to eliminate a lot of the problems being discussed here.

I did away with the holes and set screws for lateral limb adjustment. For the most part, lateral adjustment of limbs does not work well and in more than a decade of shooting ILF bows, I only once used the lateral adjustment to compensate for a twisted limb. Also, holes at the edges of the riser pocket are a recipe for cracking and the set screws a recipe for noise.

I also did away with the tiller bolt set screw and the need for the threaded hole to pass completely through the riser. This too is a recipe for debris, moisture, and noise. I solved the problem of the tiller bolt becoming out of adjustment by using a self-locking bolt with a silicone pellet. The tiller bolt can be easily adjusted with an allen wrench, but it won't turn on its own.

In the first photo, the black riser has the through hole with set screw that threads in from the belly of the riser. The wood riser is one of our Ranger models and has no through hole on the belly.

In the second photo, you cans see the silicone pellet that holds the tiller bolt without the need for a set screw or a through hole.

There are more pictures at www.yourlifecyclegear.com

 

[Gil Verwey]

I shot American longbows for years and also had many recurves and R/D longbows too. I like the idea of limb availability between bowyers and manufactures that ILF gives you. I am older now so limb choice is nice. I had several ILF setups and depending on the riser manufacturer some were sloppy connections and noisy, while certain risers could shoot any limbs well and were quiet. I settled on the best of both worlds and now shoot DAS. DAS has a more stable connection in my opinion and is very quiet. You can use any ILF set of limbs on DAS by swapping out the ILF detents and installing DAS bushing (takes a minute). I shoot Dryad Epics and Border limbs on my DAS. They are smooth and fasssst.

The biggest concern I would have is the connection on certain model bows. One inexpensive riser to try would be a Hoyt Excel. We tested many sets of limbs on this riser and all were quiet and shot very well. It was comfortable to shoot also. We had several risers that were terrible all the way around.

I injured my shoulder 4 times. The last time stopped me from shooting completely for two years. I am just back into shooting and it is nice to have the same riser be able to get different limbs in different weights easily.

Good luck
Gil     

[buckeyebowhunter]

There's nothing wrong with ILF, I have one and shoot it occasionally and have taken a few deer with it. But I am back to shooting my bolt on takedown bows. I just enjoy them much more, once again for the simplicity and aesthetic factor.

I went through a bit of a gadgety phase which ultimately led me to purchasing the ILF rig. And while I enjoyed it at the time I grew kinda tired of the tinkering as a few others have mentioned. I was also shooting a crawl with it and have went back to a more instinctive shooting approach which in all honesty at the ranges I'm accurate at is fine anyways and probably more efficient. All I have to do is pick a spot when shooting instead of aligning, aiming, making sure my plunger is set, limbs are locked in side to side, etc. Which are all small things I got tired of with the ILF.

More fun to take a pretty bow to the woods and just hunt in my opinion.

[ron w]

I have lots of bows, all kinds, ILF bows are no different than any other 3 pc. bow. Yea you can change limbs, and tiller, and the weight a small amount. It’s just a bow and the bear in my avatar didn’t know he was killed with a ILF.

[Sam McMichael]

I guess the only reason I can give for not getting the ILF is that it is not a Hill style. But, I know of guys that like them and hunt successfully with them, so other than preference, I see no reason not to go for it. I have shot a few but never owned one, so I can certainly not give a technical review. I do know one thing, though. If you tune them well and make a good shot, the arrow will go where it is supposed to go.

[Steelhead]

I went through quite a few higher end ILFs years ago.Have not had one in awhile.I thought they were fine.The main advantage is versatility.Longbow limbs,recurve limbs,Short,medium,long length limbs.Riser lengths from 13 inches up to 25 inches and the poundage adjustments.Alot of choices with all the different manufactorers producing ILF designs.I think its a really cool system and ingenius.

With all that said I prefer my one piece bows,2 piece and non ILF 3 piece bows more.I know what I want in those style of bows and who's bows I like.So that's the road I  prefer to travel and will probably stay on personally.

I think you should maybe try ILF for awhile and see what you think personally.Thats what I did.You may convert or you may not.Enjoy the ride!

[Wudstix]

Personally, and that is all it comes down to, I am tickled with my bows.  Mostly one piece bows that are no longer being made.  I like a wood bow made to the specs I need, chose not to tinker.