Martin Savana

[Joshua L]

Hello all,
I am looking to get into traditional Archery,and need a bow, I am looking at 3 bows Chek Mate, Bob Lee and the Martin Savana, and I am leaning more toward the Martin Due to price and ability to get one quicker, Does anyone shoot a martin savana and if so how do you like them.
Thank you Josh

[LazerRay]

Shot one and I beleive they are probably Martins best trad bow. The ones I have shot atleast!!!
LR

[SCATTERSHOT]

I have had three Savannas, and to me they are comparable to most customs. Smooth, fast, and beautiful. Martin hit a home run with this one, and I'm sure you won't be disappointed if you buy one.

[Deadsmple]

The Martin is a great bow. I've never shot the other two but have heard very good things about them. If I had to choose right now I would go with the Martin.

[CEW]

I have a Bob Lee Hunter recurve and Stickbow. I would place both of the above the Savana's I've shot.

[bmfer]

I have a Savannah and love it

[JRY309]

I have a Savannah I think it is the best Martin I ever bought.They are fast,smooth and beautiful in my opinion.Chek-mate and Bob Lee are good bows also,but I love my Savannah.

[Two Arrows]

I've had all three and liked them all. I traded the Savannah some time back,    , now I'm looking for another one.

[TXRED]

Joshua,Do a search For "Savannah" in Product Reviews,LOTS of opinions/info there.

[razorsharptokill]

I liked the Savannah I shot.

[fling]

I have two Check mates that I love, great bows for the money. but my Savannah is one bow I will never part with. I agree it is the best traditional bow Martin makes, you cant go wrong. Oh when I was looking I found the best price at Fox fire tratitional archery, web address wwwarrowsbykelly.con good luck!!

[Stone Knife]

I had a martin Savannah, i did like it but i thought it stacked at the end of my draw. I have a Bob lee hunter recurve that i like a lot. If it were me i would look for a used Savannah they can be bought reasonable for around $250 that way if you don't like it you can sell it for what you paid for it. Also don't go too heavy that is one of the mistakes i made, try to find one 45# @28 you will shoot a lighter bow better and can work on form.

[suttoman]

Sorry guys - I hope I don't put a spanner in the works - but I have a different opinion.

In the last six months I have ordered and received three custom bows from the States.  I guess having a point of reference allows me to make a more informed opinion regarding the Savannah.

Getting bows into Australia is a very expensive business.  Unfortunately when I ordered the Savannah - (the Australian dollar was very weak then) about 18 months ago - it cost me nearly $800 Australian dollars.  This was money that could have been spent on a much better product.

I have written this before so if you search for other savannah links you will see my comments.

When one looks down the curve of the limbs, formed by the strung bow - the arc looks like the rocky road to China.  There are many flat sections and not a nice even curve as one would expect (and present on all of my other bows).

It is very noticeable and is obviously a fault in the moulds that Martin need to rectify.  At the time I discovered this, I wrote on this site and recieved several complaints from other Savannah owners - so my bow is not a one-off.  The general quality of my Savannah is shoddy at best.  

When I contacted Martin (similiar to another T/G'er with a similiar problem), I was referred back to the Martin dealer in Australia.  My attempts in that direction to solve this problem came to a dead end.

You would be much better spending your money on a Renegade Spirit ll by Dave Nedeigh.  This bow is similiar in style and feel to the Savannah, but is a much better bow.  It is a full custom and with bamboo limbs and Cocobolo only cost me 425 USD.  Dave is a delight to deal with and my Savannah looks very  agricultural when compared to his bow.  My other two customs are in a higher level again - but they both cost more so it would be unfair to compare.

I would love to sell the Savannah but I can't honestly inflict such a shoddy bow on some poor unsuspecting customer.  

I am not bagging out Martin as a cumpany.  I really love my Martin Vision and it is in every way comparable to my more expensive custom bows.  Martin just did not get it right with my Savannah - it must have been built by the Monday evening night-crew!!

Sutto

[Hardhed]

I've had a savannah for a few months and I love it.  I feel like I'm shooting laser beams at 8gpi.

[58WINTERS]

Consider a Liberty longbow by Allen Boice. Do search and you will find nothing but positive comments. libertylongbows.com

[Troy n Oh]

Of the three you mentioned I would definatley lean towards the chek-mate. Have owned a few of em and never anything but great craftsmanship and always shooters. I have owned 3 martins, savanah,mamba and a vision and i wouldn't put them in the same class. Had a bob lee stick and it was very nice just not as smooth to draw. Just my $.02

[bentpole]

Well here's my two cents:The check-mate is a very good bow for the money we have some folks here that might have what your looking for in stock. Also the Bob Lee bows are a good bow too if you go on their site scroll down to the bottom of the home page and click on in stock bows. They have a bunch in stock.There is alot of bowyers out there who make very good , reasonably priced bows and some have "in stock" bows. Another good choice would be to check the Trad Gang classifieds there is alot of great bows there that you can save a ton of money on.

[TaterHill Archer]

I had a savanah and sold it because I was struggling to make the transition from Recurve to longbow.  It was the quietest bow I owned and shot as well as my Black Widow.  I wish now I would have kept it.  I bought it at Cabelas.  I actually went to the store and shot it quite a bit before I bought it.  I sold it before I gave it a chance.  I'll get another.

[NorthShoreLB]

Not as good as the Martin MOUNTANEER, but a great bow none the less        ....I wouldn't pu to much tought on Suttoman's comments.....

[heydeerman]

Suttoman,

Get real. Martin told you to go to your dealer because yur down under and thats how they do business.

How many bows have you made?