Black Widow or Kwyk Styk....Your Pick??

[rjackson]

For me the KS is truly hand made you can see it the way Jack finish the bow a little tweak a tweak there. I have never seen two KS look the same. For me side by side with a widow the KS is quieter, faster and very forgiving. Just saying for ME Jacks bows are the perfect hunting weapon. Not to mention Jack is one of the finest men i have ever talked too. I own and shoot 9 custom bows and own a widow and like it. But when i hunt i hunt with a KWYK STYK.

JMHO,
Randy

[Flingblade]

Is there a website for the KS bows?  I'd like to look at them after reading this thread.  Is he a sponsor here?  Really like my Widow PSA and made in the US.

[Dmaxshawn]

No website but you can find pics and info on Pete wards website.  Or search on here for kwik styk pics and you'll see some beauties.  

Shawn

[RLA]

Both are really nice bows, I guess your just gonna have to get one of each!

[Raging Water]

Originally posted by Ulysseys: So far I've read that Widows are "dead in the hand, great customer service, hit where you look, loud but can be quieted, quick, stable, great resale if you need to sell it"

Take that desription (Minus Loud) and add uber speed and flat cast X 2 and you have a Kwyk Styk.

Here is a picture thread of Jack Kempf's bows.  http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=095122  Matt

[L. E. Carroll]

Bill

I undersatand what your saying about speaking in a derogative manner of a specific bows built by bowyers... No one likes to have their bow "played down".... The question however, at the start of this post was how do they, and other reverse limb bows compare ?.

In a comparison, differances have to be mentioned.  I feel that's the info the guy was looking for when he asked for a "comparison"...

 I realize "Widow" has a very large and satisifed fan base and it's well deserved.. Having owned and shot bows by both Widow, Kempf and a Habu,  [ those are the only ones I'm familiar with] I tried to truthfully give my opinion and a fair comparision of all three...

I see others posting on this post do not agree.  I can definately respect their likes and dislikes... However, I also read that many of the guys praising Black Widows also admitted to have never having owned, or actually spent much if any, time shooting a KS.

"To Each His Own".. I did, thru my long and "Expensive Search"            I suggest if your considering one...that you get your name on the list or start bugging a friend that has an extra to sell it to you.  I'm pretty sure you will not be dis-satsified.    

[MCNSC]

First I am a widow fan so take this for what it is worth.(I would love to try a Kwyk Styk) I like the fact that Widows are CNC machined. If I should need or want another I know I can buy new or used and get the exact same grip or performance. I like the heavy mass weight of widows also and feel that it is part of the reason for their shooting stability and consistency. I like light.mass weight bows I just don't shoot them as well. Also a PCH with the right woods would not have as much mass weight

[Bill Kissner]

Naw, my thread wasn't aimed at anyone in particular Gene. Although I don't own one of Jacks bows at this time, do own bows from 6 different bowyers including BW. I would at sometime like to though, but at almost 70 years of age and a couple bad shoulders, I probably wouldn't wait a year   .

I really enjoy reading the good things others say about their bows but it seems that every time a BW is compared in a thread, it ends up with Widow being being criticized. It may have happened but I cannot remember a thread where any other bows were talked about in a negative way. I must say though,I have seen much worse said about them than has been said on this particular thread.

I have owned a lot of bows, some were great, some were just fair, and some were less than fair. The ones i didn't like, I read where others think they are top notch so we are all opinionated. I really don't see where comparing bows can be of any good as it is all subjective.

[Flingblade]

How much do the Kwyk Styk's sell for?  I have now looked at them and can honestly say I don't like the way they look.  The riser looks too blocky to me, but if they outperform Widows by as much as this thread makes it sound I would like to try one.  If the difference in performance was 10% or less I wouldn't be interested as looks count in my book but it seems like from this thread the performance is 50% better overall at least so I would put up with a less aesthetically appealing bow for that kind of performance boost.

[RLA]

If you don't have your heart set on one of the two you mentioned, you might take a hard look at the Eaglewing Talon Static recurve. It has a belly mounted limb, very much like the BW or KS. Just do a search here and you can see some. The guys that have them seem to love them. He's a sponsor on this site and builds some sweet bows!

I've added a few links to some I liked,

With the top link being about as pretty a bow as a man could ask for.

   http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=109664;p=1  

   http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=109329;p=1  

  http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=101309;p=3

[joe skipp]

Jack will build the riser to your specs. A few pics of risers:

 

 

 

This customer wanted Jack to build a thumb rest like Fedora's....

 

 

 

 

[Bill Kissner]

Joe, I really like the third and sixth pictures of the risers. They are stunning! Not too good at recognizing woods but suspect the third is cocobolo and bocote? And the sixth is hedge and either kingwood or bocote? They all look like low or medium wrist grip, I assume Jack will make any grip you prefer?

[L82HUNT]

Originally posted by Flingblade:
  If the difference in performance was 10% or less I wouldn't be interested as looks count in my book but it seems like from this thread the performance is 50% better overall at least so I would put up with a less aesthetically appealing bow for that kind of performance boost.

One would think that after some of the posts they do, performance wise, shoot 50% faster which would make them close to 300 fps.  But they cant be even 10% faster otherwise they would shoot a 9 gpp arrow in the area of 211 fps.  That would be 11 fps faster then anything I've seen tested by a trust worthy source.  
 
   After owning Widows, Kwiks, Habus, and lastly a eaglewing talon.  They are all very close in terms of speed.  Everything else will be made up by the person shooting.  If you are looking for craftsman ship and price I would choose the Eaglewing and they give up nothing in performance.  If you want a heavier mass bow the widow is for you.  No matter what you probably wont be happy until you at least try them all.  And it will be a expensive trip.

[SERGIO VENNERI]

Kwyk Styk all day long!

[GrayRhino]

I haven't shot or handled a Kwyk Styk, but from what's already been said I am sure they are a great bow.

Aesthetically, the Widows win for me.

I can't imagine that the performance issues are significant enough to be a determining factor.  

I followed the BW tuning tips in their owner's manual and have not had any problems with noise.  

Another factor I took into consideration before I got my PMA was the fact that BW has been around for a long time, and will continue to produce great bows for many, many years to come.  That is reassuring to me if I want another set of limbs in the future.

BW's customer service is second to none.

[joe skipp]

Jack's order form has the option of low/med/high wrist. When Curt(Guru)ordered his first Kwyk STyk, he molded up exactly what he wanted the riser and grip to be.

We shipped the mold up to Jack and he built the riser to Curt's specs.

Bill..3rd riser is Cocobolo/Bocote, 6th is Bocote/Osage.

Randy Jackson's bow was Charcoal with wavy zebra wood in riser, very pretty. Here is a pic...

 

 

I love Cocobolo risers with Yew limbs...like my new Kempf longbow

 

 

 

 

[Raging Water]

Here is Ken Schwartz and his Kwyk Styk.....

 

Here is Ken.....

           

[Raging Water]

More of Ken's Bow


               

[Raging Water]

Anybody got a picture of the Guru Grip. Right or left, does not matter.

Matt

[Archie]

I shoot a widow longbow and recurve.  I have absolutely no problem with noise with either one.  I had noise that went away when I removed my bolt-on quiver from the recurve.  

I've shot a lot of different bows at the trad shows, and no other brand felt better than the Widows.  I have no hyper-loyalty to them just because I shoot them; I'm always up to try other bows, as there are a lot of technological advances being made in limb performance & design... but the  BW company makes an excellent product, for all the reasons others have listed previously.  For all the banter about performance, I would be surprised to find very many TradGangers (or anyone else) whose abilities could outshoot the Widow bow.  By this I mean that the bow would NOT be the limiting factor to performance; it would be the archer and his arrow set-up and technique almost every time.  Those 195-200fps ranges in any bow are probably beyond the limits of all but a very few.