Handle Differences: What's the difference?

[TubbsTru]

Am looking at new longbows and was wondering what the advantage of a reverse handle would be? Is it merely preference?

Sorry if this is a well-worn topic- I'm new here  

[Stumpkiller]

Fools the deer into thinking he's on the safe side of the bow.

I guess they reduce the occurance of handle twist?  Don't know.  Marketing ploy?

[TubbsTru]

Stumpkiller- great answer! I was looking at Superior Mist longbows and they claim the same thing: reduces torque. Just not sure I could ever get used to the "backwards" feel- afraid I'd end up shooting myself in the face! Anybody else have any experience with a reverse handle?

[Bob B.]

I have always wanted to try a reverse handle ...but due to the first two responses I think I have changed my mind!  I have always heard it is very hard to torque the bow and it can be so sweet shooting ... but never have I heard it could be dangerous to your face!  Perhaps I should stick with my straight grip or slight dish grip bows!  Stump Killer and TubbsTru, funny stuff!


Bob.
Bob.

[m midd]

Ive had a couple reverse handle bows. A fox lonbow and a northern mist whisper. Both shot very well. I had to be real careful with the whisper when i strung it or i would try to string it backward. It looks like a hill style when unstrung. I would still have them both if they were heavier poundage.

[JRY309]

I like and have a couple of reverse handle longbows.That make the bow more forgiving and harder to torque.

[bretto]

Originally posted by Stumpkiller:
[QB] Fools the deer into thinking he's on the safe side of the bow.

That's one of the funniest things I've seen on here. Good one!!

[Maxx Black]

I have two forward handle bows ,both for me are more accurate shooters! Maxx

[Sockrsblur]

Great questions more than once I wished I had a really nice uncle with a great big collection of bows. It would be nice to put some arrows through different types of bows and different grips... high grip, low grip, how do u know unless u try them?!

[b44mag]

i really like my northwind gem it has a reverse handle and is a smooth no hand shock r/d 60in. 52# glad i tried it like said you just never know till you try i have a bearcat 66in.48#recurve and a mears 69in.47# whitetail rouge they all shoot the same arrows NOS cedar 23/64th 31 1/2 65/70# spine with 160 up front and 5 in shield cut with a 8 in. wrap i go for the reverse northwind almost everytime lol

[TubbsTru]

Hey all- thanks for the replies- Sockrsblur and b44mag, I think your both right: just have to try 'em all!

[Sixby]

Are you guys talking about a foreward riser or a reverse grip? two different things. Most foreward riser bows have conventional grips.


God bless and Merry Christmas, Steve

[ChuckC]

I believe the reverse handle should be harder to torque.  Most handles put your hand slightly behind the plane of the limbs, some worse than others.  Reverse handle corrects that.  Theory being if you twist a straight stick it moves a bit, if you set the ends of that stick forward or backward and twist identically, the tips move much more since they are out of the straight plane.

ChuckC

[Dave Rice]

It seems to me that moving the handle forward would reduce effective draw length, and thus the length of the power stroke of the bow.

In an archery shop we once tested two bows from the same bowyer, of the same design, and the same poundage at the designed draw length, 55#@28" v. 55#@30"; the speed difference was significantly in favor of the 30" draw which was close in speed to a 62#@28".

[Sixby]

Dave , I build foreward riser bows but not reverse grips. The key to performance is to pre stress the limbs adequately to brace low enough and have stability . Most reverse riser bows end up haveing a fairly high brace and do lose performance speed wise as you say.
The reverse riser is definately more shootable though . I wanted that shootability but wanted the performance and after a lot of experimentation found out how to get it. Soooooooooooo It is possible.
There is not really a downside to a reverse riser bow that has a limb design that allows a low brace that retains stability.

God bless, Steve

[Birdbow]

For years I've shot a Green Mountain Stingray, a reverse handle model. I love that it's a natural pointing bow and very accurate. Braces best at 6 1/2" for me.

[Dave Rice]

Sixby,
Thanks for your reply. Yep, if you can reduce brace height by as much or more as the forward set of the handle, you sure would maintain the length of the power stroke. And, the physics of moving the handle forward does make sense for reducing torque, particularly during the early part of the draw.
Dave

[TubbsTru]

Sixby, Dave Rice,
Thanks for all of this info! My question then is this: are many bowyers reducing their brace heights when they go with a forward handle? Or can you expect with most forward handles to have a reduction in power/speed?
Thanks!

[Dave Rice]

TubbsTru,
My thoughts on this are just speculation based on what I've actually tested regarding draw length and extending that observation to how moving the handle forward changes the effective power stroke of the bow, assuming that the same strung profile is retained. I've owned many bows, but none with a forward set handle, and I'm sure that many bowyers, like Sixby, work hard to optimize limb design for their chosen bow geometry.

Speed/# is really important to me as I've had multiple shoulder surgeries (and am trying to delay the next one!) so I look for bows that offer great speed/# and use that performance to reduce draw weight and still throw a heavy arrow. I happen to have a long draw, thus the tests that I referred to originally. BUT, shot placement trumps all else, so I'm unwilling to shoot a bow that's overly sensitive to release. The grand compromise;-), and the answer is different for just about everyone.

[Sixby]

Dave exactly and that is why I design a bow limb for both top and belly mount bows.

I believe that most bowyers that build belly mounted bows reccomend a fairly high brace .That resultgs in less string time and loss of power stroke.  Mine perform best at 7 1/4 inches from string to deep part of the grip. I believe most are at least an inch more in brace to achieve good stability;  
I had to do a lot of r and d and burn a lot of time and material to get it right. I would not settle for a high brace just because few believed it to be possible and get stability.
However If you look at the limbs of many high performance recurves you will see that they actually are not a lot different than a limb that is actually belly mounted because the limb comes off of the riser in basically the same are of the belly. They come to the bottom of the riser and then curve in the wedge to a reflex through the limb to a place where the recurve actually starts. With the belly mount limb you are already there once you get the geometry right and the tapers right ect. Its almost just that simple.

God bless you all and Merry Christmas, Steve