Grip Material

[Meathook 1]

Was thinking about useing beaver skin on a couple bow grips,then I thought about useing shark or rayskin,has anyone used this type of skin before?

                  Thanks Meathook

[chrisAKnative]

hmm never thought of that buts its sometimes seen on knife handles so im sure it would look and function great in wet weather especially

[flinthead]

I believe have seen Big Jim of Big Jims Bow company putting Beaver Tail and Ray skin on bow handles at rezdezvous in WV. They looked great.  Roy

[damascusdave]

Abe Penner of Cari-Bow is a sponsor...he sells tanned beaver tail with instructions

DDave

[JBridegroom22]

Beaver tails work great. Put one on my arroyo last year. A little tricky but worth it.
Josh

[Meathook 1]

Thanks y'all. Abe and Big Jim are two good people to talk to.

                      Thanks again Terry

[BigJim]

Beaver tails are the bomb, both in feel and looks. I have just started experimenting with elephant. I'm really liking it so far. Both of them are tougher than woodpecker lips.

I would stay away from ray. Looks good, but might need to wear glove to shoot with it.

BigJIm

[nineworlds9]

I love beaver hehe.  My favorite grip material of all time.  I've heard shark and ray skin is very rough on the hands, I mean I believe it, I have caught and handled many sharks and rays, but if you wear gloves that's a different story.

[onewhohasfun]

I had stingray on a bow and loved it. Real solid grip and it looked great too.

[Marc B.]

Beaver tail is the best I've seen. I don't want another longbow without it.

Here is the grip on my TC
 

[gringol]

Beaver tail is great.  Ostrich leg is pretty cool too.  Looks reptilian and it's cheap.

[4dogs]

Does any one use one of these grips without gluing it on? Would ot be possible to have one that just laced on for a two piece and still have a good fit?

[damascusdave]

I am pretty sure the beavertail I had on my ACS CX was just laced on...once again Big Jim or Abe would be the ones to ask...they have beavertail down to an art-form

DDave

[gringol]

If you soak in warm water before you lace it on, it will shrink as it dries and you won't need glue.

[damascusdave]

I have quite a bit of tanned deer hide...I just glued some on my Dryad blank longbow with Osage riser...not going to last forever which is fine...no sense working with a blank if you are not going to mess with it from time to time

DDave

[Cari-bow]

I have always glue the tails before lacing. I think the problem will be that the grip will turn on you after awhile. I guess at that point you could just start all over again.
Abe

[4dogs]

Thank you guys. I appreciate your responses. Didnt mean to hijack the thread.

[damascusdave]

We just added to our knowledge base about grip materials...you did good "hijacking" the thread

DDave

[RM81]

Here's mine I did with a tail I bought from Big Jim.  Not too hard to do yourself.  I did use glue with mine and laced it up both.

 

[Caughtandhobble]

Originally posted by damascusdave:
I am pretty sure the beavertail I had on my ACS CX was just laced on...once again Big Jim or Abe would be the ones to ask...they have beavertail down to an art-form

DDave

DDave, It was glued when I took it off, but not completely. It was too small for my big ole paws.

The beaver tail needs to be glued because it don't stretch like regular leather. To add to that if it is stretched to thread it will tear out the holes where the lacing goes. It is pretty easy to put one on a bow, and the feel is unbeatable in my opinion. I love beaver grips.