First Impressions
1. How was the bow shipped/packaged? What does it come with? The slick stick came packaged very well from custom king. It came with a standard stick on leather rest and side plate as well as a bearpaw archery whisper string.
2. Customer Service from Kustom King? Shipping/packaging/phone service/emails-Nothing but good things to say about Kustom King. They are great people to deal with and were very helpful with me during my order process. It did take almost 2 weeks to get my bow even though they are only about 1.5 hrs from me. I blame USPS haha
3. Quality of the bow out of box – finish/glue lines/glass streaks/any imperfections?- I am very pleased with the finish quality of the Slick Stick. Actually more than I expected! The finish is near flawless and the walnut riser and bamboo limbs looks great together. The simplicity is very appealing to me. There is one small glass streak I can see under certain lighting however that isn’t a big deal to me. To you, it may be.
4. Whisper String from bearpaw-Time will tell with this string but it appears to be of very good quality. After about 100 arrows and 24hrs of being strung up its holding a brace height just fine.
5. Is the Slick Stick a Heavy bow? Ummm no! Don’t think this thing weighs a pound!
6. Construction?-bamboo limbs under clear glass/walnut riser-Like I mentioned I was expecting less than I got based on pictures online. Finish is fantastic on the bow I got. For the money, you won’t be getting some of these beauties out of the custom shops, however its quite nice. Just as Pete Ward mentioned, the finish for some may be lacking. It has a rougher feel to it and its not quite as smooth with a high gloss as some. The “rougher feel” I describe is uniform throughout the bow so this was obviously how Henry Bodnik wanted the finish to be.
Initial Shooting of the Slick Stick
1. Accuracy?-This will come with further shooting and testing at range and properly spined arrows however after finding a decent nock point and playing with the brace height the arrows are going where I want for the most part. There is a learning curve with a 58in bow and it so far is not very forgiving to form mistakes. Keep in mind I have not tuned arrows to this bow yet and I’m shooting some slightly stiff arrows at the moment
2. Bow grip- is the bow grip comfortable during shooting and does your hand fall in the same spot everytime? Yes and yes-for me the smaller grip is different, but I like it. I don’t have to think about my grip so my hand is definitely in the same place each time. I would say I have average size hands for someone 6-01 and 205lbs however someone with XL hands might wish the grip was a little thicker. The slick stick grip is more like a recurve than a longbow.
3. Reflex/Deflex limbs-input on the performance of these limbs at 45#/is it fast? I don’t have a chrono or a way to measure the exact lbs this bow pulls at my DL however it zips arrows quite fast based on my observations. It also draws probably smoother than any bow I’ve shot with zero stack. I’m drawing 29in on this bow compared to 28 on my recurves. It is marked 45# @ 28in. Overdrawing this bow I feel no noticeable stack.
4. Quiet- is it quiet set at best brace height? Doesn’t matter if the brace is at 6 ¼ or 7 ¼ this bow is quiet without string silencers. I noticed how quiet it was shooting in my garage and then took it outside and shot it and in open space its even quieter than I originally thought!
5. Sight window? I shoot what I call “instinctive”. I don’t gap or aim down the arrow or any of that. Nothing seems to pop out on this bows riser to distract me when drawing and picking a spot
6. Hand shock? This bow is dead in your hand besides some very brief string vibration after the shot. I really feel silencers will deaden what little string vibration there is.
Practical Uses of this Bow
1. Is this a good target bow? Im guessing a 58in longbow isn’t on many peoples list for a target bow. However someone could have great fun if this is all they used it for.
2. Is this a good bow for hunting applications? I don’t see why not. Its short and quiet. Being in a pop up blind or a tree stand should be no issue. Ill find out for sure during spring turkey!
3. Beginner Friendly? In the right poundage id think so. However a beginner would benefit more with a longer bow. Unless you’re a youth of course.
4. Is it offered in other lengths and multiple poundages? The slick stick is available in weights of 25-55#s in 58in and 60in-finding them in stock at Kustom King in all of these isn’t possible at the moment. According to Gabriela the demand is high for this bow right now and they don’t have many left
Overall Thoughts of the bow
1. What does this bow cost? Kustom King sells this bow for $285.00-after taxes and shipping I think I got mine for right around $330
2. Where can I find this bow? Kustom King is the only place to my knowledge in the states you can get this bow. You can view all of the Bodnik bows on Bearpaw archerys website. Click the translation from German to English . Check out Henry and Bearpaw’s Facebook if you’re into that kind of thing. He is quite established in the archery community in Europe.
3. Where is this bow from? Henry Bodnik Designed the Slick Stick and they are imported from Germany- Bearpaw Archery to Kustom King in Shereville Indiana
4. Would I buy it again? Absolutely! I’m very happy I found this bow
5. Would I recommend this bow to another archer? If you want an affordable pocket rocket R/D longbow then heck ya!
6. Is this bow going to fit well for what I wanted it for? Target Shooting/ hunting/occasional 3d shoots-So far the slick stick is a blast to shoot at targets. Lots more time with this bow will determine if I will be confident enough with it to hunt
7. Warranty? Unbelievable 30 yr warranty from Bearpaw archery that extends the life of the bow not just the original owner. (yea you read that right) Link-
http://www.bearpaw-blog.com/bodnik-bows/bodnik-bows-warranty/ Overall I am quite pleased with the Bodnik Slick Stick. I haven’t even began to scratch the surface of its capabilities and I plan to really put it through its paces. This is my first longbow so please take my review as such. I really don’t have much to compare it to. I also don’t claim to be an expert or half as knowledgeable as most of you who have shared your wisdom with me. My intentions of doing a full review was to get another opinion of this bow out there on the web for others to see. There really is not much about this bow other than a great review from Pete Ward and a few people mentioning it in different web forums. Like mentioned before, Henry Bodnik and his bows have been well established in Europe and I am assuming they have not taken off here in the states due to his current demand overseas. If anyone is interested in trying out the Slick Stick and lives in the Northcentral Indiana area feel free to PM me and maybe sometime this spring we can get together for a shoot. I will update this thread as I get more in touch with this bow and let you all know the good and the bad things that arise. I am also more than happy to comment on any questions anyone may have if I can answer them.
-Darron
Topic: Bodnik Slick Stick Review (Read 4995 times)
