Since I only posted shopping links so far, here my more extensive guide and what to buy, what (and where) not to buy and how you get to the point to know, what to buy in the first place. Again, this is my opinion also. And I do not want to say, that either bowstyle is preferably.
Especially if you started with archery, or just finished with a beginners course, you are probably itching to buy your very own bow sooner or later. There are lots and lots of options – and unfortunately a lot of the first found options are probably very wrong. “Cheap” offers on ebay, amazon or other platforms are usually not only cheap but useless, worthless or even dangerous or all of the above.
First of, I recommend to wait with buying your first bow, until you get better, have some experience and have an idea what possibilities there are. However, some might not want to wait, or you might already be at the right point in time – and before you buy something wrong…. Here are a few tips for buying your first bow.
Your first step to your own bow: Think about what you want and why you want it.
Sounds so obvious, but isn’t.
- Do you want to compete or just have fun? Or both?
- Do you want a bow for each or a compromise?
- Do you want a specific bow, and maybe think about competitions only later or not at all?
- If you want to compete a specific format you need to meet the specific requirements. Check the rules and see what bows are suitable.
- Do you want to aim for a specific bow type, because you always wanted to shoot a bow like Legolas or the Olympic Winners? Or do you want (to collect and try) a lot of bows and bow types?
- Do you just want to shoot, no matter what?
Depending on your answers, you can check, what bows are there – and maybe while checking the bows, you might change your answers also. Give yourself time to find out what you really want. Do not buy the one bow, that is available at that moment. Take a look around, on bow fairs, internet, and your fellow archers. Try it out and very important: take it in your hand (only with consent of course)! And then when you find your bow, also take the time to order that bow in the color option or strength that you really want.
Rental Bow: While finding out those answers for yourself do not buy the next best thing. There is also always the option to rent bows from archery shops – comparably cheap. A rental recurve (like the beginners bows) start at around 35€ per 6 months.
- Advantage: no big investment, especially if you still do not know, if archery is the sports for you. During rental time, you can change the limbs (and thus bowstrength) for free or a small fee – so you can adapt the strength to your training development.
- Disadvantage: there really is no big disadvantage – you will not have a ton of choices in bows and it will not be your bow. That’s pretty much it.
Where to buy:
My recommendation: do not buy your first bow(s) on ebay, Kleinanzeigen, Amazon, or similar shops. Always buy your bow from a bow shop – preferably a local store, even later. There is (probably) not a big problem to buy equipment online at archery stores(!), but you should take your bow in hand, and try it out in a store with a testing range. Especially in the beginning you (at least usually) get tipps and experience to help you find your bow.
Even as experienced archers I do not buy used bows ever without trying it out – there might be hidden breaks you only see or hear with experience, or you might only find out after a hundred shots. But even new bows can be either more for display, or they might be outright dangerous.
In the end it depends what you want and what you like. If you don’t like your bow, you will practice less. If you love it, you will want to practice! 😉 Seems trivial, but it is important you like the look and feel. So looks are important.
What to buy? Options.
Recurve Bow / Takedown bow:
When talking about Takedown, you usually mean recurve. There are some few options for longbows or horsebows to be take-down, but please check them out carefully, because that always makes the bow heavier and change it somewhat in the process.
Advantage: easy and small to transport (flight, public transport), price very adaptable to your resources. Also a lot of options: from wood to high-tech carbon.
Disadvantage: only the looks might not be as nice as a cute one-piece. And it is usually a little heavier (in weight, not draw weight).
In general I recommend to buy the ILF System if you want a Takedown Bow! Every ILF limb from any brand fits on every ILF riser from any brand! And you can sell limbs more easily down. (there are wooden risers too, if you do not want the hightechlook)
First option: You can buy your riser and rent the limbs.
Advantage: you can spend more on the riser you really want, and you can start with a lower draw weight on the limbs, and just swap the limbs up to the draw weight you feel comfortable with over time during the rental – or buy the limbs later in the draw weight that really fits you.
Second option: Buy Riser and Limbs.
Advantage: your have a complete bow, that is yours.
Disadvantage: you might have limbs that you only need 1 year or less if you practice often. BUT: this disadvantage is not that big, for practice it is recommended to sometimes take a lower drawweight to practice good technique for example. Disadvantage2: it costs more for quality.
Third option: Buy a “proprietary bow”/”a set” (i.e. a set like our beginners bows). This is my least recommended way.
Advantage: you have a complete bow, it looks good together, because it is made together.
Disadvantage: switching the limbs is only possible with other proprietary limbs from the same brand and sometimes only for that specific model!
ONEPIECE (Recurvebow or Longbow or Horsebow)
Advantage: usually nicer and prettier, feels good together,
Disadvantage: big and cumbersome (especially bad if you travel a lot esp. per air! Expensive luggage – little cheaper if you remember to label it as sporting goods!!), also big disadvantage: it has ONE draw weight, if you need another draw weight, you need a whole new bow! And it is usually a little more expensive if you want something good.
Horsebow
One piece, can be really pretty, light, short, but again the same disadvantage: it has only one drawweight.
Longbow
this is probably the easiest and hardest choice at the same time.
Big Disadvantage: it is usually 180cm or longer in one-piece (so – usually – no take-down), and the shot (compared to recurve) feels not nice. It is relatively easy to build, so there are a lot of good quality handmade bows out there (however mind my disclaimer below about wooden bows). There are also more modern forms with carbon layers and bow shelves and sometimes even a slight recurve. You see a lot of choices, which doesn’t make it easier to get a good overview of all choices.
Compoundbow
Technically probably the highest engineering level. Therefore the bow is (from a pure technical standpoint) the “best” in evolution of bows. It is very precise.
Disdvantage: entry-level bows already cost a lot, and you need to figure out your bow a lot and you need to put a lot of effort in setting it up for you. There follows an advantage from this too: once you got set it up, it gets very easy. -> also Compound bows can be rented, which I highly recommend to do first!
What about price?
For Recurve/ILF, Compound, Horsebows and so forth: the nice thing in archery is, no matter the brand name, the price tells you about the quality – high price = high quality (wooden bows are an exception! See below). Nevertheless, there is a break even point, where you will not notice the better quality anymore (and sometimes only olympians, or only their trainers, will be able to tell the difference…. Sometimes it is only a placebo-effect or a feeling).
I would suggest that at the beginning you will possibly notice the difference up to (max) the 40% max price range, over that you will not… for now. if you have the money, go for it, there is not much you can do wrong (still need to take it in your hand, though!). But, you don’t need to go high in price from the beginning.
- Recurve:
- beginners ILF riser (grip) go from 90€ to 250€, up to 500€ is midrange, and then pro go up to 1100€ (roughly, though there are PROs with a 400€ riser).
- Beginners ILF limbs go from 80€ to 200€, up to 500€ is midrange, and then pro go up to 1100€
- Onepiece Woodenbows start at around 150€ up to a few thousand.
- Proprietary take-down sets start also at around 150€ (or 90€ for the beginners bows)
- Compound: sensible beginners bows begin at around 300-400€, I would not go below that. Pro bows go up to a few thousand euros. For a compound bow you will need new arrows!
- Horsebows from reliable brands start at 100-150€, midrange will go up to 350€. Everything more expensive is from very good bowyers or more authentic (i.e. more historical material used) up to 1200€ or probably even more. You will also need new longer arrows!
- Further equipment (depending on the bow):
- You need an arrowrest, maybe a plunger/button, a string, a quiver, arm brace and tab or glove. Also a bag or backbag for transport is always nice to have. A bow stand is not necessary, but also nice to have. And it is always sensible to have repair equipment, like nocks. In total this can range from 50€ up to 1000€.
- Depending on your new bow you might need new arrows, but probably the first bow should work with your beginners arrows, since you probably don’t make a huge jump in draw weight. I recommend buying in bundles of 12s, and always leave one arrow without feathers for tuning/checking your bow settings.
Special case: A Onepiece-Wooden bow
will be either cheap (than it is also “cheap” qualitiy) or expensive for cheap or high quality… with a handmade wooden bow – you never know, you always have to try out! Wooden bows look so nice, but you never know whats inside.
Example: a handmade wooden bow is about 600 to 1200€ or more. That is the price for work and material – without quarantee it is a good bow. It might be the perfect bow, it might be garbage, or it might just not be the bow for you. There are some wooden bows from the “factory line”, they are more in line with the ILF price development, but also usually a little more expensive than aluminium…. Please do NOT buy from the friend of a friend of a friend who has seen somebody build a bow on youtube or made one course and now builds his own bows and thinks he is a bowyer.