I've seen on here that once in awhile someone will say their bow feels lighter in draw weight. That being from materials, design or whatever. What bows have you all shot that feels alot lighter in draw weight?
Unless we are talking about stacking, my experience has been, bows that feel lighter are just that.
My Whisperstik Mojo 56" is 58@28, same as a couple of other bows I have, but it feels lighter than the others. It's the only recurve in the bunch and draws more smoothly, IMO.
Others that have felt "light" were a Fedora 560TD with bamboo limbs and a Palmer that passed through.
Maybe a better way to say it would be it draws smooth enough that it feels alot lighter in draw weight. So yeah maybe a bow that stacks the least.
Are we talking about what is written on the bow or what we have actually scaled?
What you actually perceive in feel. If it actually scales at #55 but it feels like a #50 or #45.
Two bows come to mind that felt lighter than they where: all of my Habu bow's feel lighter than they are marked, and my Adcock feels lighter.
Are they lighter? I don't think so, there just supper smooth drawing, that's why you pay the big bucks for them.
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I could go down a long list of bows I've owned and shot (as most on here can). I won't bore with details but there aren't many that I haven't tried, especially recurves. I've heard of this phenomenon many times and I can honestly say I've alway regarded it as hype. I've had some that, as mentioned, had a very smooth draw (like the silvertip) and that makes a difference.
Just two days ago my Dryad Orion recurve arrived and it is the first I've owned to feel like it draws less weight. I mean it. Mike called before it shipped and we discussed weight as he was doing final sanding. It came out 50@28" and feels almost just like my (very expensive high quality - name omitted) 45# recurve. I believe it is the static tips that lend a smooth and stack free draw, I dunno. I PM'd Mike yesterday to tell him this same thing. Now I'm a believer.
I shot a couple bows a few years back that didn't feel the marked weight. If they were drawing that weight or not I don't know didn't scale them and yes I draw 28" actually about 28.5". One was bear suer kodiak marked #65 felt like about #60. A saxon american longbow marked #65 felt like a #55 very smooth. And the other two were Howatt hunters, one a #65 felt like around #60 and the other was a week ago was scaled at #90. Now I can't say just how much the #90 felt like cause I've never drawn anything more than #65 but it didn't feel like what I figured #90 should feel like.
I've come to the conclusion that it has something to do with how much preload a bow has. I had a 50# Griffin that was extremely smooth and easy to shoot. The polar opposite was an A&H ACS that was also 50#'s, but felt like a lot moren due to the stiffness of the draw. I had a lot of trouble shooting it because of that.
My other example would be a Morrison Shawnee and a Morrison Cheyenne. I've had both with recurve limbs, and the deflexed riser of the Cheyenne seemed to create less preload. It was easier for me to shoot, too.
Just my thoughts.
Mark
most any Black Widow recurve with bamboo cores, RER Arroyo, and for ILF limbs, Win&Win Win-ex limbs.
My Black Widow PSA V and my ACS/CX are two of the smoothest drawing bows i have pulled. I think with there smoothness and the way they load throughout the draw curve instead of all at once at the beginging or the end makes them feel 10 pounds lighter than they are marked. When i recived my Widow 3 years ago i had to put it on a scale, I just new it was lighter than marked, it wasn't
As wtpops said a bow with a lot of early draw weight will feel smoother and to some less weight because they gain weight more gradually in the draw. (example: maybe 2# per inch instead of 3) This is why recurves feel smoother than straight longbows and why highly R/D hybrid longbows are so popular. The reflex/recurve gives us that taunt string in a braced bow. Chad
I shot my bow and then a friends Sovereign Ballistik static recurve. I started to tease him about his lower poundage bow until he showed me that it was the exact same poundage as mine. My Ballistik will be here in about three weeks!
My Firefly is exactly the same weight as my other three bows but feels less in the draw because it is so smooth!
Sutto
Howard Hill Wesly specials all feel smoother and lighter than other bows of the same weight. RC
Larry, hit it for me. The RER Arroyo with its static tips make it feel almost like it has a let-off. Mine is 54#s at my 28.5" draw and it feels 5#s less for some reason. Shawn
i believe that how a bow balances in someones hands has alot to do with feel - feel through draw and at full draw. including hand placement, grip, nock height, placement of fingers on string. everything added together for each person makes the same bow feel different to each person. and when everything comes together for a particular person and bow, then the bow just feels balanced and easier to shoot. the bow pulls evenly on both limbs. possibly feeling "lighter than actual weight".
Black widow PSA, for me, is the smoothest drawing bow I have ever owned, It "feels" lighter by a few pounds so much so I have weighed it against my other bows of the same weight to be sure it was marked right...
Bear Heart, you won't be disappointed with your Ballistik, I have 2! As a rule of thumb, Static tipped bows will feel lighter than a long bow or working recurve due to the leverage from the tips. I know there are exceptions, but I am talking of the pure mechanics of the design.
IMO, the perception of a lighter holding weight is typically a result of smoother drawing bow limbs. This drawing "smoothness" is really very close intervals of increasing draw weight and is a product of limb design and materials. It's hard to find a smoother limb core material - and limb veneer! - than Tonkin cane. YMMV.
With my 27.5" draw, my 60" Widow recurves have seemed lighter than actually are. Just a good smooth limb I guess.
I agree Rob, bamboo makes for a very smooth drawing bow, which will often give the impression that the bow is lighter than it is. All the bows I shoot now have bamboo limbs. But even among those, two seem to draw particularly sweet and less than marked -- a GN Ghost recurve and a Dwyer longbow. And, yes, I've scaled them both, and I have others in the same weight class to compare them to.
Of all the bows I have shot, it would be a Widow with bamboo limbs.
I would have to say out of the bows that I have had and it is about seven bows, the
" whisperstik " is one that is 45# but it feels like I'm drawing 42#.
I thinkit is because the whisperstik is so smooth in the draw and I might add also the quietest bow I've had.
It's also the reason I'm getting another one.
Carl
Does the bow that feels lighter have the same sort of grip?
At the risk of starting a nearly religious war...
Regardless of preferences for shooting high or low wrist (or something in between), I believe a bow with a straight grip (which encourages a lower wrist) will feel like it draws a bit easier than an identical bow with a pistol grip (which encourages a higher wrist).
Sometimes they are lighter than they are marked.
We spent a lot of money on the digital scale we use to weigh each bow. It weighs to tenths of the pound and we round up and down at over and under .5.
I will tell you that if you do a force draw curve on the bows that feel lighter you will find that the line has high early weight and consistant weight gain per inch.
Mike
the first straight limb longbow i ever shot felt very smooth and very lighter than what it was rated. It was a Liberty English. BWs seem very smooth too. At least compared to a flatbow I have.
Mine is a Jack Kemph little Grizzly it is 61#@28 but feels like 54lbs very smooth :thumbsup: :notworthy:
I have a Kota Prairie Swift that feels much lighter than it's 55#@29"....
Bows that feel lighter than their actual draw weight? I had a few. My 2 Turkeycreeks, felt much lighter than their actual draw weight. My Thunderstick Mag felt lighter than it's actual draw weight and my Mohawk Longbow feels alot lighter than it's actual draw weight. The Mohawk is light as a feather in actual weight too, all Tonkin Cane Limbs, it's fun to carry and shoot.I believe limb design and limb woods have alot to do with it.
Gingivitis: I agree that "wrist" can have something to do with it. High wrist is more fatiguing than low wrist, and though it might not be noticeable with a few arrows, a lot of arrows might make a bow feel a tad heavier.
Wingnut: Your findings match my experience as well. My Ghost and Dwyer do front load more than the others.
My Arkansas Stick Caddo LB feels lighter than the 52# that it is marked. Smooth from the start of the draw until I anchor. The amazing thing about it is that it is only a 58" bow. BOB
I've drawn a few that felt noticeably lighter than marked--yew is another limb core that seems to be smoother, at least at my longer draw length.
On the flip side, I've drawn a few that felt a whole lot heavier than they were marked. Most, if not all of these had carbon lams--but I have drawn a few with carbon that felt like glass.
I think the bowyer's skill has as much or more to do with it as the limb core, although I have felt a difference in two identical bows with different cores--osage vs. yew--the yew was MUCH smoother.
Chad