I am trying to decide if I want to replace a leather grip on one of my bows or just leave it without.
This is a glass bow I will take elk hunting where I am camped out for a week. Rain, usually daily, is a given. I always hunt with a glove on my bow hand, lightweight in warm weather and heavyweight in cold weather.
What determines if you use a leather grip on your bow? Just personal preference? Appearance?
Taking a quick survey of custom bow makers in the sponsors list looks like about 2/3 go without any leather to highlight the looks of the wood in the riser and grip overlays.
Back when I hunted with recurves, a constant problem when hunting was the slickness of the grip area with any gloves that didn't have some sort of rubber bumps or other friction enhances -- I just couldn't shoot well with the "bare" grip and slick wool or cotton, and I too, like most of us, wear gloves when hunting. Since I've switched to selfbows and r/d longbow hybrids, all of which have leather grips, no more problem. A cheap and easy compromise, and temporary if you don't like it, is one of the rubber roll-on grips easily available today. They work so easy that I use them on most of my bows to cover and protect the leather grips. Good luck, dave
Theyre almost a must here in Texas in the summer, sure does cut down the slipping of the bow I know HORNES has the rubber roll ups in stock for about 6.95
Mountain bike inner tube-20 grips for 3.95!