I'm leaning toward a takedown for my next bow, but I'm not sure if it's really necessary. I probably will never fly to hunt anywhere and don't foresee buying extra limbs of a different weight. I just like the idea of being able to break it down if need be.
my question is, aside from traveling, how often do you guys break down your bows for other reasons? Is my perceived need for one due to some imagined reason that will probably never happen?
Haven't broken my down in a year and a half. No problems with it.
I put a bow on my motorcycle in Arizona and brought it back to Wyoming. A three piece take down made it easy.
The real world advantage of a three piece is being able to get different weight limbs for the same bow. I rarely if ever take the limbs off my three piece. I also had a bow that had to have the limbs replaced twice! The bowyer was probably glad he only had to build limbs and not the whole bow.
I have and use a three piece Predator recurve. The handle is pretty substantial (weight) and I like that. Also I have two sets of limbs. I have not made use of the break down aspect for travel to a hunting spot yet, but I can if I need to some day.
ChuckC
I take mine down every once in a while depending on if I'm going on a distant shoot where I'll be driving with my daughter or the rest of my family.
It's nice when I can have the whole package tucked in a spot in my truck & not have to worry about my or my daughter's bow getting damaged during the trip & a less noticable package for when we stop at a resturant or something.
It does come in handy for traveling, or in case of needing lighter limbs for form training or injury.
Marco
I haven't broken down my two recurve bows since I assembled them. One is two years old and the other is sevem months old.
I take mine down (most) every day. I'm lucky enough to live just around the corner from my local range where I can shoot every day. I ride my bicycle to the range and it is much easier to stick it in the pack with the arrows for the ride there and back. I also leave it taken down as it's easier to store in a small condo.
-Mack
I have a few T/D bows, but I don't break them down. However, I'm on a trip right now, and decided to take a bow. Guess what? I broke down one of my longbows for travelling.
Handy, but not absolutely necssary.
I have taken mine down a couple of times, once to put the snakeskin limbsations on, and the first time was just to do it, no reason. I just like the option of being able to if necessary.
I almost never took apart my t.d. bows, even when travelling. The only benefit, to me, was that the t.d. risers added extra weight and I shot better 3-D scores with the t.d.'s.
All my t.d.'s are gone now and I only see 1-piece bows in my future.
If your bowyer offers longbow and recurve limbs it is easy to switch. If your bower develops a new design, it is easy in many cases to buy the new design. They are easy to ship when you decide to get another bow.
I've only taken mine down a couple times in the past 10 years.
tb
I have 8 TD recurves, 1, 1-piece, and a 1-piece longbow (collector's piece). I have another 1-piece on order and a TD on order. I almost never take a TD apart. However, when I do take one apart it is to switch out limbs or to travel by air. Interestingly, the last time I flew with a TD the airlines required me to put the limbs in my checked bags and riser in my carry-on -- they didn't want the complete bow in one set of bags -- WEIRD! This happened because I told them I had the TD in my checked bag. I am atracted to 1-piece because of the overall smooth appearance. I'm attracted to TD for the portability, limb switching capabibility and for the bit of extra mass weight of the bow. If I could own only one it would definitely be a TD.
After a hunt in a rain,(and I like to hunt in the rain) I like to take mine apart and get the limb pads dry. I don't like to think about any moisture getting up in the limb pin alignment holes. But thats just me.
RRock is sure right. If my TD gets wet I definitely take it apart and dry it and then let it air our a while. For the record, I don't hunt in the rain if I can help it. Wow, we could get a thread going about that subject (bowhunting in the rain)I think. I wouldn't start it though because I wouldn't want to test the sensibilities of the polite folks on this site!
I use the takedown bow more than anything else. Often I hike several miles before arriving in my hunting areas. The takedown fits in the pack quite well.
I currently have 5 bows on the rack. 4 of them are takedown's (and two takedowns on order), 1 one-piece longbow. Elmer Patton was kind enough to build me a set of recurve limbs for my Blackfeather and I have had it apart to switch the limbs back and forth. The rest of my take-downs haven't been taken apart since I received them and put them together.......'cept for drying them out when I've been hunting or shooting them out in the rain.
Like other people have already mentioned, the "pro's" for me are that......I can buy another set of limbs (lighter or heavier).....I like the weight/mass of a take-down riser better.......and if I'm traveling it is very easy to just take them apart and pack them safely away in my things.
Winterhawk1960
I am kind of with BrownDogOwner, while I don't own a take down longbow at the moment, we have some early buck hunts in the high mountains and I would rather not have my bow in hand for that hike.
I'd like to clarify that I prefer the 2 piece sleeve takedown system over the 3 piece.
It goes together much quicker. A lot of times I scan the country with binoculars and do not put my bow together until I am ready for a stalk. Last summer I took the 3 piece in and it took about 5 minutes to assemble it while a grouse was on the trail. Lucky for me the grouse stayed around. Had that been another critter it might have cost me a chance.
If you have to travel to hunt just one time it will be worth having one.Damaged nice one piece bow on a bear hunt packed in the back of pickup.
I have a long bow that is one piece and a vintage recurve that is one piece. Everything else I have is a takedown. I don't dis-assemble them very often, only to change to a set of limbs of different poundage and to dry everything out after a rainy day afield. I guess I have always felt that it was less expensive to replace a set of limbs than it would be to replace an entire bow.
I have 3 and 2 are always broken down, I leave the one I am shooting at the time together and the rest are in cases. One advantage is when you are convincing the wife you need a new bow she has not been seeing all your other ones all the time.
As of now I have two one piece bows and five TD's with two more on order. I very rarely ever take them apart. By the same token I don't have much of a drive to my club or stand.
Thanks for all the good info guys!!
I can't argue with all the reasons to have a takedown. My only reason to have a one-piece is purely aesthetic. TD here I come!
I also may have to sneak it into the house, one piece at a time.
Nice to have for ease of travel, but if you never fly you might not ever break it down. All depends on bow length and travel restrictions, vehicle size, etc. With that said, the additional mass in the riser is a plus for me when shooting my HH "Red Man" TD. Just my opinion, but if aesthetic's are important to you, and they are to me, I would recommend two piece TD longbows over three piece. Good luck and "Keep'Um Sharp".
only take mine down for fly-out hunts, which is a prime reason for a t/d bow in the first place.
Your question made me think about this a bit. I've never had any trouble w/ TDs and have nothing against them. But, of the 12-15 TDs I've owned I think the only time I've ever taken them down is when they're sold. I pack 'em up and send 'em off in the mail to the next shooter.
They are much easier to pack in a more standard size box and cheaper to ship when you sell or trade them. Judging by how much those things move around here some times I think that just has to be a consideration. :D
I usually hunt strictly with takedowns, however, I don't own other sets of limbs for any of them. I don't take it down much but when you have to hike a longway, prior to opening day, it's nice to throw it in a pack or if I'm ridding my ponies I've been taking it down. It's difficult to ride and lead a packstring while holding a 62" bow. Hope this helps.
I take mine down every time I have finished using it, but that's just for practical reasons. It fits in the trunk of my car out of site and I can then go off and do other stuff. At home it stays in the case nice and compact.
However I shoot once a week, I'm shooting in a week long 3D competition in August and it will stay up for the duration.
Having said all that the primary reason for Takedowns for me is living in the UK, getting a 1pc bow shipped over is seriously expensive. I'd personally love to shoot more 1pc bows but it adds $400 on the price for various reasons.
Almost never take mine down. I only keep a couple for tiomes I may "need" them for travel to a hunt--that happened one time even. :D
After twenty years, I finally took my Bear apart to install new, lighter weight, Rose Oak limbs on it. Now, it's like owning a new bow.
I have a bob lee take down and love it. Though I have never really had the need to break it down for a long distance hunt, I have taken it apart for short trips where I know I will have the ability to stay up on my practice. It makes traveling with it more simple.
mh
Travel is the obvious answer for most of us. The other time I have found it to be helpful is when you have to leave your baby in a hot car or truck. Being able to break it down reduces the risk of damage to it.
I have a number of TD recurves, all 3 piece, and I take them down quite a bit.
Transporting to and from hunting spot, long trips, after getting wet, and to switch limbs.
I have several sets of limbs that I change between a few of my bows and like that option.
It is nice to be able to have your bow in your vehicle without everyone in the parking lot knowing you have your bow in your vehicle.
I love all the feature of the TDs:more mass,capability to have more set of limbs,if a limb brakes you don't have to spend for a full bow,hunting the steep mountains where I live you can climb with both of your hands free with the bow in the backpack,when stored in the car nobody know what you have and for last easy to carry on the planes on my trips oversea.i love to have one everyday on my car also if I go to the sea.
Seems to me the way you described yourself, a TD would be like having an insurance policy for the unforseen.
If you think if it will be your Go To bow, then the insurance is worth it if you can spring for the additional $.
The only time that I take mine down is to sneak them into the house upon purchase!
I was buying a 3 piece take down once and the guy showed me where it cracked the limb glass(next to the riser) where he tightened it down too much. I did not buy the bow. So on my other T/D I bought some thin stick on material and covered where the limbs and riser joined. I now snug it down before stringing the bow, then unstring and snug down again, then string it up again. Though this might be helpful. Ken