I am just starting to really get in to shooting a Recurve, and I am wondering what is best a tab or a glove? As well why you like either one over the other. Specific brands and types would be an added help. Also I would like to hear some thoughts on three under verses split finger. Thanks for your help!
I use a Damascus Glove they are thin,for the heavy poundage bows. I use the martin leather glove its a little thicker.I have tried tabs they just are not for me.also I shoot 3 under.
I shoot three under and us a thin 2 layer tab with a calf hair face. They don't last as long as some others but I like to "feel the string" on my fingers when I draw. They are getting hard to find though.
I have tried just about all others out there and that's what I like best.
The black widow tabs are ok, but I don't like the way they attach to your fingers.
Thanks for the info!
3 fingers under. Damascus glove.
3 under, cordovan bateman tab. I only use a glove for bowfishing now.
split finger soft glove.i like to feel the string.tabs feel to bulky in my hand.
You guys are very helpful! I am glad that I was told to try this site.
cordovan bateman tab, Split finger. I use to use a gloove but they stretch out quickly.
Saunders Fabtab. Tried gloves , but could not get any consistency. Same with leather tabs. Started with high weight (82#) wheelie, then to 65# recurve overdrawn somewhat to 70#. Fabtab was only thing could handle the weight. Mind you, I WAS shooting 300 arrows per day at the time (ah, youth...). Since then, despite being forced to lower the weight of my bows because of shoulder problems, I have continued with the fabtab and never regretted it. I do carry a glove in my huntinmg pack in case I lose or break the tab. So far, I have never had to use the backup.
I been using tabs for a long time and have probably used them all. I feel the string better with the tab. I also use a Bateman Cordovan tab.
glove or tab split or three under are all a personal choice and no one can say which will work better for you. I tried them all and went with tab/split finger because they worked best for me. there is no right or wrong for either one except like I said what works best for you.
I used a tab for many years, then tried a damascus glove, went back to the tab and now use nothing but damascus glove.
glove for me, i tried a tab but it wasnt for me!split.
I can't shoot with gloves as I anchor with middle finger touching my teeth and I dont like the taste of any kind of leather hahaha also calf hair tabs are not an option as I used to be coughing hairballs like a cat hahaha
now as far as tabs I'm still looking for the perfect tab, so far I have tried 3rivers calfhair, homemade letather, cavalier, and black widow leather. So far I like the BW the most but still looking for that "perfect" Tab
I shoot three under and tried a tab once after shooting a glove for a couple years, and the first shot with the tab went so high I missed a target at ten yards and the arrow I believe is still flying. Never going to switch again!
I have shot tabs and gloves. Both thick and thin. I prefer a thicker glove. Right now I am shooting a NEET glove with the calf hair tips.
I don't like the feel of the string digging into my fingers. I shoot split and anchor my index finger to my canine tooth. With a tab I have trouble finding that anchor.
Plus I never have to fumble getting a tab on the string without looking when it comes time for a shot on an animal.
I shoot 3-under. I switched from split because of an injured finger and never switched back. I used to use tabs but have always felt more comfortable with a glove. The Dura-glove I'm using now is my all time favorite.
Thanks everyone this is great, Keep them coming.
Bateman cordovan tab, split.
QuoteOriginally posted by Mitch-In-NJ:
I have shot tabs and gloves. Both thick and thin. I prefer a thicker glove. Right now I am shooting a NEET glove with the calf hair tips.
I don't like the feel of the string digging into my fingers. I shoot split and anchor my index finger to my canine tooth . With a tab I have trouble finding that anchor.
Plus I never have to fumble getting a tab on the string without looking when it comes time for a shot on an animal.
exactly the way I do it, but I dont like putting leather in my mouth, doesn't it taste funny?
I like a thin, one-piece cordovan leather tab made by Alaska Bowhunting Supply (a tradgang sponsor from the list above). I just retired the one I've been using for the past four years. It's a little stretched out but totally useable. I also work a generous amount of leather conditioner into the tab about twice a year. If you go with a tab, many are too long once you grip the string. Most can be trimmed. I like the tab just past the first joint when my hand is open. That puts it at my finger tips when I'm on the string. I shoot split finger.
Thanks guys, I enjoy hearing about your style.
i shoot split finger and use a S.A.M. tab. Used a glove a hundred years ago but love my tab. i've never had to fumble getting my tab on the string.
Recent convert to tab..shoot 3 under and I just felt my anchor so much better, and I think they seem to be a little quieter.
I shoot split finger with a NEET glove. I kept loosing tabs while out deer hunting.
George
Glove only, Alaskan Super Glove ... & when my kids lose it or I forget it ,, Fingers ...
I started with a tab as a kid but switched over to a glove when I was about 15 years old and do prefer it.
Because of the size and shape of my hand and the fact that I shoot left handed, my wife custom makes my gloves with parts from X large and medium Martin gloves, and elastic material we buy.
I shoot split finger in the 75# range.
I shoot split finger with glove have used several like the cordura best have been using same glove over a year now.
I've been using a damascus glove since I started shooting. Been wanting to try a tab for the first time, made a order to 3/rivers and I have a black widow tab on the way. Time will tell, I quess the one good thing, tabs are not that expensive.
I started with a 3 Rivers Damascus and it is a great glove, excellent quality, if you like to feel the string. I cant take too much of that due to finger scars etc., so I recently switched to the Alaska Bowhunters Down Under glove. It is the same as the current Superglove, but they were closed out for $6 each. It is Cordovan which is really thick leather and keeps you from feeling the string that much. Excellent quality also. I dont think you could go wrong with any of these 3 choices, depending on if you like to feel the string or not. I always feel the string plenty enough so cordovan is the only way from now on.
Once again let me say thanks for the info. I am willing to here from any and all.
Bateman, cordovan tab I have one that is still fine and is going on 3 years old.
Bateman cordovan tab.
The type with a no pinch spacer and the leather hole...not the elastic.
I like the no pinch. I like that the tab can "flop" out of the way when I want to use my fingers for something else.
I seem to be able to shoot just as badly with either.
I've been trying to use a tab but a glove just feels better to me.
I started shooting target and at around 150 or more arrows per day, a glove got way too hot.
I always carry several tabs after dropping a few out of trees. I can shoot a glove just fine but am so used to a tab that I stick to it.
The Bateman tab mentioned above, neet ring tab, and homemade tabs are what I like to use. I shot for years split finger but have switched to three under about a year and a half ago. Jury is still out on that one. I feel more natural split with an anchor low on my face plus I get a quiet release.
I shoot tighter groups with three under and a high anchor but am still inconsistant with anchor placement and it is not really comfortable yet. I will stay with it till it feels good, but I could switch back someday
if this doesn't work out. My bottom finger is much better off shooting three under, it really got a work out shooting split. If you do shoot a tab try rubbing some talcum powder on it once in a while.
Bateman cordovan tab, split for me as well. Tab has been my preference for four decades now.
I've tried gloves, but I always go back to a tab.
I shoot split finger and have primarily used a calf hair tab since the 90's. For me they are very easy to use. I can rotate it to the back of my hand when I need to use that hand to grasp something. Also, I can wear a warm glove (warm by Southern standards) on my drawing hand. This might not work for you Northern guys with your cold weather.
My only real complaint, though, regarding gloves is that in hot weather, they get too sweaty. If not for this, I probably would go back to the glove.
As for losing them, well, I have lost a lot of both tabs and gloves. When I leave home, I carry the tab I am currently using and a spare in my back quiver and a second spare in my hunting vest. There have been a couple of times that I promptly dropped the first 2 tabs out of the stand and have actually needed that 3rd tab. (Have dropped the bow a couple of times as well, but it is just too cumbersome to carry a backup bow up the tree.)
Bare hands! :bigsmyl:
:archer2:
QuoteOriginally posted by Pon:
QuoteOriginally posted by Mitch-In-NJ:
I have shot tabs and gloves. Both thick and thin. I prefer a thicker glove. Right now I am shooting a NEET glove with the calf hair tips.
I don't like the feel of the string digging into my fingers. I shoot split and anchor my index finger to my canine tooth . With a tab I have trouble finding that anchor.
Plus I never have to fumble getting a tab on the string without looking when it comes time for a shot on an animal.
exactly the way I do it, but I dont like putting leather in my mouth, doesn't it taste funny? [/b]
First, I don't really have a problem with that. Sort of like when I was a kid and used to chew the lacing on my baseball glove.
But I don't really stick it in my mouth. I just touch my tooth so all the glove is doing is touching my lips a little and my tooth.
I shoot split finger and use a calf hair tab. I too like to be able to feel the string and also like the way I can flip it around and it's out of the way for pulling arrows, using my fingers, etc.
-Mack
I shoot 3 under with a Cavalier tab. It helps with plucking the string that can occur once in awhile. The string just slides off the tab. Like Mack, I like the way I can rotate it out of the way.
glove shooting 3u
Thanks guys, keep them coming.
Split finger, tab in the summer and whatever thin glove I am wearing during the hunting season works for me.
Simple cordovan 3under tab lasts nearly forever slick as it gets.
Thanks for the info.
Like creekwood, a shoot split finger cordovan tab, and during hunting season a thin jersey glove with the tab. Has worked for me for a long time.
GLOVE ALL THE WAY. Widow
I shoot 3 under and make my own leather tabs..found that it will last forever and I can still feel the string. I anchor middle finger hard in corner of my mouth. Haven't had any troouble with it yet.
Charlie, sent you a pm and TTT'd an old thread about tab vs glove.
I prefer the glove over a tab. I tend to loose tabs, and I like the control of the glove. I recently picked up a Talon shooting glove on sale from Alaska Bowhunting. It is a real nice glove. I like the support and coverage of the nearly full glove. It is a bit too hot for summer stumpin though.
Glove for me.
I ordered two bateman tabs today, so I will see if I like them better than a glove.
i use a glove
I have been using a "SAM" Super Archery Mitt for at least 6 years after a lot of experimenting it seems to be the best of both worlds.