Trad Gang

I posted earlier about a glove issue, I have never tried a tab. Pros / Cons ?? Thank you

I shot with  a glove for over 50 years. Went to a friends to spend a day stumping and forgot my glove. He loaned me a tab....never used a glove again. Simply get a better release once you get used to it. I use the single layer cordovan Super tab.

X2 on the single layer cordovan tab. I have always shot a tab. Tried different gloves at various times and just could never get used to them. I have a couple that I use when strength training with my heavier bows simply because it provides a bit more protection for my fingers when holding heavy weights for long periods of time.

Check out Scott Teaschner, he is a sponsor here on TG and he offers cordovan tabs and some of the finest armguards I have ever seen.

See here:
http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=48;t=001748

I've shot both and found I get a cleaner release when shooting with a tab over a glove.

Tabs do it for me. I have several different ones,even homemade, and they give me a cleaner release over a glove.

I have also shot with different gloves and tabs over the years and have settled on a Damascus glove with the very tips cut off. I get a very clean release and can get the tips of my fingers closer to my face for the same anchor each time. It is all in what feels most comfortable to you. Good Luck, J

Like Bill C. I used to use a glove--loved my Berlin glove--until one day a buddy gave me a tab he didn't like.  I tried it and just can't go back to a glove to save me even though I have spent a lot of money trying to find one I can shoot--they just don't do it for me any more.

I shoot tabs, BW, cordovan, but I found that I prefer the Eichler tab over all.

When using a glove, Do your fingers contact the arrow nock ? I am looking at tabs and I am trying to figure out how thw arrow fits in. Thank you

I meant to say when using a tab , Do your fingers touch the nock? Does the tab fold around the arrow?

I like this thread because I'm going to try a tab after 30 years with a glove. I have went down in draw weight and I'm not getting a consistant and clean release with a glove.

Simply put, I feel more in control with a tab.  I use a deep hook and always had problems doing that with a glove.

I get a better release with a tab and like that I can rotate it out of th way so I can grasp something they also last much longer if made of something durable like cordovan.

I think if I shot split and had to do snap shooting I might opt for the glove as I feel like I can get the hand on the string faster than a tab when split.

I like a tab. I feel I get a cleaner release and since they are so easy to make, I experiment a lot. I have used parts of old corfam shoes, scraps of various leathers and even plastic milk jugs. The milk jugs didnt work so well. been thinking about making one out of duct tape.

I use a tab.  Used a glove as a kid, but I find it easier to stash away tabs in places than it would be to hide gloves.  I always seem to hit my treestand with at least one thing missing that I need.

I shoot three under and cant seem to shoot a tab to save my life.  Shot well with one split but have to use a glove ever since I converted to three under.  Even tried the black widow three under tab and gave them all away.  It is all in what works for you I guess.

Tabs, gloves, i shot a glove for years, and last couple years, I switch to a tab and feel like I have a better release with the tab, but don't like the one I have, I'm waiting for some new ones made by Scott(wyoming Leather?) ....

That said, when I see a video like the one at Inflight archery, it make sense to shoot a glove...

I switched to a glove this year after shooting a compound for years with a tab. The trouble I'm having now that I've never had before is in extreme cold weather. I just can't get that NEET trad glove to work with any kind of glove so I keep my string hand in my pocket until something will hold still long enough to let me get situated. So tomorrow morning I'm going to get out my old single layer Bateman cordovan tab.

I've always used a tab.  Gloves just feel a little awkward, although I've never really given them a chance.  Right now I'm using a 3-layer tab, it seems my fingers have gotten more sensitive in my old-age.

I always shoot gloves. I even made another tab to try recently but I hate it. I just doesn't feel right at all to me.

I've shot the ABS "super glove" for 20 yrs. Still have the original one but where the velcro straps over, it's finally tearing through.  The cordovan is slicker than ever!

Yet, I wish I could try a tab without a major investment...without that danged rubber thing to keep fingers apart...don't have it with a glove, don't need/want it on a tab.

Only reason: I hate fumbling around trying to hold something in my draw hand with a glove on and double hate taking it off and on.....

Seems a tab would restrict 'grip' and finger useage for the myriad of other things one encounters while hunting better... but alas... I stick with what I know/have.

Good thread...

I tried several tabs and with every one I always gave myself a fat upper lip. Tried trimming the tabs but to no avail. Glad y'all can use them, but I'll stick to my HH or Neet Trad glove from 3 Rivers.

Super Archery Mitt   :thumbsup:    Once I tried one, I won't use anything else.

Anyone ever have the tab pull their hair out? If I shoot with a tab it pulls my lips and facial hair causing me to flinch like someone is pulling my facial hair hahaha. Pm me if there is a solution bc I would love to try a tab but it hurts to much. I shoot longbow and 3 under.

Thanks and sorry for highjacking the thread for my own question.

I love shooting tabs!!!  Just can't get a glove to feel right!  But saying that I would love to be able to shoot a glove because we get some cold temps here in Michigan in the late season.

I shoot a tab.  I can wear a light glove when it is cold and don't notice much difference in release, but helps keep my and warm when my pocket isn't quite enough.  I cut my own out of scrap pieces from a leather store around here.  Vegetable tanned lather. soft.  I like them.  I can have several in my bag, and try to keep one laced on the bow with my guard.

QuoteOriginally posted by adamgti:
Anyone ever have the tab pull their hair out? If I shoot with a tab it pulls my lips and facial hair causing me to flinch like someone is pulling my facial hair hahaha. Pm me if there is a solution bc I would love to try a tab but it hurts to much. I shoot longbow and 3 under.

Thanks and sorry for highjacking the thread for my own question.

Serious archers are known by their halfstaches.

I prefer to hunt with a glove due to the cold weather I often encounter.  I prefer to target shoot with a tab, especially when shooting a lot of arrows in a session.  Sometimes I target shoot with the glove but I rarely if ever hunt with a tab unless it's quite warm out. I shoot split finger so maybe that's why I can shoot about the same with both?

Many years ago I used a tab.  My second round with recurves which began a couple years ago I wanted to shoot a glove. I have a variety of gloves. I was fine with the gloves until this past May or so.  Then my draw fingers became very sore, not just where the string rode but throughout the entire fingers.

I switched to a Tab (Cavalier Elite -- salty but very durable)and love it. Sore fingers are gone. Because this particular tab has a metal section I covered it with self-adhesive grey foam to protect my bows when handling them with this tab on. I can't say the tab improved my release because I was satisfied with the glove, but it sure didn't hurt.

I converted to a Tab last year and prefer them over gloves now. I mostly use a Black Widow 3 Under, and their Palm Tab. The Palm Tab is pretty neat. A flick of the wrist and it's in place ready to shoot, another flick of the wrist and I have an empty hand for doing stuff.

I used a glove for the first couple years of my trad..however this past season I went with a tab.. the tab for me offers a muche cleaner and smoother release..

American Leathers Big Shot.  Tab only one I use and that is rare is a super archery mitt.  Shooting heavier bows and like the glove better.  At least the big shot!    :thumbsup:

I shoot 3 fingers under and have preffered a glove.  I've made a few tabs and think I'll give them another try after the positive responses here.  
-Jay

Twenty years ago I missed a shot opportunity at a groundhog because I was fumbling around trying to get my tab in place. I switched to a glove the next day.

Chain2,get a tab and try it,then you will know what works the best for you.Make sure you give it a fair chance.Whats best for you,only you will know.

Black Widow palm tab for me. I've tried a bunch of gloves and tabs over the years and also find the palm tab works best for me. The thing that's really nice about the palm tab is all you have to do is open your hand and it drops away but is still attached to your wrist by  a lanyard . This frees up your hands.

QuoteOriginally posted by Red Beastmaster:
Twenty years ago I missed a shot opportunity at a groundhog because I was fumbling around trying to get my tab in place. I switched to a glove the next day.

I agree here.  For hunting a glove is superior for me on quick shots and simplicity.

Tab is more accurate, but I am a hunter primarily and I want to be proficient with my hunting set-up. So with a glove is where I stay.  To each his own.

Tab for me.  I used to employ the Saunders tabs, but have switched to the Bateman calf hair and LOVE it.  The Eichler tab from 3 Rivers is a good second choice.

DO NOT BUY any of the cheap tabs you find at the big box stores.   They just don't cut it.

Tab.  It's so much easier to rotate a tab around to the back of my hand and do the hundred and one other things that come up (pulling arrows, climbing into my stand, etc.).

Confirmed glove user. With a Big Shot glove, I get as smooth of a release as I could ever hope for. For the hunting I do, I think that a glove is the way to go.

Mr. Lohr and Jeff Strubberg have nailed the two oposing sides of my long delemma!

My glove takes a beating cause I try to put up and get in and set up in a stand... with it on.

Never know when a shot might come.  Then there is the fooling with tying knots or lacing up a bracer...or trying to get into a pocket and get something out and fumblin and dropping it cause the glove restricts feeling and dexterity.

Tabs... I dunno. I only ever had the cheaper ones with a hole cut in them... and you could spin it to the back side of your hand and have full dexterity... but alas...

A gracious reader here makes their own and offered to send me one so I will give it another go...been YEARS!

I better book mark this to remember all the good tab suggestions!

I used a tab for about year and a half.  Got tired of misplacing or losing them.  Switched to a glove and never looked back.

I can use both okay, assuming I use proper back tension.  A bad release is still a bad release whether you use one or the other.  I have not noticed any 'accuracy' issues over one or the other.

What Jeff said

I ordered a tab. Shot tonight in snowstorm with my glove but I taped my finger up. Shot exceptionally well. I am knocking on my desk as I say this.

I shot with a glove for a long time and for the last 6 years been using a tab.  I can wear a jersey glove and use the tab during the hunting season.  Great cold weather combination.

I have used gloves for 20yrs until I tried a friends tab last year and shot the best group of my life,I doubt I'll go back to a glove.

Went stumping yesterday with a new cheapy calf hair tab which is all that the local shop had in stock. My first time to use a tab and I shot lights out! I drilled even the smallest odd leaves that were in my range. Beginners luck? I will find out next week when I try it again. I left the field with a new found confidence in my equipment.

I shot a glove for years and switched to a tab.I prefer the tab overall.I have tried gloves a few times since and they work fine.But prefer the tab overall for a cleaner release and they work better for a deep hook which I prefer.

I do like a finger spacer and a cordovan face and also the metal piece at bottom like a cavalier elite has for consistant placement of the string right in front of the metal plate and a consistant even pull thats easily duplicated.I also like how those Cavalier tabs can pulled tight to the finger with thier mechanism.The metal based tab can help prevent cupping of the hand for those that may have a problem with that.But I like it for consistant and accurate  placement of the string thats easily replicated.

I prefer the old fashion Hill style cordovan glove with inserts. Excellent finger protection and its there when I need it. A tab just never felt right to me.

Good reads both pro and con.


For me, I like the ability to work with my hand without having to flip the tab around.

I keep my glove hand warm by using hand warmers in my pocket.


And most of all, I have never seen a tab design for two under shooters. The ones for three under shooters have too much leather left over. I dabble in leather and made myself one but didn't like it.

If someone knows of a design for us rare two under guys/gals I'd be interested in hearing about it and seeing photos.

My only problem with a glove is my index finger seems to want to twist towards the back of my hand. I'm a lefty. After about two shots I have to twist it back into proper alignment.

I started out with a tab and then tried a glove.  Haven't been able to use a tab since, don't feel like I'm in control of the shot.  Funny how personal items are, two guys love and hate the same thing.  Been thinking about trying one of the new cordovan tabs, never tried one of them before.

tab for me. at first i was uncomfortable with it as my anchor point kind of became a mystery, but it is smoother for me to release, and now that im used to it anchor-wise i love it.

REading all these great points on both sides, I am anxious to get decent weather to try a tab.

What strikes me among the many caveats is that there appears to be a infinite # of "things" one should know or employ when using tab vs glove.

I've got the glove down fairly well over the years and never shot a tab since I was a kid.

I'm wondering how many "nuance" or "form" type things one needs to know with a tab that some might have inadvertently "stumbled" onto trying the tab above and finding success???

Steelhead shared a few tidbits that got me thinking I might need to know more about positioning and such before finding success.

I taught myself archery years ago and then spent YEARS more once I found some decent guidance to "unlearn" the bad things I'd fallen into.

Rather avoid that with the tab.  Anyone found some "techniques" to using a tab successfully they wish to share?

Well, this thread encouraged me to dig my old BW tab out of the box and try shooting with it again. After 1/2 hr or so, I remembered why I've love my Big Shot. Tabs just feel too sloppy to me, and the Big Shot is as smooth of a release as anything I've ever tried.

I use a tab mostly, have for years, but I still shoot one of my gloves occasionally just in case I be stuck somewhere and that's all I have.
I make most of the tabs I shoot but if not using my own style I shoot a BW.  
But all said, as you can see above, whatever floats your boat! Just enjoy!

LOL! i'm the opposite of many here...i went from a tab to a glove and haven't looked back.

i might add, that i use a mechanical release, too, as arthritis in my fingers sometimes does not permit using the glove...

QuoteOriginally posted by Doc Nock:

Rather avoid that with the tab.  Anyone found some "techniques" to using a tab successfully they wish to share?

I don't know if it a technique or not, but I like to shoot with a tab split finger. I also like a tab with a finger spacer. I like the finger spacer because I can squeeze it slightly between my index and middle finger which causes the index finger to turn upward slightly. A lot of people get sore on the inner index finger close to the nock, this will help eliminate this. I also like to have no leather on the nock at all and I'll cut the tab leather to do this. I like to feel the nock on my middle finger. Other then that I take a deep hook on my index and middle finger and the ring finger is only there for the ride on the pad of the finger to help eliminate string torque.