Except for some fairly old ones, the ones I had were clear.   Since I began building, I have very few original Hill Archery bows on hand, and those are all opaque.    If you go to my site:

www.dickwightman.com

and click on Howard Hill Bows, then on Hill Bows Showcase, you will have access to scores of pictures of Hill bows.  This is the collection from the old Hill Longbowmen site.

Whats the riser wood of the Redman on the hill site?...been wanting to ask this awhile. I'm just not a hundred percent sure.

i'll echo what most folks have already said, and maybe add a thing or two ...

for a 28" draw length, yes you do want 68" or more of hill bow length.  68" will be fine, 70" will be smoother still but that added 2" will be noticed.

like dick and others, i've grown up with hill longbows and have had dozens of them over the decades.  except for the bow's length with regards to yer draw length, everything else is subjective ...

the new and vastly improved craig hill locator handle is what i'd recommend - much more positive a feel for either the 'death grip' or the 'single pressure point grip'.

the slight amount of string follow that craig induces is, imho, a very very good thing that adds a measure of stability without a noticeable degradation of performance at hunting distances.  consider that as well.

i'm convinced that boo limb cores are just plain smoother than any other limb cores.  make that uber heat tempered 'caramelized' boo, too.

glass color is way subjective.  i like to see the pretty limb veneers, so clear is my first choice.  second is black, third is chocolate.

i prefer the look of natural limb tips, rather than limb tip overlays.  both can handle hmpe bowstrings.

i've had every model of craig hill.  i think that less is good, sometimes.  the all boo tembo, with only three lams, means less glue lines and perhaps a more efficient limb set.  i'll put my 3 lam 54# tembo up against any like-weight 5 lam wesley.    :D    

take this to the bank - your bow with arrive at least 3# heavier than the labelled holding weight - maybe as much as 5-6# heavier.  if you want 55#, order at least 53# ... and hope it won't be 57#.  i thought i was slick by ordering a 47@28 70" tembo and hoping for 50@29 - it's 54@29 - i'm not the only one to report this happening.  next time i get craig to build me a bow, i'm sending him my easton digital bow scale to use.  i'm serious!      

and lastly, at yer tender young age, are you SURE you want a 55# holding weight longbow?

PS - you should have posted this on the big HH bug thread.      

 

My draw is 28" and I have had several Hill in fact I still own my first, it's a 66" Big Five 49# @28 I'm 5'7" and a 66" bow is plenty long enough for me it's smooth as silk.

Dick, great looking site! Thanks a bunch for posting that link, lots of perdy bows to look at!

Rob, I've been shooting 50-55# bows for around a year and half now. I have a 55# Savannah that I really enjoy shooting.

Sorry, I wasn't sure if this belonged in the Hill bow thread seein as I don't actually own one yet...    

And after thinking it over, I agree, the locator sounds like a better choice.

Thanks again folks! Been a big help.

Ah yes,

the Howard Hill Archery catalogue....Back in the day I would spend hours drooling over the photos of Hill, Swinehart, longbows, broadheads, etc. that was in the early years pamphlet.....really cool stuff and sure to get your Hill fire going!    

echoing what others have said, because I have owned Hill Archery bows as well,  28" draw = 68" bow (if you have small hands you can go to 67" bow)  I prefer Tembo model (less lams per given bow weight = less glue lines = better bow speed at lower weights)  Carmelized tempered bamboo (like in bamboo flyrods, the 'flaming' makes the bamboo stiffer and more responsive)  String follow (makes the bow pull smoother and shoot slightly softer in the hand)  

I prefer all bamboo limbs.  I don't like combining two woods of varying densities together in the limb.  You are in effect dumbing down the best characteristics of each.  I prefer yew by itself, bamboo by itself, red elm by itself, etc.  But to each their own.  sometimes looks are everything.  That bow of Rob's is very classy, good performer and good looker without fancy veneers....  

All this is nice, but I would advise you to narrow your selection and call Craig Eakin direct at HH Archery. Run all your questions by him. He is the bowyer and he wants you to be happy. He will not steer you wrong. My draw length is 1/4" less than yours but I find the 66" length to be my favorite for stunping, hunting and 3-D competition. The 68" I owned was just to cumbersome to travel with. I now own two Hill takedowns which clearly solve my travel problems. One is a 66" "Cheetah" and the other is a 64" "Red Man" with an extra lam of yew. Both are outstanding. The extra weight in the riser of the Hill TD, although minimal, actually adds a feeling of stability which I like. Good luck in your quest. Treat your purchase like it is a one time thing and buy what you and your wallet will be happy with down the road. A good bow, like a fine wine will only get better with age.  

I love my "Robin Hood". Boo backed yew, string follow (I like it),Texas Ebony riser,beautiful bone tips.. I got it 66" for my 27" draw, works PERFECT for me. I got the dished grip and love it better than the other HH grips.(have had them all). One sweet bow for sure.. I love the way it pulls and shoots. "Gotta learn how she likes to dance, and then dance with her."

I draw 28" and shoot a 70" Big-5. Very smooth, and no problem carrying the length on a 3d course. I'll be hunting in the swamp with it this weekend, might have a different opinion on the length then ;-)

Pete

Come on over to the HH Bug thread, whole lot of fun!

This has been a great thread!   I'm glad it didn't get lost in the HH Bug thread.   I think it's made a problem for me, though.   I was planning to start a new bow today... call it "Bow A".    Now my head is telling me , "No, build Bow B."     Gonna be a fun day, seeing what I actually end up doing.  Hopefully, I'll be responsible and do Bow A.  There's no deadline on it but it is for someone else.   However, I'll build them a better bow if it's the bow I want to build at the time i build it.   Oh, well, the wood will tell me what to do, it always does.   Don't know how many times I've gone down to the shop with one idea in mind and the wood simply says, "Nope, don't want to do that," or I'll plan on one type of wood and something else yells at me from a corner, "Use me!  Use me!"

I always was one to stir the pot,nothing wrong with 2 HH threads happening! LOL.So many opinions and Chouces in bows to pick from .It seams the more I studied the HH models the more confused I got.When I settled on my Yew Cheetah the woods were purely selected because of where I grew up and it brought back so many memories hunting with my father.He pointed these trees out to me and although he was basically a rifle hunter he told me what beautiful bows these woods can make.When Craig sent me my HH pops wasn't wrong.Yes there are as many reasons to pick certain woods as there are people shooting them.Its all good.

Robert, that combination on yours has got me looking in the couch for coin.

Seems I got the official okey-dokey from my parents. After looking around at some of the other Hills here (mainly Rob's and a Half Breed I found) I'm a little more on the fence. I'm calling Craig tomorrow though and we'll see if we can get something worked out!

Thanks to all for the help.

Whatever I go with, this is going to be a special bow.

Check out this bow it looks sweet.
http://www.dickwightman.com/howardhill/lbc/lbc.html

If you want 55@28, you best order 52#.  Every Hill that Craig has built me has been 4# over ordered (and marked) weight.  I have a Wesley Special I bought from another Trad Ganger and it is marked 48@27 but is actually 53@27.  Factor that in when you order or you may be a bit over your comfort level. By the way, my Wesleys are the sweetest shooters I have.  The others are Big Fives (2), Tembo, and Redman. The sweetest of the lot is a Wesley with four bamboo lams and one juniper on the back under clear glass.  She sings in my hands.

Just got off the phone with Jason...    

AND...........?

Details details

Be careful there, boy!  Teasin' like that could get you sealed up in a side quiver with no openings!