What do you prefer bamboo,yew,foam

[damascusdave]

I have more bows with bamboo than yew...gotta say I have no preference between the two...just hope I eventually get my Chek-Mate Hunter III....should have some amazing yew limbs

DDave

[floodman]

The 2 Biggest custom bow company uses maple, the bow that has won more Trad competition uses maple also, I think if you put glass over plastic, it probably shoot good, when it really matters, is when self bows are built.My Hickory, and Osage, will make your teeth hurt, but Yew and Bamboo combo, is the ticket, in my opinion...

[katman]

I think the design of the limb has a lot to do with its feel. The tone on release has varied with wood vs foam but I am not good enough to be able to feel difference in the same bows I have had with different cores. Draw force curves also look similar. Now performance is different with foam being the best for me.
Usually go with the bowyers recommendation as he knows his design.

[jackdaw]

Probably carbon has the fastest recovery versus weight ratio of all of them..! HOWEVER...for us "purists" bamboo, yew or really hard sugar maple....(i.e. rock maple)...all recover very quickly. I love bamboo...never tried Yew..but have had some lightning fast bows with REALLY HARD maple cores. In the wood cores I'll bet you have a hard time getting 3 fps between the three of them. My opinion....jackdaw

In thicker cored longbows I prefer bamboo or yew, but in recurves a lot more materials work well. If maple is done right it can be as good as anything else. But I really like yew. The only carbon foam recurve I ever saw the first time I was looking to perhaps buy it. It did not look so good, but it was fast. The second time I saw that same bow it was broken. That kind of scared me off of them.

[Hoyt]

It would be interesting to have tests, both draw and sound, done on bows with different core and limb materials. I'd like to see the results if done while blindfolded.

[Rick Richard]

I have had a few bows with bamboo-glass and they are really nice.  I have one with carbon/foam and it is much smoother than all of the others.

Would I trade the ones with bamboo?  No and I would not trade the one with carbon/foam either.

[petalumapete]

I've shot both bamboo and carbon with foam. I like em both but the carbon combo arrows hold their speed down range with less drop.

[Flying Dutchman]

I'm a bamboo-man!  

[spotteddog]

I will be different I like carbon and foam

[Pete Patterson]

My Hill Halfbreed is 3 lams of bamboo and two of Yew and feels fantastic to draw.  And yet the San Marco I have is of 38 year old Yew and is as smooth as butter.  I love both!

[Nativestranger]

Does bamboo really draw smoother. I would really love to see the draw force curve between the different materials on the same bow design.

[Nativestranger]

Repeat post. No idea how this happened.

[Sam McMichael]

My 7 most favorite bows have been bamboo, but I also like Elm. I have shot yew a little, but I have not owned one, so I don't have much experience with it - yet. Not knocking anybody, but carbon and foam just don't turn my crank in terms of aesthetics.

[Kris]

Boo or maple but would consider foam anymore...

Keep the mass as light as possible, all things else being equal, and you'll be pointed in the right direction.

Olympic shooters use foam if that means anything to anyone...that suggests something to me.

Kris

[JamesKerr]

My favorite core material for any trad bow is action boo with a carbon strip in the center

[BrushWolf]

So far bamboo seems to be top pick. I have shot mostly boo myself. I have only shot one bow with yew and one with foam. Its nice to get some other opinions.

[Stryder]

Yew is my favorite.  Both my EagleWing and BW PCH have yew cores.

[xtrema312]

Bamboo because most of the bows I have had and shot had it.  I have only shot a few carbon foam and so far not into it, but I have yet to shoot a Morrison  with it.  Maple is fine and I have nothing against the couple elm bows I have shot.  To my knowledge I have not shot a yew core.  I had an osage core with osage lams under clear glass that was very nice.

[Shawn Leonard]

I love bamboo, but foam is just as nice!! Both seem buttery smooth too me!! Shawn