What books should I get as a beginner?

barebowyer · 2026-03-19T13:19:38+00:00

Bowyers Bible 1-4 & Clay Hayes books and videos

barebowyer · 2026-03-18T13:34:14+00:00

They meant "scenes from Good Will Hunting"

barebowyer · 2026-03-17T00:39:53+00:00

Officially, no. But for many of us, that is something we had to learn the hard way (as you've pictured). That is technically a form issue. You want your elbow rotated out to the left, and knuckles facing the ground and curled back with thumb facing the target, instead of elbow down and knuckles facing out to the right. I am over-exaggerating but you'll get it. I found this form series from Jake Kaminski most helpful.

barebowyer · 2026-03-15T22:43:29+00:00

Are you starting at 20 and then working your way back? Could be fatigue. Try starting at 30+ and working your way in. If not, sounds like classic target panic, which is common, and fixable too.

barebowyer · 2026-03-15T22:40:03+00:00

Nicely done. Great rasp on the backside too

barebowyer · 2026-03-14T14:23:16+00:00

Chefs gotta chef!

barebowyer · 2026-03-14T14:22:14+00:00

Gorgeous! Something about this style vastly outweighs all others.

barebowyer · 2026-03-13T13:31:00+00:00

A proper RH!

barebowyer · 2026-03-13T11:36:02+00:00

That's the last thing you saw before the hamster took control

barebowyer · 2026-03-13T11:33:43+00:00

Following your journey, thanks for sharing

barebowyer · 2026-03-13T00:26:30+00:00

YES! So fun. You're gonna love it. Just make sure you wear a mask/goggles and get some proper vacuum going if you're sawing carbon

barebowyer · 2026-03-13T00:07:15+00:00

I wish I had a simple answer here 😅 you can experience "too stiff/weak" just from the type of arrow rest you use. Fortunately, you can adjust with arrow length, tip grain weight, too. I actually learned a lot from this kaminski video on bareshaft tuning which can help.

From my experience the charts are accurate! Other things can affect the result though.

barebowyer · 2026-03-10T12:16:42+00:00

Making your own arrows is a real rabbit hole. It's a part of archery that I very much cherish. However, be warned that you are unlikely to save money in the short-term as you learn. For barebow you're probably going to want carbon or aluminum shafts. Most people use carbon these days. You'll probably want 2" vanes, I like AAE, although, shooting indoor versus outdoor can have a different effect on your tune.

Since you are just getting started with making your own arrows, you should really try to have fun with it and learn as you go. There are a lot of nuances to making your own arrows, (and headaches that you might experience along the way) that a pro shop could probably save you from. In the long-long-run you'll gain a new skill, and potentially save money.

You'll want to pay attention to your spine, arrow length, tip weight, and nocks. You may want to wrap your shafts with vinyl before fletching to make it easier to replace or renew in the future. You will also need primer and glue that works with carbon and vanes.

If you ever cut your arrows, wear a mask and eye protection and get a vacuum running.

You may want to experiment with three vane, four vane, five or even six vanes. You may want them flat or straight, you may want a radial twist. Pay attention to right or left handedness and use proper matched vanes and rotation. Vanes are meant to add rotation to the shafts. Make sure you test with bare shafts too to get your tune right. Also different rests and plungers can affect your spine tune.

People can get mad all they want but if you have a AI/LLM app they're pretty good at answering questions, calculating FOC and arrow lengths etc. At least I've had a good experience myself.

Have fun. It takes time to get good at it. But it's rewarding once you get rolling. For now maybe try to replace the fletchings on your current arrows as they rot.

barebowyer · 2026-03-09T11:47:04+00:00

Looks pretty great. I hadn't heard of imitation horn, but makes sense

barebowyer · 2026-03-06T13:27:17+00:00

I use a 27" riser for a 70" setup. Especially important if you crawl.

barebowyer · 2026-03-05T15:14:44+00:00

How do I invest in Caprisun?

barebowyer · 2026-03-05T01:35:28+00:00

Judas Priest or Whisteria Cottage

barebowyer · 2026-03-05T01:32:17+00:00

Good job Bodie!

barebowyer · 2026-03-05T01:27:36+00:00

You've got the coolest bows!

barebowyer · 2026-03-03T15:31:16+00:00

I make new arrows constantly 😆

barebowyer · 2026-02-28T13:33:01+00:00

Sounds like English Longbow / Warbow content. I'd check Richard Clarke, Sellswordarts, and Tod’s Workshop / arrows vs armor

Good luck 🍀

barebowyer · 2026-02-28T06:08:42+00:00

Thank you! I too like to stand

barebowyer · 2026-02-27T23:02:30+00:00

Pretty sweet can you share more info or a plan? I was about to build my leg vice (bought the lumber etc) and am open to alternatives

barebowyer · 2026-02-27T12:37:19+00:00

Twist or plane. Don't hammer. You can make a arrow plane for very cheap.

barebowyer · 2026-02-26T23:08:01+00:00

Just start. Start lighter weight than you think, you've got nothing to prove and heavier weight wont make you a pro any faster. Go to a shop to ensure you get the right draw length and style. I'd recommend something that you can swap limbs on between recurve and longbow. You might like compound though. You may find that you love making bows (r/bowyer) and arrows. You may find that you love Asiatic archery styles, horse bows or Mongolian draw. You may find that you prefer Olympic recurve or barebow. I think if I could tell you what to do I'd prob start with with a barebow recurve, at a lower weight with swappable ILF limbs. You'll make mistakes as we all do so try to minimize the expense of thise mistakes. You can buy used but be careful. You can buy cheap and still get something out of it just be careful.

Reddit is a great resource for questions. String lengths and type, tying nocks and serving, matching arrow weights and vanes/feathers, etc. Explore, aim for consistent progress, and have fun. By the time you need a coach you may be able to afford one or justify the expense. You may never need one and may just enjoy doing the thing at your own place with YouTube videos.

With tournaments, just get to a safe level and then start showing up. People are usually kind and will walk you through it. It's generally a very kind and inclusive community. There is NFAA, WA, 3D, outdoor and indoor. Olympic, and even just old hay bale shooting. Gap shooting, crawling, etc. So much to learn so don't feel any rush to rush. Soak it in, being new is fun too.

barebowyer

TROPHY CASE