New toys!

I had a bit of disposable income this month, so I decided to treat myself to a few things on my archery wishlist ;)

First on the agenda was new stabilisers. I've been using W&W HMC's from my old Recurve and while they do the job, they aren't built for the shock of a Compound and there was some wobble/vibration in them that's bothering me. I looked at different options and chose set of SF Elite Carbons. They have a profile like FUSE Blades, but with a bulge in the centre to stiffen them while keeping the weight down. A Pro shooter at my club recommended them and let me try his, and I was impressed so ordered myself some. I debuted those at the Red Kite shoot and they performed brilliantly, they hold dead still and there is no vibration on the shot - mission accomplished!

Next on the list was new arrows. I've been using 3-39 ACC's and while they are a very good arrow, they are on the chunky side and affected by wind easily. I wanted something skinny and heavy to cut through wind so went looking. I preferred Navigators with Recurve and spotted Alt Services had Navigator Full Metal Jacket's on sale as they are discontinued so I snapped up a dozen! The Nav FMJ is a brilliant arrow, very thin and strong because of an alluminium outer skin over a carbon core (which is covered in deckplate graphic which looks awesome!) but this makes them a bit heavy. Coming out of a 56lb compound, speed isnt an issue and I still get excellent marks. I've switched to these now and have accurate marks, and will be debuting them at the Welsh Masters which starts in a week - I cant wait :)

Next was a new grip on my Guardian. I love this bow but the grip has always made me envious of newer bows. On the Guardian, the part that sits against the hand is rounded and prone to torque, unlike almost any new bow which has a flat handle that sits dead in the hand. I found several companies that make flat grips for this bow, but fell in love with the grips at www.torqueless.com and ordered one. I ordered a medium wrist grip, in the Timber Wolf colour wood with a bit of custom engraving on it, and have fitted it - check it out...

The flat back is extremely comfortable, and the extended top makes consistent placement a walk in a the park. I have had the chance to shoot this now for a few hours and it's a different beast! It's easy to hold, very stable and nigh on impossible to torque left or right. Oh, and if you are wondering why it says Vasquez - that's my bow's name. It was nicknamed that at the club after the character from Aliens because, like Vasquez, she's a viscious bitch! :)

The final thing then was a new quiver. I've always used a Gompy Elite leather quiver which is built like a brick outhouse, but it is large and quite heavy and has been getting on my nerves. I shoot field and its heavy (over 1kg empty) and flops about, hitting my legs when i'm climbing so I have replaced it with an Easton field quiver which is half the size, a third of the weight and a lot more comfortable to wear.

Bit of a spending spree!

Hi everybody!

Since the last post, I shot a marked round at the Red Kite Spring Shoot, hosted by Red Kite Archers in Llanwrdda. This was my first full round since making the changes to my form as the last shoot was chopped to a short course due to the appalling weather conditions. I drove down to the shoot with my shooting comrade Chris, and we were both looking forward to a nice day's shooting. The weather was on our side for a change, cloudy with some sunny spells so the shorts stayed on! But most importantly, the wind was fairly light.

It was a really challenging course, I've shot on harder but I would put it down as 4/5 on difficulty with some very tricky shots due to steep angles and harsh lighting conditions. I had a fairly moderate first half, but improved in the second half to finish on 314. My previous FITA personal best was 297 and that was on a Mixed round which is easier, the Marked round is a harder shoot so I was pleased with raising the bar by 17 points on the more difficult round.

This score is also 2 points into FITA Field First Class so I have achieved that level now. This was also a personal victory, as it was my first field shoot with all 72 arrows as scoring hits! Something always comes up like a miss on a bunny, or aiming at the wrong target on a 4-face etc but I kept my head in the game and pulled it off. So we have a new PB, 1st ever First Class score and first round with no misses.

All-told, a productive day! :)