What kind of bow should I purchase?

Q

"Hello! I am 5'8" tall and 180 lbs (a little chubby as I like to say). What kind of bow should I purchase since I am a beginner and new to archery? I am thinking recurve, but can you recommend a brand and how many pounds?

Also what other equipment should I get?"

- J.T. Turner.

A

I would recommend you get a 25 lb Samick Sage. You can get one at Tent City in North York, Basically Bows on Queen Street East or Bass Pro in Vaughan - prices vary by location, the most economical option is Tent City. There are other brands you could try, by the Samick Sage has very good reviews and is readily available. It was even recently shown on the cover of Ontario Out of Doors magazine.

Make sure you do the eye dominance test first so you know whether you should be getting a right handed or left handed bow.

I have an older post on this same topic you should read:

What is a good bow for an archery beginner?
Regarding other equipment you will need I recommend the following:

12 arrows with removable screw-in arrowheads. Do NOT get the glued-in arrowheads, they break too easily and once broken the whole arrow is basically garbage. If a screw-in arrowhead breaks, you unscrew it and then just screw in a new one. Note - 12 is a good number to start with.

Bowstringer so you can easily string your bow and not twist/damage the limbs of your bow using the leg method (which is meant for longbows, not for recurves).

Spare Bow String. In case your bow string ever breaks in the future, it is nice to have a spare.

Spring Loaded Arrow Rest

Arrow Rest. The Samick Sage is nice because it can be fitted with a traditional fur arrow rest, a cheap glue-on arrow rest or a more modern mechanical arrow rest. For beginners I recommend either the fur arrow rests or a spring loaded mechanical arrow rest like the one on the right. I am not a fan of the cheap plastic arrow rests because they break too easily.

For more advanced archers I recommend the Cavalier Super Flyte Arrow Rest (shown below). I find it is more accurate than many other styles of arrow rests, but it is a bit annoying to use because if you squeeze the arrow between your fingers then it slides off the arrow rest very easily. It is super accurate, but very annoying for beginners who tend to squeeze/bump the arrow too much.

Brass Nock Bead(s). Most people only use one nock bead, but sometimes people use two. When using one it goes above the arrow when nocked to prevent "stringwalking" up and down the bow string. Some people prefer to use two nock beads so the arrow cannot slide either up or down. Make sure the nock bead is installed properly, so when in doubt get an archery instructor or the sales rep in the store to do it for you.

Brass Nock Beads

Archery Finger Glove. I recommend Neet. I have reviewed many different archery finger gloves, tabs and mechanical releases (for compound shooters) but when it comes to finger gloves the company I find works best is Neet.