The Amateur Archer - bows, equipment and related gear

Centaur Triple Carbon Elite Takedown Review Carbon Elite 58"AMO 51#@28" with XTL and Takedown options Ever since I shot the one-piece Carbon Elite stock bow, I knew I would eventually progress to the full-tilt Triple Carbon with takedown option.  If you have read my earlier review of the stock version of the Centaur Carbon Elite , you know how much I like Centaur longbows.  Jim is a master craftsman and the 15+ month wait for one of his bows is testament to his skills.  It is also evident that owners of Centaur bows really like them as you rarely ever see them up for sale on the classifieds of archery forums.  If you do, they often get snatched up pretty quickly once posted up.   Before I got in queue for a custom bow from Jim, I decided to first try the Archery Talk classifieds to see if I couldn't scare up a gently used Centaur that fit my parameters.  A few weeks of sitting in the classifieds, my wanted ad scored a hit and I was contacted by a ge

Vista Maverick review I have been reviewing my bows for the past year or so but I have not really touched on the support gear for them.  As any archer is aware of, the support gear is a vital part of archery.  Tools, string wax, tabs/gloves, arm guards, quivers, arrow pullers, etc. all add up to allow an archer to perform his or her best, be it that one shot on a whitetail deer or a whole shoot worth of arrows at a tournament.  This time, I'll be taking a closer look at one piece of my gear that I find particularly important - my quiver. Over the years I have been shooting, I have used a variety of quivers from belt-mounted target style side quivers to bow-mounted hunting quivers.  Since I transitioned into traditional archery from Olympic recurve, I found a back quiver to suit my tastes more than the full-featured target quiver that hung from my belt.  Sure, it was nice to have all the big pockets, pouches, and multiple arrow tubes, but I found that often got in the way of w

Dryad ACS-LBX ILF longbow review Dryad Bows of Weatherford, TX is well known for their high-performance bows, particularly their ACS line of recurve and longbow limbs for both bolt-down and ILF.  Recently, the company released a new line of longbow limbs: the ACS-LB and the ACS-LBX.  The LB has a composite core with carbon and glass laminations, while the LBX has the same composite core with carbon-only laminations.  Being a performance geek, I opted for the flagship LBX limb to mount on my Epic13 riser. - Riser - The riser I am using in this build is the same Epic13 riser I had reviewed a while back  here .  This riser is a particular favorite of mine and being a Dryad riser, I figured it would be the ideal base for the new LBX limbs.  Since it was reviewed previously, I won't get into the details in this post.  Basically, I really like this riser for the minimalist design, the slim yet comfortable grip, and the handsome aesthetics. Bubinga and onyx Actionwood with

Chris Reeve Small Sebenza 21 review Carbon fiber handle and Insingo blade design For my next entry into the blog, I figured I would depart from the usual bow reviews and take a look at something that has been on my radar for quite some time.  Folding knives are something that have been a part of my life ever since my father allowed me to have a small Swiss Army Knife when I had shown him that I could responsibly handle one.  My middle school and high school had a zero-tolerance approach towards anything the administration deemed "scary", so I really did not let my knife hobby expand until I entered college.  It was then that I poured over knife magazines, visited cutlery shops wherever I went, and tried to read up as much as I could about steel, grind types, blade shapes, etc. I have always admired the iconic Sebenza ever since I handled one over a decade ago at a local gun show.  The simple build of the knife and the impeccable fit and finish were what drew me to it