[Archers] SAS Robin Hood Bow Review

[Lorelei Elkins]

Great review, thank you!

Lorelei

On Thu, May 2, 2019 at 2:42 PM Garth Groff and Sally Sanford <
mallardlodge1000 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Noble Friends of the Bow,
>
> Last summer at King's Assessment I was shown a Southland Archery Supply
> Robin Hood bow. I was impressed enough to buy a pair for House Mallard
> Lodge's private loaner kit. Here follows my evaluation of these bows.
>
> Specifications: The bow is a one-piece fiberglass recurve, except for a
> rubbery grip and plastic limb ends. It comes with right and left hand arrow
> rests. The bow has an AMO of 59 1/4", and is advertised with a draw weight
> of 30-35#. Two finishes are available, faux-wood grained and black. Except
> for the graining, the two are identical.
>
> Supposedly, you also get the usual suite of youth-level accessories:
> finger tab, vinyl belt quiver, an arm guard, a target, and a couple of
> fiberglass arrows. Mine came only with a plastic mesh armguards for which I
> have yet to find a use. Most of the accessories would have gone in the
> trash anyway.
>
> Pros and Cons: The bows came strung! The strings that were included
> included were 56" LONGBOW strings with small loops. Apparently the
> manufacturer never intended for these bows to be unstrung. The small loops
> would not slip far enough down to allow the bows to completely relax the
> bows. I applied a lot of bow wax, and was able to just barely drop the
> strings far enough remove them at the bottom. They were replaced by 57"
> RECURVE strings with a larger loop for the top. These were twisted down to
> just above 56", achieving the manufacturer's recommended 7" brace height.
> The original strings were of good quality, and went into my stock for some
> other youth bows.
>
> I added custom shaped glue-back leather arrow rests and back plates. The
> rests are NOT generous, and are quite curved, so giving the bow a small
> cant may be needed to keep arrows on the rests.
>
> The grip does not extend around the bowstave onto the belly of the bow,
> but ends flush with the belly. The square corners tend to make holding the
> bow uncomfortable. Due to the shape of the grip, it probably couldn't be
> padded or wrapped, except possibly by a long thin leather strip. A leather
> driver glove from a garden shop for the bow hand would be helpful.
>
> My main complaint is that both my bows only registered 32# at 28", as
> measured on my electronic bow scale. I bought them mainly because we have a
> real need for some 35# bows, so their lighter draw was a disappointment.
>
> I shot a few test arrows, and found that except for the grip, the bows
> handled well and were reasonably accurate for their poundage.
>
> Price and Availability: I bought mine from Amazon. They are still
> available there, and possibly from other vendors as well. The current price
> is a bit higher than it was when I ordered them last fall: the black model
> is $69.95 and the wood-grain model is $85.61. I joined Amazon Prime just
> for their trial period and got free shipping.
>
> Evaluation: The venerable Bear Titan bow is available for $39.97 from
> Amazon, and for not much more at a number of other vendors. This bow is
> advertised at 29#, though it really draws 30# (there is a federal excise
> tax on "hunting equipment" which starts at 30#). Considering that the SAS
> bow is nearly the same draw weight, I recommend the Bear instead. You would
> have to replace the metal-clipped string, and the most recent examples come
> in a dull gray color, but the price difference and better hand grip make
> the Bear a much more attractive choice.
>
> Yours Aye,
>
> Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
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