TOOLS: ESSENTIALS

I enjoyed my beginners’ course enormously; it was very rewarding. But I don’t remember being taught anything about basic bow set-up, or even simple maintenance tasks: that had to wait for my coaching course. Until then I relied on the kindness of strangers. “You need a jig” they’d say, leaving me confused as how a dance could possibly mend an arrow. Clearly, they were winding the new boy up. And what possible use could a Bray Sight Gauge be? How did it differ from those used in other rounds?

Most archery shops will sell you a standard beginners recurve setup with a risers, string, limbs and so on. But if you carry on archery, you will need a pile of other things too, some of which is essential from the get go. Why are these not listed anywhere, when they are just as essential as a string or arrows? No matter. It’s time to change that now.

You may be thinking: why isn't so-and-so on