What is this bow???

It looks like a Samick SKB-50. That style was common here in Korea, until about eight to ten years ago when most bow companies started producing laminated bows that were more like a horn bow.


T

That is the Samick SKB and the photo is exactly the one used in the catalogues distributed by Robin Sport, a very good archery retailer in Germany. They closed down a few years ago.

I still see the Samick SKB on the samick website. Can anyone share experiences with that bow?
There's a bowyer here in Hungary who makes pretty similar laminated "Korean" bows - I like this design, it's a pure beauty...
Szabi

Szabi,

Although I haven't shot that particular bow, as I mentioned above, we used to commonly have that style here in Korea a decade ago. I still have one, but it's just a keepsake from my earlier times in archery. It was harder to draw than the modern Korean laminates, and had a great deal of handshock. The ones made here in Korea nowadays are very smooth, both in draw and release.


T

What is name of that bowyer? Does he got a site? Where I can see some pictures of that bows?

Thomas,
thank you for your comments!

Rapsod,

His name is Laszlo Gelencser, he doesn't have a website, but you can see that particular bow at
http://www.freeweb.hu/szittyalovasijasz ... #gelencser (sorry for the popups)
"Gelencser koreai" is the bow I'm talking about. I haven't tried it yet. Unfortunately this website is only in Hungarian, but still worthy to look at as it provides a huge gallery of Hungarian bowyers and their products (i posted this link here some time ago).
Szabi

Hi Szabi,

You're very welcome.

The bows on that site are nice looking. The Korean bow also looks a lot like the old-style laminates, except it seems to be more wood than glass. Any idea how it shoots?


T

Thank you for the link. Some picture is missing on that site, but the korean bow is there. That was only thing important. It is bad that everybody of this bowyer don't have their site.

Thomas,

I don't have experiences with it. According to the bowyer's info material, it has two sizes, a shorter with 48" string length and 27" max draw, and a longer with 52" string length and 30" draw. His bows have excellent quality (I shot with his hunting recurve), so I expect this one to be really good, too. The website I linked above is about the personal experiences and opinions of an archer team here in Hungary. They have only one "bad" comment about this korean style bow: a considerable handshock.

Rapsod,
If you want to discover the bowyers in Hungary, here are some links:

Lajos Kassai: www.ijaszat.hu
Csaba Grozer: www.grozerarchery.com
Flagella Dei: www.flagelladei.hu
Tamas Kovacs: www.kovacs.try.hu
Mezes brothers: www.yumi.hu
Istvan Szimeiszter: www.szimeiszter.hu (this link doesn't work now, but hopefully will be soon).
That's what I have right now.
Best,
Szabi

Hmmm... those are rather short draws for a Korean bow. We normally draw on average about 31", but the modern laminated bows can go back to about 34-35". The handshock is not surprising, as the old-style Korean laminates had the same problem. Still, they were able to cast an arrow the necessary 145m.


T

Thomas Duvernay wrote:

Hmmm... those are rather short draws for a Korean bow. We normally draw on average about 31", but the modern laminated bows can go back to about 34-35". The handshock is not surprising, as the old-style Korean laminates had the same problem. Still, they were able to cast an arrow the necessary 145m.


T

Yes I had the feeling that these draw lengths are rather short - however, it isn't surprising as most of the traditional archers still shoot with the 3-finger technique with an anchor point at the corner of the mouth here in Hungary, so, a 28 - 30" is OK for most of them. Thumb rings are more and more popular, so, hopefully the bowyers will follow the archers' needs...
Szabi

Rapsod,
I used to have a Samick SKB-50.
I gave it to the son of a Friend (he had actually started making his own bows from saplings so he got a nice present of this bow and three bamboo arrows)
It shot well but had less cast than my Hwarang bow.
Diana

Thomas:
I bought this bow 3 years ago for about 100USD(they say the price is rising now) from my friend who is the Samick dealer here. The bow weight only about 40#,but can draw really far almost as far as the Chinese bow. And the range it can go is way far more then the other bows with the same draw weight. This is a great bow,but I really don't like its grip, that's too small not very comfortable holding it. It also has some hand shake but not too bad. I gave the bow to a guy who learn to shoot thumb draw style from me last year.
It is a fun bow,and very good for the beginners to learn thumb draw.

I looked around my club to see if anyone had an SKB, but I only saw a few of the other makers' old-style bows. So, they are all I have to compare with. Laminated bowyers here in Korea tend to do most things the same as the other, so it is likely that the old-style bows at the club were built pretty much the same as the SKB. I can draw them way back, but they feel a bit stiff all through the draw. Also, they have more handshock than the present-day ones. They can cast an arrow the distance, so they serve their purpose. The real advantage of the SKB, and others like it, is the price; they are good bows for those just getting into archery or on a limited income.


T

I've had two of the Samick bows. Quicks sell them as 'traditional hunter bows'. I didn't particularly like them. Surprisingly, although the limbs are broad and flat, they easily take a twist causing them to unstring sometimes.

The narrow grip is supposed to be thickened with a standard Korean grip build-out, bound with the tape you put on tennis-raquet handles. That makes them comfortable to hold and reduces the hand-shock.

IMHO, the Hwarang bows that you can get from Tom (among others) are much better in every way.

S