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As you probably have witnessed by now particularly on my Scythian thread, the more accessible modern synthetics are obviously not the same as what was traditionally produced in days bygone.  And if we try and answer such without saying so we may be thought policed.     

Ergo excessive boiler plate is needed for these discussions.

So anyway, what are you trying to do here exactly?  Are you trying to get an actual hornbow or another synthetic?

I made my own to what I could gather was 'historical measurements' or 'standard measurements' (28 inches and a certain diameter that I can't recall off the top of my head).  Everything was fine except it was too short for me.  So I purchased from Gungsulwon and theirs was 31 inches came with 3 baby arrows and was far more comfortable for my draw.  Plus it was lacquered and had a few other features mine didn't.  Its totally doable to make one w/o lacquered and very basic yet functional like mine.  The hardest part was picking out the proper piece of bamboo.  Basically, nature has to provide a shoot with the correct measurements.  It was far more easier too to get the right shoot at 28 inches than at 31.

You definitely have quite the sub-optimal condition there.

Welcome!

Montreal is a cool place....especially in the winter.  Sorry couldn't help myself but yeah I love visiting Montreal and Quebec in general so good to see a Quebecer pop in.

Good call too going for the low poundage for first bow.  It will make the initial learning process go smooth.

Indeed, quite a few Korean bows don't come with that wrap type in the video.  Which should have been painfully obvious based on how the question was asked in the first place.

Have you checked out this thread yet?:

http://www.koreanarchery.org/punbb/viewtopic.php?id=600

Basically goes over all the trials and tribulations with trying to get through to SMG directly.  And its still a pretty new thread too.

Long story short: go to www.koreanbow.com and order from them.  They actually sell the standard SMG (http://www.koreanbow.com/shop/index.php … ;id_lang=1) but any of the other SMGs you'd have to specify from them to get.  There is a significant mark up too but at the moment its the easiest, least frustrating, most sure fire way to get an SMG.

They usually rate their bows at 31 inches if I recall correctly.  If you order from above just specify what you know you draw at at 28 inches and I'm sure they could help you out.

That's interesting.  They certainly made it out to look like an SMG that they sell and when I asked them about the bamboo SMG they made it sound like it was basically SMG but they stamp it or something with their own brand name.  I was a bit hesitant though to buy as their message to me was in rather confusing English and if this is true then I'm glad I did. Yeah I'm definitely interested in who they use for their laminate/synthetic bows.

Ah, yeah that is tiny.  I had a YMG at that size though I prefer sizes more in line with 'janggung' so I eventually sold it. 

Anyway glad to hear you're enjoying the bow a bit more now.

Agree that SMG has gone to complete hell with customer orders/service.  However, its probably the best company for a modern Korean synthetic as their bows typically outperform the rest in all other categories and the bang for the buck factor is still good.  Shame though they screwed up the draw weight here.  Buying from Gungsulwon may be the better option here after all.

@ Greyhamster: what is the strung length of the bow?  Is it about 50 or 51 inches?

60 pounds is definitely a bit too much.  And yes you'll have to train hard to gain stability with it.  I went all the way to 100 pounds for a bow in 2010/2011 and then dropped back down to the 40-50s.  Truthfully, even for me, an avid gym goer, I'm pushing it even at 55 pounds.  Hate to admit that but that's the reality with this sport.  You gotta train hard to maintain some of these weights.

I'd go with 40 pounds next time around.  Even when I train noobs I encourage them to go as light as possible during their beginning year:

20s for females
30s for males.

Yours truly started out with a ridiculously light bow and really there are still form things even I should be working on at the 40 pound range, even though 50 is my optimal draw weight.  Realistically, you'll never obtain proper form if you're starting out to heavy.  And I've been doing this stuff since 2006 and have hit nearly every draw range along the way.

Yeah I know.  I wanted to buy some of his other leather craft goods that he makes but that never came to be either even after multiple contacts via email and even FB.

Thanks Greyhamster.

Its interesting to see the pricing differences.  When I bought their standard carbon bow from them in 2012 it was only 200 dollars.  Now its 250 but all should be keenly aware that the Gunswulwon is selling for 270.  On the other hand it looks like you must send money to SMG via bank wire.  I hate that.

Interestingly enough, when I bought from them in 2012 they refered me to Mechwar and all I had to do was issue a Paypal payment.  Too easy.

Part of why Gunswulwon is marking up is clearly due to the fact that they're using ebay which adds on all those annoying seller fees.  However sometimes bank fees are added on to the final cost for money wires.  I wonder if that's factored into SMG's price?

Still, I'd rather do Paypal via buyer to seller outside of ebay simply due to the fact that I've had money wires go wrong in the past (bank and merchant errors were the culprits).