Trad. Korean Bows you can buy in Europe (Page 1 of 2)

Welcome Florian.
The bows you quote are, I suppose, one and the same with 'Hwarang' being the trade name used by our Bluelake. SMG and YMG both are excellent replicas of the Korean hornbow, with slight variations in materials.
I will leave Bluelake fill you in with the details.

I bought an artificial horn bow bow directly from  Songmugung http://www.smgung.co.kr/2010/english.htm. Prices are 200 to 250 USD, shipment is 50 USD. I received here in France in 5 days.

The bow is magic, despite artificial birch bark.

Olivier

Hello,

about windfighter and K*y* KTB ...

I recently broke 2 Windfighters, each one after roughly 300 arrows, 1 or 2 weeks after receiving them (the second one in replacement for the first). In each of them, one of the limbs began to crack on the back.

Shortly after that, I also broke my KTB (after 1 year of satisfactory usage, roughly 200- 300 arrows a week). Difficult to say what happened exactly to the limbs (they are covered with pseudo-leather), but the string flew away as the nock of my arrow split in two, then I noticed that one of the limb was much weaker that the other.

With these three bows, i used the thumb release,  with a draw lenght of about 31 inches or 32 inches (KTB) or 32 inches or 33 inches (Windfighter) ,  shooting 100 (bamboo) arrows in sessions of 1h30,  2 or 3 times a week, at short distances (10m, 20m, sometimes 40m).

Does someone have an interpretation ?

Maybe those bows can't stand more that ~5 shots every 20 mn, as when they are  used for long distance Korean archery ?

Although I was addicted to this kind of bows and to thumb release, I'm now wondering whether it is appropriate to go on with Korean bows. While waiting for a replacement windfighter, I'm using a longbow and mediterranean release. Very sad to say, but it suddenly seems so much easier, secure, and reliable.

Thank you Bluelake, this is encouraging :-)   

In my archery club, i'm the only one who breaks bows and the only one who uses Korean bows with long draw and thumb release - hope there is no hidden link between those two facts   :-) 

So, i'll go on with a third replacement Windfighter (if the seller is ok to continue this ordeal) ;

I'm also waiting for a k*y* KTB 52 inches (will require months of waiting, apparently...) and I hope it will last one year at least (like my previous KTB 48 inches). After all, one year duration for ~150 Euros is almost a good deal for a tough and durable bow that does not require maintenance.

I have read of broken Windfighters on another blog ( can't remember which ) but the solution suggested was to serve the weak parts of the bow- namely where the limbs connect to the ears and where the riser connects to the limbs. I have a Hungarian bow with just this sort of serving. I have also heard that the Windfighter is a pretty good bow so a bit of preventative maintence might be of help.

In the 2 cases I experienced with the windfighter, one of the limb began to crack on the back, around the middle of the limb (or maybe around the fist third of the limb : a bit closer to the handle).

Can't see exactly what is the problem with the ktb : at first glance it seems intact, but it is weakened around the middle of the upper limb, maybe in two points. The rest seems ok : siyah, bridges, handle, bow cover, servings, ...

It's about the same as for the Hwarang--you probably aren't going to get more than 33" or so for a standard.  However, they have janggung and jangjanggung (long and extra long) versions, which can add some draw length.

Have you already gone to Boston?  Is/was this a private demonstration or open to the public and still able to attend?

I own a Windfighter 55#, i have it for a while, and i shoot lots of arrows, seems in good shape, and i hope it stays that way, i shoot 3 fingers release, i just can´t shoot mongolian release, i´ve tried.Now i also own a Hwarang which  i bought in Ledu-Qinghai during a tournament, so i´ll be using them at random, the serving of the Hwarang is quite thick, so i just use wood arrows with a wider nocks (they´re self nocks), the carbons i have don´t fit in the Hwarang serving, as it´s far too thick. It´s very sad to read such things are happening to the Windfighter, but if you´ve broken quite a few in a short period of time, it´s odd indeed. Long life to mine Windfighter!

I´M AFRAID OF DAMAGING IT, SO, I´LL LEAVE THAT WAY. THE ONE I HAVE IS FROM YEUN MOO GOONG.

Let me know how is it going, did you notice a lot of difference in drawing comparing 50# and 55#?

Double served means that you have string, then you have a layer of serving and then another layer of serving. You may remove one layer of serving to make the whole bundle suit conventional arrow nocks.