Barebow style

Typically most people that shoot Barebow, will do so with an Olympic style, take down recurve bow, that has a metal or composite riser and ILF (International Limb Fitting) limbs made from laminates of wood, carbon, foam etc.

Recurve risers come in many sizes, typically from 15″ to 27″ and when paired with limbs that come in short, medium and long, produce bows that range in overall length from 58″ to 72″. For the best mix or performance and ease of use, longer bows are better.

For a man of average height, we’d suggest a 68″ bow made from a 25″ riser and medium limbs. Shorter people including average height women, we’d suggest a 66″ bow, made from a 23″ riser and medium limbs. You’ll also need an arrow rest and possibly a pressure button to get the best performance from the bow.

Note: You will probably upgrade your ILF limbs at some point and probably sooner rather than later, so we suggest you buy good but budget limbs for your first set.

 Arrow rests and pressure buttons

A cheap starter arrow rest, we suggest the ameyxgs archery Magnetic Rest&Pressure Button. 

TOPOINT ENDEAVOR ARCHERY RECURVE BOW RISER 25" ILF RISER WITH LIMBS

F165 RECURVE BOW ARCHERY FOR COMPETITIVE SPORTS OUTDOOR SHOOTING

AMEYXGS ARCHERY OLYMPIC RECURVE BOW 68'' 70'' TARGET TRAIN

Traditional Bowhunter style

TBH (officially TB) is the most flexible of styles, mainly due to the variety of bows you can use to shoot this style. Although only introduced as a style in 2018 it is becoming one of the largest styles in terms of participants due to the flexibility.

You can use any bow that isn’t a compound, (including English longbows, although we wouldn’t suggest you do) to shoot TBH. This includes Olympic Style takedown recurves as in BB, Wooden takedown recurves, one-piece wooden recurves, American flatbows, Horsebows (sometimes referred to as Asiatic).

What determines the style as TBH is that you must shoot off the self of the bow or your hand (not an arrow rest) and you must use carbon arrows fletched with feathers.

A large proportion of TBH shooters are using some kind of wooden traditional bow, be it one piece or takedown. They also tend to shoot shorter bows than in BB, normally between 58″ and 64″.

These bows are sometimes referred to as hunting bows as the shorter length makes them less cumbersome in woodland. Most of this type of bow will have either recurve or hybrid limbs. Hybrid limbs are a relatively new innovation and normally have a smoother draw cycle than recurves.

ILF 58 INCH ARCHERY RECURVE BOW HUNTING 20-50LBS

AMEYXGS ARCHERY 62" RECURVE HUNTING BOW ILF TARGET 20-65LBS

Alternatives to traditional all wooden bows

You can also shoot the same bow you’d use for BB as long as there is no button or arrow rest. Many brands make shorter length ILF bows classed as hunting bows.

There is also a halfway between version where you have a wooden ILF riser with ILF limbs which can be made of manmade materials or wood. This is far more uncommon as there is less choice of wooden ILF risers, but it’s worth checking out. Most manufacturers will make complete ILF bows or you can buy the riser and choose your own limbs. Typically these risers tend to be shorter ranging from 13″ up to 21″ but some also make 23″ and 25″ wooden risers.