Putting Accessories On a Bow

Choosing accessories to go on a bow can greatly enhance your capability if chosen well, but may also be a hindrance if you just buy something fancy without thinking about what type of shooting you are going to be doing, and possibly discuss it with others. When starting off you will learn better what to do if you are not using extra gadgets. However once you are proficient enough that you think you can add some accessories there is quite a large range to pick from. A few of the ones you can get include arrow rests, armguards, finger tabs, quivers, sights, plungers, clickers, and chest protectors.

One of the few of these that I have is an armguard. Engh when talking about armguards says that it is “…a very simple accessory and does nothing more than keep the string from striking your arm or sleeve…If the string were to glance off your sleeve, it would also affect the consistent speed of the string and cause your accuracy to suffer as a result” (Engh 91). If you have any experience with a bow you have probably shot wrong at least a few times. I personally know that the pain from having the bow string snap against your arm is quite painful and having it strike your sleeve, whereas better, does mess up the shot pretty badly. This makes the armguard a very useful accessory as well as being easy to use and normally quite cheap, I always wear one when I’m actually shooting.

Another accessory that I own is a quiver. Although what you are thinking of when I say quiver might be different than what I actually have. Most people probably think of a bag like device on your back holding all of your arrows like Robin Hood, however Engh states that quivers fall into three main groups. These groups are bow quivers, side quivers, and ground quivers. The side quiver is what most people think of just attached to your side, allowing for easy and safe carry, making it what is generally recommended. I own a bow quiver which is a holder for your arrows built right onto the side of the bow, only really useful for hunting as it can mess up the balance and function of the bow. There is also a ground quiver which is just something that holds the arrows upright on the ground, made from things like traffic cones, tubing or formed wires (Engh 92). Quivers make it a lot easier to carry more arrows without having to go and grab the ones you have already shot. Although I have a bow quiver I would recommend a side quiver as like previously mentioned the quiver being on the bow does mess up my shooting.

The sights on my bow

My plastic armguard

My bow quiver holding 4 extra arrows

What kind of accessories have you used/owned in the past? Do you think you should get more?

Engh, Douglas. Archery Fundamentals. IL: Human Kinetics Inc, 2005. Print.