Welcome, Kyner! As already stated above, you can learn alot here, especially if you weed out the brand-loyalty rubbish, remain open-minded, and simply try to learn from a technical level. Easton has some good info as stated above,
www.bowjackson.com also has some links that could help you, along with
www.merlin-bows.co.uk in their "tec talk" section. There are many books by many knowledgeable authors written about basically every archery subject ever thought of, so the choices are up to you. Ipersonally find some very informative, and some a waste of money and totally contradictory to other books on the same subject, so I tend to listen to those whom I KNOW are great techs--Norb Mullaney, Emery Loiselle, Larry Wise, Chris Jones, Frank Pearson, and a few others. I also try not to put much faith in the "hood ornaments" of our sport when it comes to technical aspects of archery--for example, Dave Watson is a great guy, but is a country singer, not a bow technician, he is paid by certain sponsors and is simply promoting a product. Same way with Ted Nugent. Great guy and rock an roller, hunter, and sportsman, and one of the greatest spokesmen and intense individuals IMHO archery currently has speaking, but I don't think I'd want to talk to him about the technical aspects of a bow that he chooses to shoot at a 30 degree angle all of the time.
You also have to weed out the ones on the messageboards that THINK they know everything from the ones that actually have a pretty good handle on things because they've been around the industry awhile and they work with it every day. I've found this is very easy to determine once you get them talking some, but for beginners or those coming back into the sport after a number of years it can be perplexing listening to two different so-called "techs" and not knowing whom to believe. Generally, the older guys that are either still working within the industry or have been around the sport and industry many years will be better references technically, but at the same time we all must remember that everyone can learn a tidbit of info from even the greenest of rookies at times, so it all must be put into perspective and given a "rating" based upon who stated what. Keeping the open mind is one of the bigggest aspects and keeping brand-loyalty OUT when it comes to technical aspects of equipment is paramount to a great knowledge base. (I've even had to be reminded of this over the years a few times and check myself on occasion! <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>)
Hope this helps you get started, and hope to see you around the boards.<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle> Good shooting, Pinwheel 12
Where do I get started?
