I dont really keep a back up bow per say. I use to keep a back up compound, a back up recurve, and a long bow. Never used the respective back up, instead I would grab a different type of bow, when the one I was planing on using messed up (which happenend just a few times in 20+ years). I sold my extra compounds, but keep my trad bows. Trad bows tend to be more personal than a compound. You get more of a bond to a trad bow than you do a compound. A trad bow tends to become a part of you.