CrissyK your theory in thought, in my mond was right on. Because the recurve has less moving parts then the compouond, and if you buy a quality build bow (and Excalibur is just that) it would have a better chance to last much longer without breakdowns. Not to say that the recurve will never have problems, but if you do have them, you can usually fix or work on them yourself.

I believe your father's thoughts is the OLD VERTICAL COMPOUND MENTALITY. Actually that is not as bad as it sounds . What it actually is that in the vertical world, if you do not have a compound, then you are inferior. This is because the compound gives you so much advantage over the recurve in the vertical world, but in the horzontal (crossbow) world, those advantages do not really matter. There is actually a disadvantage becasue you are usually tied to proshops for repairs and you have all the extra parts that could develop problems. The biggest factor is strings, everyone that shoots alot will know that you can have string problems at any time, with a recurve, you can just change the string (within 5 minutes) and continue shooting or hunting. With the compound, you possibly will need to take it into a proshop for the work to be completed. What happens if you were out huntingm would you hunt be finished for the day, not with the recurve.

I have been around crossbows for many many years, actually almost 30 years. I have seen this mindset from the compound vertical world for many years and I have also seen many people change their mindset after they learn and get first hand knowledge of crossbows. There are still people that grew up with compounds that will never change their minds, but most realize that you do not need wheels on a crossbows for it to work correctly.

What you should want in a hunting crossbow is a dependable, accurate bow. Well Excalibur has been the most accurate hunting crossbow produced for many many years. Their dependability speaks for themself.

But if your boyfriend is one of the people that does not or will not accept the recurve, you would not have any problem in selling the bow you bought, This is because it is an extreemly sought after bow, why, because many believe that it is the best bow out there. By the way, I feel that you did alot of good research in the short time you had.