Elevated rests and sights are nothing new on recurves. Back in the60's and through the 70's before compounds became poplular, they were quite common. Browse through the bows at http://www.archeryarchives.com/, you'll seea lotof therecurves through the 60's, 70's and even 80'swith flipper rests or feather rests. Shucks, my firsttakedown recurve, aMartin/Howatt hatifield, came from the factory with sight and plunger bushings installed. Did everyone usean elevated rest back then? No,but a good number of folks did.When recurves and longbows started really regaining popularity back in the late90's and were labeled as "traditional" equipment, somewhere along the way the elevated restand sights were labeled astaboo on a"traditional" bow.

This photo will make many in the"trad" communitycringe these days. Check out the hatfield riser on the far right. You can even see a stabilizer insert on the other hatfield riser. That use to be fairly common. Not these days though. Not "traditional" enough for most.


As for me, I've gotrecurvesset up with and without elevated rests. The ones without are for competition. Most shoots won't allow even a little flipper rest in the sight window. The ones with, I'll use for hunting, particularlywhen the weather's wet. I use vanesfor the arrows on those bows. Don't worry about feathers gettingsoaked and laying down.