if your hunting, and not planning on unstringing your recurve for a while. always lay your bow on its side, on a flat surface. same goes if you shoot everyday, and dont unstring it. most twist happen while you are stringing or unstringing your bow. also make sure that you have a good stringer, like a selway. they are almost fool proof. but you still have to follow the instructions close. i never stand my bows up in the corner, like you see in alot of pictures. if i plan on not using the bow for a while, if its a takedown i'll break it down and store in a case. if you dont have a case, i make sure that the limbs are laying on thier side as well. heat is your bows worst enemy. never leave it in a hot place while strung up, or directly in the sun light. its all mostly common sense, most of the bows made today are very tough. but with good care they last a life time. i have some lemonwood bows that date back to the 40s, and still shootable. takecare Billy