In my opinion, black walnut is a great limb wood. Yew is my favorite, but in a moderate length, moderate weight recurve you probably won't be able to tell much if any difference between yew and black walnut. Chek-Mate won't offer a limb wood that has not been proven in their designs, so you won't be hurting if you just pick the one you think looks the best. Some bowyers prefer bamboo or actionboo. I figure I'll catch it for this, but I'll say it anyhow. Chek-Mate will use bamboo in the limbs, but it costs extra (due to material costs) and it won't be covered by the warranty. The reason being that, in their tests, Chek-Mate has found reason to be concerned with the durability of bamboo over time. Since the fiberglass protects the limbs, you shouldn't have to worry about dings in the wood on the limbs.

Riser woods vary in looks, weight, and (to a point) durability. The heavier (mass weight) woods are generally the harder woods--cocobolo, Bolivian rosewood, chechen. The other woods are pretty durable as well. Black walnut is probably the softest of the riser woods offered, and probably the lightest.

The way I look at it, my bow is a tool, an tools are meant to be used. Don't consider them dings--call them "character marks".

Chad