CrissyK

I posted a couple of days ago for some advice on a crossbow. After my own personal research (I wasn't sure what by boyfriend wanted) I thought that the recurve style seemed like a better choice. It just seems in my mind like it would be more satisfying, and I guess that's just because I like the idea that it's more traditional, and that the bow will probably hold up over time longer, etc. etc.

Well, I bought the Excalibur Phoenix for my boyfriend, and felt good about my choice until I talked to my dad and he acted like I was crazy to get a recurve, and moreso, crazy to ever go out on a limb like I did and just blindly choose a crossbow for him without knowing for sure what he wanted or what skill level he had.

I am so afraid that he's going to open it up on Christmas and be disappointed. Would you be happy to open up an Excalibur Phoenix crossbow from your girlfriend? Did I do the right thing? I need moral support lol.

smokepolehall

I'd be very happy! Great choice & a great CB!Excals are the cats meow![8D]

awshucks

Two questions.

1. what kind does your Dad shoot?
2. think he'd be into a little match for a buck or two? lol.

No problem, if he don't like it, just get a BF who will!!

GrumpyTom

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.

Safety Off

CrissyK - I thought the same way thinking the compound has to be stronger and looked cool like some type of Rambo thing [:-]However, after reading a lot of posts, I am going to go for a Excaliber Equinox system. I like the idea of being able to change out a string in the field. Nothing worst then a long walk far from your base and having something go wrong without a solution. Give him the bow then explain everything you learned! Do it in front of your inlaw and they should all be impressed - good luck - good hunting. Safety Off [8D]

Cossack

Chris,
You did right (I shoot both). It's a gift. One you obviously put a lot of thought into. If it's not appreciated, then it has to be for some reason we're not aware of. Lets hope he understands all that you did to make this choice and that he knows half as much as you considered. One can only do the best they can. You did.

KLS

this was brought up in your other post and, unfortunately,the chances of it being an issue is probably pretty good, not because you made the wrong choice but because of peoples lack of knowledge about whats what...

IMO the recurve(excal) has it all over the compound design, in general they're
-lighter weight
-less front heavy, better balanced
-if you can call any of them quiet, excals are probably the quietest(which is a matter of opinion) or can be made to be the quietest
-generally more accurate(there'll be arguments about this too)
-just as fast as a compound design
-just as powerful as a compound design
-far easier to mantain/tune
-and unlike alot of crossbows around excals have very nice lightweight trigger(a heavy/bad trigger will kill the performance of a crossbow)

and these are only a few examples


the only real disadvantage is that recurves are slighty wider, and even that isnt a disadvantage unless your in a situation that makes it noticable

compounds are nice enough too but unlessyou start getting into the thousand(s) dollar crossbows I just cant see any advantage they have over a recurve, and I personally have no desire to buy and/or own one


if your BF has any doubts just point him to any of the crossbow message boards floating around the internet, on just about every one of them the excal crossbows are one of, if not the, most popular crossbow owned, and theres a reason for that


just get him poking around a few of these message boards if he thinks he's disappointed, or better yet, just let him shoot it, it wont take long for him to realise he got the best deal
and if he still doesnt like it, wants to stick to the compound design,or just wants something different in general then like was said, you'll have no problem getting your money back out of that phoenix, then he can downgrade to whatever he wants to get...



I dont think you'll have much to worry about though, like I said before excals arent cheap junk they're high quality, top of the line crossbows and IMO the phoenix is probably the best you can get, in or above its price range, and if he did the research himself(without your help)he'd probably end up making the same choice you did

Dnk

Sounds like your dad thinks its for him, LOL! I would venture to guess that your dad does not know much about Excaliburs. Yes you did the right thing. The bow you bought that lucky son of a you know what one of the best bows money can buy. It's accuracy cannot be bettered by any compound bow, it has the power to hunt what ever you boy friend could possibly want to hunt. It will have less future maintenace, less failures than most compounds. There's more but the bottom line is that it's a win win for your boy friend and your dad is mistaken (no offence).
On another topic, when are you getting one CrissyK?

ranger56528

I shoot both a Excal Vortex and a 10point Profusion(compound)and I find myself takeing the Excal into the woods alot more even tho they are both 07 models,I find the Excal recurve alot easier to deal with when out in the woods altho the 10point is a awsome bow also I just lean more to the Excal....You made the right call getting the Excal.
Remember it's for your BF not your dad and you bought it not your dad,let your dad buy a compound if thatswhat he wants..........
I would rater break a string on a recurve then a compound out in the woods...................

Hotburn76

I have two Horton Compound style cross bows and have had the one for fifteen years or so. I too used to think the recurve design was inferior. But after being in here for a couple of years and learning about the Excal's I was only upset that I found this site one year late or I would not have spent the money I did on the second Horton. Excal holds lots of records in the books for a reason. For your dad to say what he did about Excal only means he is not educated on them. He is probably thinking of the Other CB makers recurves and they all have them, but they are there bottom line CB's. Excal only makes recurves and they make them better then anyone. You let your boyfriend put arrows with that CB in a 2" group at fifty yards, If he is not happy you keep the CB and find the next man that is!