Well, I've decided to go ahead and order a Chek-Mate Firebird from Chad in the next week or so. I've been wondering though, how the heck does Chek-Mate manage to sell these bows so "cheap". I mean look around, you don't see too many take-down recurves under $600! And the basic Hunter's and Firebird's are under $400. They use the same materials and appear to be just as well manufactured. What's the secret?

PBB

Pick a hair.....or a caruncle!!

I don't know what the secret is, but I know the 3 Crusaders I have are awesome looking and great shooting. You won't be disappointed with the bow or Chad. They must be able to live cheap up there. I've been scouring the countryside looking for bows and they are a real deal. I hope you have your shots or you will catch the Chek mate or Chad virus. So far the only thing that relieves the symptoms is buying more bows. No known cure<img src=icon_smile_evil.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>.

shhhhhhhh....they can charge more if you want <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>! If they do, I'll come to you for the balance <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>!

Best bang for the buck on the market right now IMO

SHOOT STRAIGHT >>>--------> Troy

This is just my opinion, but have you ever noticed that CM has no advertisements in any of the national archery magazines? Ever notice that CM has no glossy brocheres? No slick packaging? No website? To my knowledge there are no paid &quot;shooters&quot; of CM bows. Up until about a year ago, I had never heard of CM. I happened upon a &quot;Falcon&quot; at a good price and I absolutely loved the way it shot for me. Since then I have had another &quot;Falcon Special&quot; made and I could not be happier with either bow. CM apparently has developed quite a following by word of mouth and the dealer network that they have. I have shot quite a few of the higher priced bows out there and I would say that at least for me there is not any appreciable difference in CM and bows costing twice the price or more. Now, there are a lot fancier bows on the market but I suspect that within reason, CM would make a bow with all the bells and whistles if you prefer and still be much lower in price than the competitors.. Personally, I like a simple looking bow and my Falcons fit that bill very well.

Having said all that, I do know that it costs many thousands of dollars to develop, maintain, and distribute brochures, develop, maintain, and operate a website not to mention the thousands of dollars spent annually on advertisements. Just check out the advertisement rates in a national magazine. Do this in three or four magazines, 6 or twelve times a year and you are talking serious dollars. Like it or not, for the bowyers that do these things, these costs are added to the cost of every bow they sell. I am not a bowyer, but I would think that for a simple recurve material costs are quite minimal. I could be way off base, but I would suspect that for some of the &quot;big name&quot; bowyers out there, liability insurance and marketing are the two highest costs in producing a bow. It would appear that CM is kept busy enough without any of the above and for obvious reasons. Sure, I'd like to see a nice glossy brochure and visit their website and see their ads in TBH, but as long as they are willing to produce a high quality product at such a competitive price...well I'll keep buying them.

Just my opinion.

KPC

GEREP is right on. Chek-Mate doesn't advertise at all (dealers can if they want, out of their own pocket), mainly because they don't need to. Same owners in their 30th year, and plenty of bussiness by word-of-mouth. Low overhead, although they do contribute to charities, really helps keep the prices in check (no pun intended). They also have the production figured out pretty well--not exactly an assembly line (hard to do that with one bowyer), but lot of presses going at the same time so there isn't any time lost waiting on something to work on, and Marc pretty much knows what he is doing. The exchange rate is in our favor also, which really helps. You are more limited on options than with some bowyers (no checkering, not as many wood options as some, no fancy inlays), but Marc ocassionally does a bow &quot;on the side&quot; that is a real show-stopper. They can't offer these options and maintain production, not to mention costs. One of the many great bows on the market, and at a price that is hard to beat.

Chad

Long Bows Rule!