SAS Pioneer 68" Longbow

Southwest Archery — the California outfit founded by people behind the ubiquitous Samick Sage — applies the same value formula to a traditional longbow with the 68-inch Scorpion. The one-piece riser layers dymondwood, tigerwood, white oak, and padauk into something that looks far more expensive than its roughly $280 street price, and the limbs carry reinforced tips, so unlike most budget longbows it is rated for Fast Flight and Flemish strings. It ships with a 16-strand Dacron string, a pre-installed shelf pad, and instructions; an optional kit adds a stringer. At 68 inches it draws smoothly well past 28 inches with no stack, and the ArcheryTalk owner thread is notably positive — 'shot well, seemed very stable,' with reviewers remarking how little negative feedback exists. Tradgang and Trad Talk posters treat it as the step up from an SAS Pioneer: cleaner finish, better hardware, one-year warranty. Like most American-style longbows the shelf window is not cut past center, so spine tuning takes patience, and there is mild hand shock with light arrows that a Flemish string and 10 gpp arrows mostly cure. Amazon and Walmart carry it, but their rating widgets could not be verified at research time, so no number is reported here.

Substituted for the requested Bodnik Slick Stick, which is sold out at Bearpaw's US store with a stated 10-12 month production backlog — the Quick Stick is the same German maker's most popular hybrid and is still in retail circulation. Designed by Henry Bodnik as his personal favorite, it marries a longbow's profile and quiet manners to near-recurve performance: a 60-inch reflex-deflex hybrid with a bubinga-and-rosewood (or merbau, by run) riser, bamboo-core limbs under clear glass, multilayered Mycarta tips, and a radiused, cut-on-center shelf — a genuine rarity among longbows that makes arrow tuning almost recurve-easy. It ships with Bearpaw's Dyneema-blend Whisper string, may be stored strung, and carries an extraordinary 30-year warranty. Owners at Kustom King rate it 5.0/5, 3Rivers has logged 13 reviews, and Pete Ward's long-form test praised its dead-in-the-hand shot with essentially no hand shock — the reflex-deflex geometry sheds the thump that plagues D-shape longbows. Caveats: Bodnik weights are known to run 3-4 lb heavy, Bearpaw mandates 8 grains-per-pound minimum arrow weight, and pricing swings widely ($449 on sale at 3Rivers, $699 at Kustom King) with limited in-stock weights. As a compact, shock-free hunting longbow, it's the premium pick of this class.

In the Bear lineup since the late 1990s, the Montana is the longbow most American trad hunters start with — a 64-inch, slightly reflexed D-shape design with a hard-rock maple riser, white maple limbs under black or grey fiberglass, and a supple leather grip with matching leather shelf rug and side plate for shooting off the shelf. The slight reflex and tapered limb laminations give it more zip than a straight-limbed Hill-style bow, and the 64-inch length keeps finger pinch and stacking away for draws up to about 29 inches. Lancaster calls it a longbow that 'performs well above its price-point,' and Amazon buyers rate it 4.4/5. Community feedback on ArcheryTalk and Trad Talk is largely positive but honest about longbow realities: there is some hand shock — mild by longbow standards, and mostly tamed with a properly tuned brace height, heavier arrows, and the included Dynaflight 97 string — and the sight window is not cut past center, so arrow spine selection matters more than on Bear's recurves. At $460-530 street it undercuts custom longbows by hundreds while delivering a genuinely huntable, quiet, lightweight package that carries all day.

The Dragon X8 is the direct-import bow that made ArcheryTalk regulars eat their words: threads on the forum describe being 'stunned' at the quality for roughly $200, and Island Archery's hands-on review called the machining and fit-and-finish nearly flawless for the price - the package price, since the X8 ships as a complete RTH kit with a 5-pin sight, rest, stabilizer, sling, peep, quiver, release aid, 12 arrows, arrow puller, bow stand, and a case. That is the whole cost of entry. Specs are competitive: 0-70 pounds (a true zero floor - a child can draw it), 18-31 inches, 310 fps IBO, and USA-made Gordon Composites limbs with BCY string material. Owners report a surprisingly quiet shot with little vibration and a pleasant draw cycle. Where it falls short of mid-range (and even name-brand budget) bows: 4-pound bare mass is the heaviest here, D97-class strings stretch faster than modern 452X, the bundled accessories are usable but clearly entry-grade, there is no US dealer network - warranty work happens by registration and email - and resale value is near zero. Some in the community also side-eye Sanlida's marketing and design-copying reputation. As a sub-$250 all-in starter, nothing else includes this much.

Galaxy is Lancaster Archery Supply's house brand, and the Ember is its hunting-weight star — a genuinely pretty 60" takedown with a 15" hardwood riser and bamboo-core limbs faced and backed in black fiberglass, currently $199.98 and flagged as a Lancaster Staff Pick (chosen here over the PSE Nighthawk, whose limbs stop at 50 lb and which is aimed more at recreational shooters). Hunting forums like Rokslide and SaddleHunter treat the Ember as the step-up budget recurve: owners call it "an excellent little budget recurve... tough as nails" with limbs that feel quick for the class, and the trad crowd likes that it comes in honest hunting weights of 30-55 lb in 5 lb steps. The trade-offs are inherent to the format: a 60" bow with a 15" riser is less forgiving than a 62-64" rig, so it rewards decent form and properly spined arrows, and TradTalk threads note marked draw weights can run off from a few suppliers, making a known dealer like Lancaster the smart buy. Fittings are proprietary bolt-on (not ILF), but replacement Ember limbs are sold separately, so you can move up in weight without rebuying. Backorders of 2-3 weeks are common — it sells.

The Journey is the Samick Sage's long-armed sibling: the same multi-laminate hard-maple riser concept and bolt-on limb system stretched to 64" AMO with longer limbs, built for archers around 6 feet and taller or anyone drawing past 29" where the 62" Sage stacks. Lancaster's review pegged it as a do-everything bow for hunting, recreational shooting, and 3D, with limbs in 5 lb increments from 30-60 lb — meaning every configuration except the lightest is already at or near hunting weight, and the 55-60 lb options outreach most budget takedowns. The grip is cut to index your hand consistently, and the extra length makes it noticeably more forgiving of release errors than shorter hunting bows. The big caveat in 2026 is availability: Lancaster and Southland no longer stock it, so you're buying through Amazon (where sizes blink in and out), eBay, or small shops like Raptor Archery, and long-term parts support leans on the shared Sage limb-bolt pattern rather than Samick's wobbly US distribution. If you can't find one, the Southwest Archery Spyder XL is the community's like-for-like substitute. Found in stock at hunting weight, it's still a smooth, tall-archer bargain.