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Our bows are made in Hungary by Kassai Lajos.
A master archer and horseman, Mr. Kassai has designed bows based upon
years of painstaking research into the Scythian, Hun, Avar, Magyar, and
Mongol historic styles. Highly related are the Khazar, Russian, Seljuk
Turk, and Korean bows. Mr. Kassai references archeological digs in his country and elsewhere,
historic texts, paintings, illuminations, and Magyar verbal histories
before he reproduces a bow style. His search for historical documentation
is ongoing. New bow designs and improvements on current bow styles are
made with an eye toward historical accuracy achieved via modern technologies.
Kassai's bows are made with an eye toward historical accuracy achieved
via modern technologies. As more fully described below, they are constructed
either of Ashwood and Fiberglass or "Action Wood" (a hi-tech
laminate with a base of maple).
ASHWOOD and FIBERGLASS Bows
The handle and ears are ashwood, the bellies
are fiberglass. The wood and fiberglass pieces interlock and their
joints wrapped together with nylon thread. Then the bellies are wrapped
in leather and the joints again wrapped and glued using nylon or cotton
cord. The bellies of the medieval originals were wrapped to protect
the glue that held together the tendon, wood, and horn sandwich which
gave them such great strength. The wrapping is used now to protect
the fiberglass from the UV rays of the sun and reproduce the traditional
look. All fiberglass is protected and hidden under wood or leather.
"ACTION WOOD" -- Hi-Tech or Laminated Bows
The above discussed fiberglass bows give you the ruggedness of fiberglass
and still match or surpass the performance of equivalently priced recurves
and longbows.Yet according to engineering specs laminated wood flexes
faster than fiberglass and most of the competition is made of laminated
wood. So Kassai also offers his fine bow designs made with "Action
Wood" - the best bow materials modern chemistry can produce.
Action Wood is compressed maple and resins assembled in a
laminate construction that retains the appearance of the maple. It
creates a bow with a great deal of flex at an amazingly low weight.
This noticeably increases the horsebow design's already impressive
efficiency.
If you wish to have a bow with the most effective materials possible
then it is logical that you want those materials used in a design that
starts out performing other bows . Of course there are disadvantages.
Lamination takes extra man-hours to be cetain all the layers bond perfectly
and they are only as rugged as most other bows. Static recurve designs
executed with the most efficient laminated materials are truely impressive.
All of the bows are made without arrow rests, so may be used right-
or left- handed. The pull is very smooth. The release is easy and the
energy goes into the arrow, there is no energy left to cause handshock
or "thrum"
the string! They do not start stacking until beyond 30". The Hun
does not stack, even at 38". This is accomplished by the leverage
of the ears countering the increasing resistance of the fiberglass as
it bends. The velocity of the cast is noticeable faster than a longbow
or recurve of similar poundage. When you draw these bows, you pull against
more weight for more of the length of the draw. This is good, as the
arrow gets that full weight back as acceleration through most of the
string's travel. When firing, there is little or no kickback.
These bows may be used either in the Eastern or Western style of shooting.
Some suggested modifications to shooting style:
- Cant the bow 10 degrees to negate the lack of an arrow rest.
- Consider lowering your pull point from ear to jaw, throat or even
collar bone
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