# Most durable recurve limbs?



## limbwalker (Sep 26, 2003)

The discussion about limb failures made me wonder - what are some of the most durable recurve limbs out there in play? 

Personally, I have to give the nod to my tried-and-true original (Earl Hoyt Jr.) *SKY Carbon Jacks* that have lasted me for 14 years and tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of shots. They have been through everything, around the world and back and still perform great. I cannot detect any loss of draw weight either after all that use.

Other extremely durable limbs I've had were *Samick Masters and Samick Universals (old stock) and the TradTech Black Max* limbs that I use for hunting. Never had an issue with any of them.

What are some limbs that you would consider "most durable", as in nobody has ever seen one fail? I think it would be helpful to know.


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## zal (May 1, 2007)

My old mentor's Yamaha EX Carbons have seen about half a million shots through them. They have required maintenance though, weak point in old Yamahas are limb tips, which he has re-laminated at least twice, originally to make them sturdy enough to withstand modern string materials.

Personally, my Sky Conquests have at least 150,000 shots put through them. Not sure how many before me, as they're 2nd hand I bough from mainland Europe and the previous owner used them as spare limbs for the Sydney olympics or at least during trial/preparation perioid. Most of that 150,000 is blank baling at home though, as they have always been slightly too stiff for me for competition use.


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## Bigjono (Apr 21, 2009)

I found the SF Ult Pro would stand up to anything.


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## Viper1 (Aug 21, 2003)

John - 

I gotta tell ya, I think any wood/glass limb from 10 or more years ago are going to be hard to kill. 
And sometimes older is better.

A lot of us have vintage target wood/glass bows from the 60's and 70's that may not preform like the new stuff, but are still kicking. 

Carbons my be another story, as I have had a few destabilize over 5 - 10 years. They still shoot, just not as well as they did when new. I think that a more common issue.

However, any limb (or anything else) can have a bad run or batch. 
Happily limb failure is pretty rare, and usually isolated to a particular model or run.

Viper1 out.


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## GoldArcher403 (Jun 25, 2014)

I'm bias for my Uukha's but they are impervious to delamination because of how they're made. I also stuck a pair of VX's into my ceiling fan one day (was trying to measure my bottom limb tiller lol) while it was running full speed and not a single ding. The fan on the other hand.....


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## Bigjono (Apr 21, 2009)

rjbishop said:


> I'm bias for my Uukha's but they are impervious to delamination because of how they're made. I also stuck a pair of VX's into my ceiling fan one day (was trying to measure my bottom limb tiller lol) while it was running full speed and not a single ding. The fan on the other hand.....


I agree on the Uukha, they are pretty much bomb proof.


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## limbwalker (Sep 26, 2003)

Viper1 said:


> John -
> 
> I gotta tell ya, I think any wood/glass limb from 10 or more years ago are going to be hard to kill.
> And sometimes older is better.
> ...


So Tony, what are some modern competitive recurve limbs you'd put on the "indestructible" list?


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## grantmac (May 31, 2007)

I think over time we are going to see excellent durability out of the Uukhas. They just seem bombproof.


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## Bigjono (Apr 21, 2009)

Maybe "least durable" might be good option too John.


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## calbowdude (Feb 13, 2005)

For me, a set of old PSE X pressions that I got over 10 years ago. 100,000+ shots through them, including dropping them onto a concrete floor when I forgot my sling. 

My digital bow scale says they lost 0.2 pounds from 10 years ago. Tiller hasn't changed at all, and neither have the sight marks.


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## limbwalker (Sep 26, 2003)

calbowdude said:


> For me, a set of old PSE X pressions that I got over 10 years ago. 100,000+ shots through them, including dropping them onto a concrete floor when I forgot my sling.
> 
> My digital bow scale says they lost 0.2 pounds from 10 years ago. Tiller hasn't changed at all, and neither have the sight marks.


That's great to hear. I've never heard or seen a set of X-pressions blow up. Maybe I should try them again now that I have 27" risers.


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## Bigjono (Apr 21, 2009)

Were they re branded Winnex?


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## limbwalker (Sep 26, 2003)

No, the X-pressions were different than the WinEx. IIRC - according to David K. - the X-pressions were honeycomb foam on one side, and solid foam on the other. They were made for PSE by W&W according to PSE's specs.


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## zal (May 1, 2007)

Bigjono said:


> Were they re branded Winnex?


Different construction, but same era W&W materials.

Also SF ultimate pro is pretty much rebranded Inno.


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## Bigjono (Apr 21, 2009)

zal said:


> Different construction, but same era W&W materials.
> 
> Also SF ultimate pro is pretty much rebranded Inno.


That's weird because I love the UP's yet hated Innos almost as much as Ex Powers


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## Stephen Morley (Aug 11, 2016)

rjbishop said:


> I'm bias for my Uukha's but they are impervious to delamination because of how they're made. I also stuck a pair of VX's into my ceiling fan one day (was trying to measure my bottom limb tiller lol) while it was running full speed and not a single ding. The fan on the other hand.....


A few years ago at Euro Fields in Hungary a guy left his Bow on the dirt track, some crazy local ran over his VX100's at 30mph, the limb bolts failed but the actual limb was fine.


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## Rylando (Jul 30, 2016)

Stephen Morley said:


> A few years ago at Euro Fields in Hungary a guy left his Bow on the dirt track, some crazy local ran over his VX100's at 30mph, the limb bolts failed but the actual limb was fine.


Can't say the same for the fellow who that happened to at World Field in Croatia, poor Fivics I think they were. Don't leave your limb tips in the road way though, good lesson lol.

Has anyone ever seen a pair of MK's fail? People seem to be shooting older vera's for quite a while without any problems I've heard of. My Inpers sure seem pretty durable.


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## limbwalker (Sep 26, 2003)

Well, I never saw a pair of Samick Masters fail, so it wouldn't surprise me if the guys at MK Korea are building some very durable limbs still.


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## calbowdude (Feb 13, 2005)

Huh, I didn't know honey comb foam on one side, I thought it was carbon on one face and fiberglass on another. But I have only a hazy memory, so thanks for the clarification. All I know is that those suckers just keep shooting. And the finish is way tougher than many of the newer limbs' clearcoat/paint combo


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## Jim C (Oct 15, 2002)

limbwalker said:


> The discussion about limb failures made me wonder - what are some of the most durable recurve limbs out there in play?
> 
> Personally, I have to give the nod to my tried-and-true original (Earl Hoyt Jr.) *SKY Carbon Jacks* that have lasted me for 14 years and tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of shots. They have been through everything, around the world and back and still perform great. I cannot detect any loss of draw weight either after all that use.
> 
> ...


I have a set of Samick Universals 30 pounds medium, that I bought from Eric Hall in 1997 or 98 that have been used by maybe 6 different JOAD archers and are still running strong. I have three sets of SKY JACK 27 pound short limbs that have thousands of shots on them-got them in 01 or so.


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## Jim C (Oct 15, 2002)

limbwalker said:


> No, the X-pressions were different than the WinEx. IIRC - according to David K. - the X-pressions were honeycomb foam on one side, and solid foam on the other. They were made for PSE by W&W according to PSE's specs.



we were PSE dealers at the time those came out and that is exactly what DK told me as well.


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## Viper1 (Aug 21, 2003)

John - 

If you mean current issue, I wouldn't put any on the list. 
To prove something is "bomb-proof" or claim durability, it has to be around long enough to qualify - see the problem?
Then you have to use a parameter based on chronological age and/or number of shots as a benchmark - an other problem. 

The best people can do is "infer". That's why I said in my first line, 10 years old or more. 
And a bow that was built in the 1970's and is still in use might just qualify. 

Like Bigjono said, a list of known problems might be more valid, because there's hard data. 
Any bow can fail on the next shot, and you won't know until that happens; with a bow that has failed you have a hard datum point 

Viper1 out.


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## Seattlepop (Dec 8, 2003)

calbowdude said:


> Huh, I didn't know honey comb foam on one side, I thought it was carbon on one face and fiberglass on another. But I have only a hazy memory, so thanks for the clarification. All I know is that those suckers just keep shooting. And the finish is way tougher than many of the newer limbs' clearcoat/paint combo


The X-Pression of the last couple or more years? no longer appear to be honey-comb. Here is a side by side of the earlier vs newer limb layers. Not a great photo, but you can see the comb edges in the top are not in the bottom photo. Mine are different weights, so I can't really compare them, however it is alleged that the newer version is "smoother".


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## target1 (Jan 16, 2007)

Original winacts are awesome.


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## zal (May 1, 2007)

limbwalker said:


> Well, I never saw a pair of Samick Masters fail, so it wouldn't surprise me if the guys at MK Korea are building some very durable limbs still.


I've seen Masters fail, also Extremes, both original and BF. Guy I was coaching at the time went through couple of pairs of BF as they kept changing the tiller constantly and lately delaminated at butt end. I had Agulla Ultra's (which are basically Masters') shear the tips.

Also, I've been told that later X-pressions had the foam same foam as newer winexes rather than the original honeycomb.

I've never seen Winacts fail. I've had couple of pairs, one very early ones with the yellow graphics, others with the grey graphics of around 2004-2005. Both are still being used.


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## lamb (Apr 21, 2008)

Bigjono said:


> I found the SF Ult Pro would stand up to anything.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


had a brand new set come apart. alt gave me a new set right away. 
my vote sky conquests [earl hoyt]


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## keno190a (Nov 23, 2015)

I'm fairly new to the sport but has there been a tendency for hoyt limbs to fail more so than any other manufacturers throughout the years? Are older made limbs more sturdy than the ones out in the market these days?


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## Rylando (Jul 30, 2016)

keno190a said:


> Are older made limbs more sturdy than the ones out in the market these days?


Depends on the limb. I've heard of Borders from a few years back exploding on everyone who owned them, meanwhile supposedly the newer borders are fine to an extent. Everyone makes their limb differently.


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## limbwalker (Sep 26, 2003)

> Are older made limbs more sturdy than the ones out in the market these days?


I think Vittorio did a good job of covering the reasons why that may be the case, in his earlier post.

Whatever the case, give me wood cores and "old technology"  I'll gladly trade 4 fps for a limb that lasts me a decade or more.

I'm very curious to see how the new Hoyt bamboo core limbs hold up. I don't think I've ever heard of a bamboo core limb separating.


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## Demmer3 (Apr 23, 2017)

limbwalker said:


> I'm very curious to see how the new Hoyt bamboo core limbs hold up. I don't think I've ever heard of a bamboo core limb separating.


Did they make them bomb-proof, performance geared, or somewhere in the middle? I guess time will tell.

I would love to see more options with bamboo cores. 

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## GoldArcher403 (Jun 25, 2014)

keno190a said:


> I'm fairly new to the sport but has there been a tendency for hoyt limbs to fail more so than any other manufacturers throughout the years? Are older made limbs more sturdy than the ones out in the market these days?


In my days working at a pro shop we had people bring in delaminated, twisted out of box, and hot pulling Hoyt limbs. A buddy of mine has a Prodigy riser that's so twisted that the bow can not be aligned. I dont know whats going on with them lately. Hoyt makes great products, dont get me wrong, but their quality control is what pushes me away from them.


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## airwolfipsc (Apr 2, 2008)

Definitely my Yamaha eolla and alpha-ex limbs! Glad I own and collect them. Im blessed to have 3xeolla. 3x alpha ex not enough.lol.


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## Blunt Arrow (Mar 2, 2006)

I have a pair of Earl Hoyt Carbon wood limbs that I purchased from a friend in 1998. I sent them back to Earl when he started Sky Archery to have them refinished. I still have them and they still shot well the last time I tried them. Next to them I have had win & win winnex limbs which are still being made and have stood the test of time.


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## lowellhigh79 (Aug 3, 2012)

Uuhka. Probably the only limbs that can be left inside your car trunk in the hot Vegas summer.


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## Stephen Morley (Aug 11, 2016)

lowellhigh79 said:


> Uuhka. Probably the only limbs that can be left inside your car trunk in the hot Vegas summer.


A review on Uukha from Australia said the limbs get VERY hot on the shooting line, they look cool in carbon black but soaks up the Sun, didn't say they were failing, just a concern on how hot they got.

Couple of years ago and old Finnish Barebow Archer shooting a set of UK made 40 year old Les Howis limbs, he schooled me on a WA3D tourney (and the Compounds) by only shooting 11's on the Semi final shoot off, it was worth losing to him just to witness it.


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## MartinOttosson (May 31, 2011)

My two best bets for durability have already been mentioned are Samick Masters/Master Max and Uukha. I have had the Samicks for many years and shot them a lot and they still look more or less like new. My Uukha set also seems to be a real long lasting limb. The construction really feels bomb proof, apart from some chipping of the coating, but that doesn´t affect the durability. The matte black colour is a real heat magnet though, just like expected, but I haven´t noticed any performance reduction even on really warm days. But I try to avoid keeping the bow in direct sunlight when it´s extremely hot outside. Not sure I need to, but it just feels better. The Samicks are painted with a reflective metallic like white that keeps heat away very effectively.


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## limbwalker (Sep 26, 2003)

> A review on Uukha from Australia said the limbs get VERY hot on the shooting line, they look cool in carbon black but soaks up the Sun, didn't say they were failing, just a concern on how hot they got.


I'm pretty surprised they don't offer a silver or white painted option.


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## GoldArcher403 (Jun 25, 2014)

The first bow Uukha ever made was actually silver looking. I also heard a rumor that the new 2018 line will have colors.


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## lightning25 (Jul 18, 2017)

I would say my Uukha limbs


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## hotshot42 (Jan 23, 2019)

not the best performance, but uukhas are probably very durable.


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## hotshot42 (Jan 23, 2019)

other than that, most limbs are basically the same.


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## XanderHoll (Oct 4, 2016)

For sure not the W&W synergy


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## 150Archer99 (Aug 15, 2017)

Agree that Uukha limbs are pretty durable. As for Borders-they can be but Border is pretty specific about what brace height to run, the string material and minimum arrow weight.


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## tan.k.sun.7 (Jun 12, 2015)

I would say Uukha limbs. I shot my bow forgetting to put on my sling. Now landed on the lower VX1000 limb bounced, limbs flew off the riser. Upon examination nothing wrong with the limbs and tips, put everything back together and shot fine as before. 


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## EHartkopf (Aug 7, 2017)

Uukhas are durable but their finish is not. There are solid carbon, but the carbon fiber appearance is just a dip of some sort. It will peel right off if you try to take limb savers off.


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## Timevoid (Aug 19, 2018)

EHartkopf said:


> Uukhas are durable but their finish is not. There are solid carbon, but the carbon fiber appearance is just a dip of some sort. It will peel right off if you try to take limb savers off.


Just to clearify. Depending on what limb you buy its a % base of carbon mixed with epoxy resin. 
So 25% carbon EX1, 50% Hx10, Ux100 85%, VX1000 100%. XX 100%. 

so Ex1 i guess there are some glass fibers added or else you have limb that contains 75% resin 

But just to be clear. If its 100% carbon there is zero resin and the resin that keeps the carbon together needs to be evaporated in the oven i guess... But its a bit of marketing scheme.


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## rsarns (Sep 23, 2008)

Really surprised by Uukha being on this list. My personal experience this year has not been good. Had a set of MK Veracity delam. Bought a couple sets of Uukha EX1 (different poundages).... shot the 38# for about two months and loved them, then strung up one day and noticed the top limb was twisted. Ran the LLA as far as I could string still not in groove and at full draw looked like it was a pretzel. (Shooting 11gpp and 8125 20 strand string)... sent them back to dealer for replacement. Put 40# brand new limbs on I had bought, lower limb was weak by 3 full turns of tiller, sent back for refund. Bought XX limbs after shooting EX1 for a month, way before twisting. Within 2 weeks top limb twisted. Uukha had me send back via Alt Serv’s and new limbs coming today. Won’t even shoot... they will be in classifieds as soon as they get here. I have Xpressions which are great, 3 sets of Ult Pro’s and 2 sets of Inno Primes that have thousands of shots.


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## woof156 (Apr 3, 2018)

Original question is a bit like asking which cars get in the fewest accidents.. so many variable it is almost moot.


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## Draven Olary (Jun 12, 2016)

Not really, woof156. Disregarding the "drivers" there is a lot of truth in long term durability surveys.
I would really like to see a table with all the limbs - packages based on price - and failure numbers at 1 year, 5 years and 10 years. This will give a good feedback to a buyer and manufacturer about a brand/product. I doubt will be a limb without failures too.
I had Samick Extreme BF delaminate on me so I doubt there are no failure on the Olympic Recurve twin's limb. Murphy's law applies here too. But it is interesting to know how many times for a product. It's like buying limbs based on reliability too.


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## Maggiemaebe (Jan 10, 2017)

Draven Olary said:


> Not really, woof156. Disregarding the "drivers" there is a lot of truth in long term durability surveys.
> I would really like to see a table with all the limbs - packages based on price - and failure numbers at 1 year, 5 years and 10 years. This will give a good feedback to a buyer and manufacturer about a brand/product. I doubt will be a limb without failures too.
> I had Samick Extreme BF delaminate on me so I doubt there are no failure on the Olympic Recurve twin's limb. Murphy's law applies here too. But it is interesting to know how many times for a product. It's like buying limbs based on reliability too.


Unfortunately the likelihood of seeing this is about the same as every manufacturer publishing draw force curves for their products so we can compare things to suit our preferences


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## woof156 (Apr 3, 2018)

Draven Olary said:


> Not really, woof156. Disregarding the "drivers" there is a lot of truth in long term durability surveys.
> I would really like to see a table with all the limbs - packages based on price - and failure numbers at 1 year, 5 years and 10 years. This will give a good feedback to a buyer and manufacturer about a brand/product. I doubt will be a limb without failures too.
> I had Samick Extreme BF delaminate on me so I doubt there are no failure on the Olympic Recurve twin's limb. Murphy's law applies here too. But it is interesting to know how many times for a product. It's like buying limbs based on reliability too.


I agree if the data were collected in some coherent and reliable way but word of mouth is like including the driver in car reliability-- perhaps informative but a bit biased and is the reporting complete-- i.e are all the delaminations etc reported and non delaminations etc reported. No doubt if a number of people begin to have problems with a brand but the But because 20 people here vouch for brand X and not brand y means little in real terms. Wouldn't hurt to have a long time consumer reports report on limbs ....


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