It’s interesting to read these posts from an unbiased prospective. I can truly see both sides of the bicker.
Myself and others read this to see the outcomes of these bowyers endeavors. Mild good natured bickering is good as it presents different perspectives, Even if the parties doing the bickering are too closed minded to see Others perspectives at the time, they may reflect back as long as they ain’t too butt hurt over the argument. Regardless it is good for bystanders wanting to educate themselves to hear both sides of a debate. Often it boils down to what breed of coonhound is the best and there is no answer.
There is always two sides to an argument, and bystanders typically pick a side; I don’t particularly see the reason for this one. And I’ll explain from my perspective.
I believe that some took hedge to be saying that certain bows he makes are better or faster than theirs. I don’t think that he meant it as such. I think he meant that he can tell which bows if his performs better and that’s good enough for him, he doesn’t need to prove to himself with numbers and don’t feel obligated to prove to others as his bows just need to suit him. He joined in the recurve build threads to build a bow similar to others being built and join in the discussion not to prove anything. I may be wrong on that take, but I understand that mentality. There are bows on my rack that are the fastest I’ve built. Also bows that are the slowest I’ve ever shot, the fast ones suit me and I still appreciate the effort I put in to the slow ones. I do not need numbers to discern which is which. There are some bows in my rack that I think are fast, and I couldn’t tell you which is fastest, I would need a measured number to do so, but I don’t care that much.
I believe the other take on this argument is that numbers are needed to prove out a bow or design and that Shawn was somehow challenging that due to the way he presented his views. I can see that, and I am appreciative of the test the design mentality. If it weren’t for that mentality and what I’ve learned from it, I would have nothing but dogs on my rack and think that self bows are just dogs.
Both sides are right, you need to test and measure to constantly improve. You do not have to test and measure to know a bow is fast enough to suit your taste and needs.
