Sanlida Archery X8 Trad Recurve Review

History talk of 20th Century American bows while Reviewing the Sanlida Archery Royal X8

This is a budget 60" recurve bow based on the American Trad Bows of the 1950s-1960s when Fiberglass was adopted as a structural material for recreational bows.
or find it on Amazon type Sanlida Archery

[oackman]

I like how you always give a historical context to all the bows you review

[sjvche]

Did a kit bow from Kitteridge Archery Hut, Covina/Mammoth Mountain in the 60's, when I was in high school, learned a lot.

[chrisruzsa]

Fred bear also was the pioneer in take downs too. I don’t think there was a take down until him.

[stevenparsons]

Jack. You're right on the history as I have read it. You can not beat those Bear Magnum bows. The Sanlida products are very good also.
However. You have helped me to decide on an ILF bow. Keep up the good work.

[arcaneknight]

Where do you source your historical arrows? Bought the Tiron and am waiting for it to arrive.

[HistoricalWeapons]

Miller is likely the inventor of the Modern Fiberglass Bow

W.l. Miller, was a chemist and physicist working with plastics in a laboratory for many years as well as flight shooter. He held a patent on plastic faced bows since 1943.Toxglass is a woven fiberglass backing. Toxwood is a plastic impregnated wood used for both backing and facing. Toxhorn is a high pressure phenolic type plastic with a cellulose filler used for facing.



the pistol grip riser/handle with shelf and sight window originated in the 1940s by Earl Hoyt. Before that they had what some called a "locator" grip. Slight "dish" with palm swells in the Hill type grip. Small shelves go back farther. Synthetic backings (Toxhorn, Lamacoid, Fortisan, Bakelite) into the 1920s or earlier.



Fred Bear got a patent for his method in Canada in 1953, but it was done other ways by others long before that. Some of the early pioneers were Gordon, Eicholtz, and Miller.



Archery was popular before the Great Depression. Hill mainstreamed it via Hollywood. Archery made it's Great Leap Forward in the USA with Ben Peasron and Fred Bear in the 50s who brought mass production to it, and popularized bowhunting (where most of the market is in the USA, which is half the worldwide market).



Note: Fred Bear did not Invent Fiberglass bows, but he was one of the most important figures of the 1950s that made it into a commercial product



Thanks for Michael for a lot of this research!

[CamelCasee]

I think the brace height needs increasing.

[Fak-pmqt]

Takedown bow is a Stone Age invention along with shelves

[ThirdLawPair]

Both the Sanlida bows and the Black Hunter do perform well enough to use for hunting. I hunt with a #45 Black Hunter, and several archery YouTubers who have tried out a #50 Sanlida have said they plan to hunt with it.

[eduardoleite]

Great video!!!
A lesson of history and a cheap bow review, that's great!

[dsasd]

bundle stick bows of stone age are the first take downs

[jackster]

Hey, Jack (I’m Jack too haha). I think you should try doing Native American bow and arrows. Specifically, you should try to make a bow of American wood and try flint/quartz headed arrows.

I am part susquahannock and Potomac, it would be nice to honor my ancestors. Over here in Maryland the arrow heads were mostly quartz because of a lack of flint.

[HonneTapža]

I have EK Archery Robin Hood Recurve 30 - 35lbs (?) at my dad's place and it makes weird cracking noise when I draw it, is this normal? Should I continue shooting, or should I get a new bow? All the arrows are broken because the target was so horrible, just some polystyren against a wall.

[charlesdudley]

So I've recently cut down the arrows that came with the Sanlida One Piece to 27.5" and put 75grain field points on it to make it as light as possible. Shoots alot better. Still heavy

[mikeorick]

That looks like another version of the Martin Dreamcatcher, a popular bow in the 1990s. Made in China, imported by many and sold under different names.

[brianfreland]

this is a fast bow. its a great buy for 130 bucks. hard to beat this offer from sanlida. i hear the royal x8 longbow is even more of a pleasure to shoot

[brianfreland]

ive also heard from a very reputable source and highly experienced guy that the carbon arrows that come with this bow are a little stiff or heavy for the bow. good if you want to actually knock a deer with one but if youre shooting targets you might want to drop back to a 500 arrow rather than these 600 carbon arrows. obviously the bow shoots well with them but if you want a perfectly tuned arrow, you have to tune one up no matter what bow or arrows you just part of archery and every bow will like a different arrow set up at different pull lengths. this bow at a 28 inch pull will shoot an arrow differently than at 30 inches. its super important that you tune the arrow to your personal pull length and poundage etc etc because no one formula is perfect for every bow or setup. its worth the afternoon of dialing it in to get that perfect arrow to bow match up to shoot your best tune. happy shooting guys

[charlesdudley]

I love my Royal X8. Its a fast shooting accurate bow. The only downsides are the arrows that come with it are way to heavy. And the string is too long. That can be adjusted. But overall its great for the price.

[charlesdudley]

Looks like you are shooting with a 6" brace height.

[pyramid_scheme_termination]

They dont feel like weapons. They feel more like sport equipment