Below is my review of the Sanlida Royal 8 Recurve after about two months of shooting.
This bow comes in a kit for $129.99 on the Sanlida site or on Amazon. Kit includes: Soft Case, Bow, Flemish D97 String, Stringer, Glove, Arm Guard, 6 Carbon Arrows, 2 Rabbit Fur String Silencers.
The bow itself is a 60 inch bow, ff compatible.
Available in 30-60 lbs draw weights at the typical 5 lb increments. I have the 35 lb model.
These bows are Right hand only. However, I have heard this is a rebranded version of the SAS Maverick, and that is available as the bow only for ~$200(with uglier labeling), if you need a lefty.
Case: Soft, lightly padded zip up case. Fits the (unstrung) bow and included items. Well I wish it had a pocket to hold tabs/glove stringer ect, the case itself is really nice and a great addition.
The string: 14 strand D-97, done as a flemish twist. 56 inches long. The string ends were not staggered so clump at the end of the string loop section, which well unattractive, does not impact function at all. However, on my string the top loop was barely larger than the smaller bottom loop. Due to this it won’t slide down the bow limb very easily so once the string has been twisted up to get the appropriate brace height, using the bow stringer is more difficult than it should be.
The kit does not come with crimp on brass nocking points (which I don't like anyways) so you will need to provide or tie your own.
Glove: The included glove is a one size fits all, and from the sounds of other reviews, there is some size variation between the kits. It mostly fits me but is slightly long, and a little loose in the fingers. But it is a nice inclusion to get started with if you don't have it, even if most people will likely get another one.
Arm Guard: The included arm guard is designed to cover the forearm and upper arm. However, flexible enough you can just fold it in half and attach on just the forearm (or just cut off the back half).
String Silencers: When using the (ridiculously heavy) arrows that came with it, using both the included D-97 and a B-55 Flemish string I had , the bow was dead quiet with no handshock even without the silencers installed. When used with lighter, better spined arrows it was noticeably louder but still no handshock to speak of, but adding limb savers and the included rabbit fur string silencers brought it back to silent.
Arrows: 30 inches long, 500 spine, 100 gr bullet point tips. Pin style nocks. Feathers, not hard plastic vanes. Sanlida gives the arrow diameter as 7.8 mm. This equates to 0.307 inches, so for swapping out the tips, get 5/16, which is 0.3125 inches, the 0.0055 inches variation is probably well within the margin of error on arrow and tip sizes. The included nocks are a bit too tight on the included string and do not pass the tap test. I replaced them with SAS standard throat pin nocks and that resolved that issue, or you could make your own string.
The arrows are rather hefty. Total weight (shaft, nock, fletching, insert and tips) is 575-600 grains. The arrows included with all kits are the same spine regardless of draw weight, so are very stiff for this bow. Sanlida does not appear to sell these arrows separately or in any other spines. For the 35 lb @28 bow, the GPP is ~ 16.2-17.1. which is a bit excessive as we don't have Water Buffalo or Elephants here in the Midwest.
F.O.C.: Using the 30 inch arrows and 100 gr tips that come with the set, at 17.75 inches from nock point, Easton's online calculator gives an foc of 7.5%.
The Bow: Beautiful. The grip is nice, the wood finish on the riser is flawless, the matte black fiberglass finish on the limbs is perfect. The shelf comes with the fur arrow rest and strike plate installed. The grip suits my hand and allows me to hold it comfortably with the pressure on the thumb pad of the hand, the shape just seems to guide your hand into place. The branding is fairly innocuous. No limb twist noted. Tiller is 1/8 positive but shoots split or 3 under very well.
Using a cheap luggage scale I tested this and it's right at 35 lbs at 28 inches.
Recommended Brace Height: 7-8 inches. Had to search a bit to find this as it's on the website, but not in the pamphlet that comes with.
Tried 30 inch, 600 spine arrows, 100 grain tips, coming in at 293-323 grains, (8.37-9.23 gpp) 16.7% FOC, and these are still a bit stiff for this 35 bow.
After shooting the other arrows that came with it, it amuses me to no end that these are still considered 'Heavy', as the weight difference is HUGE, you notice even without a scale, and can tell them apart just based on the sound of the arrows hitting the target. Without Silencers or limb savers the bow was noticeably louder with these lighter arrows, but still very little handshock. The string savers removed any hand shock and quieted the bow back down. With this bow at this weight I would say 700 spine/1716 aluminum would be the closest match.
I don't have a chrono but have seen other reviews showing 180 fps for 13 gpp and 195 fps with 9 gpp arrows, so it is very fast.
Overall, it's an awesome kit, either for an experienced archer or for someone starting out- the included items are enough to get you started, and the bow itself is worth the price of the kit even if you don't use any of it. I would rate it a 5 out of 5.
I am seriously considering getting another one at 45 lbs for hunting once I am more confident with my aim. Or I might try the Sanlida Royal X8 Longbow kit for a different style of bow (only difference is the bow case is longer to accommodate the 68 inch longbow).
This bow comes in a kit for $129.99 on the Sanlida site or on Amazon. Kit includes: Soft Case, Bow, Flemish D97 String, Stringer, Glove, Arm Guard, 6 Carbon Arrows, 2 Rabbit Fur String Silencers.
Sanlida Archery
www.sanlidaoutdoor.com
The bow itself is a 60 inch bow, ff compatible.
Available in 30-60 lbs draw weights at the typical 5 lb increments. I have the 35 lb model.
These bows are Right hand only. However, I have heard this is a rebranded version of the SAS Maverick, and that is available as the bow only for ~$200(with uglier labeling), if you need a lefty.
Case: Soft, lightly padded zip up case. Fits the (unstrung) bow and included items. Well I wish it had a pocket to hold tabs/glove stringer ect, the case itself is really nice and a great addition.
The string: 14 strand D-97, done as a flemish twist. 56 inches long. The string ends were not staggered so clump at the end of the string loop section, which well unattractive, does not impact function at all. However, on my string the top loop was barely larger than the smaller bottom loop. Due to this it won’t slide down the bow limb very easily so once the string has been twisted up to get the appropriate brace height, using the bow stringer is more difficult than it should be.
The kit does not come with crimp on brass nocking points (which I don't like anyways) so you will need to provide or tie your own.
Glove: The included glove is a one size fits all, and from the sounds of other reviews, there is some size variation between the kits. It mostly fits me but is slightly long, and a little loose in the fingers. But it is a nice inclusion to get started with if you don't have it, even if most people will likely get another one.
Arm Guard: The included arm guard is designed to cover the forearm and upper arm. However, flexible enough you can just fold it in half and attach on just the forearm (or just cut off the back half).
String Silencers: When using the (ridiculously heavy) arrows that came with it, using both the included D-97 and a B-55 Flemish string I had , the bow was dead quiet with no handshock even without the silencers installed. When used with lighter, better spined arrows it was noticeably louder but still no handshock to speak of, but adding limb savers and the included rabbit fur string silencers brought it back to silent.
Arrows: 30 inches long, 500 spine, 100 gr bullet point tips. Pin style nocks. Feathers, not hard plastic vanes. Sanlida gives the arrow diameter as 7.8 mm. This equates to 0.307 inches, so for swapping out the tips, get 5/16, which is 0.3125 inches, the 0.0055 inches variation is probably well within the margin of error on arrow and tip sizes. The included nocks are a bit too tight on the included string and do not pass the tap test. I replaced them with SAS standard throat pin nocks and that resolved that issue, or you could make your own string.
The arrows are rather hefty. Total weight (shaft, nock, fletching, insert and tips) is 575-600 grains. The arrows included with all kits are the same spine regardless of draw weight, so are very stiff for this bow. Sanlida does not appear to sell these arrows separately or in any other spines. For the 35 lb @28 bow, the GPP is ~ 16.2-17.1. which is a bit excessive as we don't have Water Buffalo or Elephants here in the Midwest.
F.O.C.: Using the 30 inch arrows and 100 gr tips that come with the set, at 17.75 inches from nock point, Easton's online calculator gives an foc of 7.5%.
The Bow: Beautiful. The grip is nice, the wood finish on the riser is flawless, the matte black fiberglass finish on the limbs is perfect. The shelf comes with the fur arrow rest and strike plate installed. The grip suits my hand and allows me to hold it comfortably with the pressure on the thumb pad of the hand, the shape just seems to guide your hand into place. The branding is fairly innocuous. No limb twist noted. Tiller is 1/8 positive but shoots split or 3 under very well.
Using a cheap luggage scale I tested this and it's right at 35 lbs at 28 inches.
Recommended Brace Height: 7-8 inches. Had to search a bit to find this as it's on the website, but not in the pamphlet that comes with.
Tried 30 inch, 600 spine arrows, 100 grain tips, coming in at 293-323 grains, (8.37-9.23 gpp) 16.7% FOC, and these are still a bit stiff for this 35 bow.
After shooting the other arrows that came with it, it amuses me to no end that these are still considered 'Heavy', as the weight difference is HUGE, you notice even without a scale, and can tell them apart just based on the sound of the arrows hitting the target. Without Silencers or limb savers the bow was noticeably louder with these lighter arrows, but still very little handshock. The string savers removed any hand shock and quieted the bow back down. With this bow at this weight I would say 700 spine/1716 aluminum would be the closest match.
I don't have a chrono but have seen other reviews showing 180 fps for 13 gpp and 195 fps with 9 gpp arrows, so it is very fast.
Overall, it's an awesome kit, either for an experienced archer or for someone starting out- the included items are enough to get you started, and the bow itself is worth the price of the kit even if you don't use any of it. I would rate it a 5 out of 5.
I am seriously considering getting another one at 45 lbs for hunting once I am more confident with my aim. Or I might try the Sanlida Royal X8 Longbow kit for a different style of bow (only difference is the bow case is longer to accommodate the 68 inch longbow).
Sanlida Archery
www.sanlidaoutdoor.com
