Traditional Bows
Traditional bows, and for that matter, some American style longbows (known as reflex/deflex because of the limb profile, as opposed to recurve), are available as one-piece bows or takedown bows, which can be 3 piece or 2 piece bows. The beauty of the take down bows, where the limbs bolt to the riser or handle, is that they can be packed down for ease of travel or storage. Some longbows are available as two-piece bows with one half connecting to the other with the join disguised within the handle.
Starter Bows and Arrows
A good starter bow is the Samick Sage, which is a timber take down bow, and it is available at most good archery shops, either just as the bowor often you can find starter packs, which will include the bow, arrows and arm guard and finger tab and a case. You may have to purchase a quiver separately, and these too, come in various forms, either the well know back quiver, a hip quiver or a bow quiver which
you can either bolt or strap to your bow. Your bow will have to have threaded inserts to accommodate the bolt on version.
The Samick Sage bow is around $260 and astarter kitwith case and arrows etc. is about $450 at the time of this article. A starter compound bow known as the Berserker is about $400 and a Berserker kit with arrows, sight, stabiliser, arm guard, release aid, and case, will cost about $750. There are cheaper bows online, and second-hand bows, and of course more expensive bows as well. You will have to specify if you are left-handed or right-handed.
Right-handed, you pull the arrow with your right hand and left-handed you will pull the arrow with your left hand. You will need to purchase arrows which have the correct spine (or flexibility) to suit the poundage of your bow. Arrows start at around $100 per dozen and length isn’t critical in the beginning, just select an arrow length to suit your draw length to start off with.
Shop assistants should be able to help with this, or you can go to an arrow manufacturer’s chart/table to determine the appropriate spine. https://www.goldtip.com/arrow-spine-selector