A reliable workhorse...er, work-kangaroo
The fun of archery equipment isn’t what we buy off the shelf, but how we make our gear our own. Most often this creativity is most apparent with our tabs and grips, the two places where we contact the bow.
I went with a Yost brass tab. Eric and Tracy Yost make amazing equipment with amazing service, so of course I looked their first. I’ve looked at other tabs, and theirs came in first for me. While I’d hoped the brass would add some weight (something some archers like in their tab), it’s not all that heavy (especially compared to my KSL Brass tab I shot with for olympic). But, what I like with the brass is there’s nothing to wear off: no paint covers the tab, so it looks the same always. The best part of it is the grooves for string walking are deep well defined notches, making string walking easy and repeatable.
The first change I made was, after wearing through my beloved cordovan face, switching to kangaroo. Kangaroo is soft and supple but strong, but the real beauty of it is its break in time…which is almost no time. After wetting the leather and shooting 70 arrows, the tab was fully broken in; this is compared to the weeks it took me to get my cordovan tab to where I wanted it. Since it broke in fast, I was also able to break in a backup tab that same afternoon, and will use this tab to shoot my trad bow just to keep it worn in. Often I see folks pull out their backup tab, and its board stiff…understandable, because who has time to break it in? With kangaroo, I didn’t have to worry about that.
Kangaroo leather can expensive, but you can order it in bulk and cut it yourself which I recommend. I was able to get a full sheet, enough to last me decades, for the cost one tab face. Remember, you’ll want it to be about 1mm thick, which can be hard to find. I found falconry sites–the only sport more niche than ours–sold it.
The second change I made was swapping the elastic cord with three loops of ½ inch elastic webbing. It looks goofy and bulky, but it prevents the tab from wiggling. Myself and other hyper aware archers have noticed the tab will normally slowly wobble and possibly walk down your fingers with the standard cord. With the thicker webbing, it stays perfectly in place for hours on end, and I don’t have to overtighten it. With the cordlocks, I can quickly adjust the tightness one handed (using my teeth to manipulate the cordlocks).