Hey everybody! After so many years of always enjoying the great info and demeanour here, I got a question myself. Looking for a forward handle longbow... thunderchilds, javamans and all the other great ones... but when I came across the wapiti spike III td I was first turned off by the seemingly inconsistent shaping and unconventional wood combos but after looking them up on rms gear for a while they look more and more like a great forward handle takedown. They don't look cut to centre though and I heard some negative reports about them too. Can anybody share a few pictures and insight into these bows please! I guess they might even deserve more attention for how long they have been out there ... despite other brands I like... it seems that fancy woods and branding makes the market really tilt to a few brands that use social media well! I'm happy about any info! Cheers Max

Hey everybody! After so many years of always enjoying the great info and demeanour here, I got a question myself. Looking for a forward handle longbow... thunderchilds, javamans and all the other great ones... but when I came across the wapiti spike III td I was first turned off by the seemingly inconsistent shaping and unconventional wood combos but after looking them up on rms gear for a while they look more and more like a great forward handle takedown. They don't look cut to centre though and I heard some negative reports about them too. Can anybody share a few pictures and insight into these bows please! I guess they might even deserve more attention for how long they have been out there ... despite other brands I like... it seems that fancy woods and branding makes the market really tilt to a few brands that use social media well! I'm happy about any info! Cheers Max

You can try worldclass bows also.

Can't help you with the longbow. Had two of his recurves years ago, and both shot great.

Sent you a PM

We shared a camp in Colorado, Keith had a goat tag,for Fossil Ridge area, and a bear tag for the area we were elk hunting in...his hunting partner, Jeff, from Indiana, had a new Spike..I really liked the feel, look, and shootability of it...I prefer recurves but thought if I ever bought a longbow, I'd strongly consider this bow...Keith killed a bear but was using one of his new recurves, not the Spike...

I have one of the first Spike III's delivered to RMSGear. I shot it for a while and ended up putting it up for sale at RMS. On a later visit to the store I noticed it was still there so I strung it up and shot it and took it back home with me. I couldn't believe how smooth and powerful it felt. I killed my first traditional turkey with it last year and it is one of my favorite bows. I have picked up a couple other bows over the last year and am now shooting a lighter bow to improve my form, but look forward to dusting that baby off again and taking her hunting. The riser profile on mine is different than the current offering so I cannot speak to that style.

Hopefully the dang sideways view works for you.

Can't speak about the longbow, but have owned and shot the take down recurve. If there anything like the recurves hard hitting fast and quiet. I wouldn't wait very long to get one.

Wanted to say thank you for all the kind replies! @bugslinger I get why you took iti home again. Being overseas doesn't let me try bows at events etc but I am going with what I personally like in bows optically usually leading to fine performance. Forward handle, small grip with somewhat of a handshake angle, deflex riser and heavily reflexed limbs over the whole length. I think I'll search for one of these and give one a try. It's definitely an underrepresented bow and doesn't seem to get much attention. The marked has its rock stars right now... but I'm not one for the extreme pistol grip style. Thank you everyone and keep those pics coming if possible! Cheers

belly side of the riser.

try again

I give up, sorry I can't figure out how to post pics correctly.

Max, you could RMSGear a call and speak to Tommy. I know he's used that bow quite a bit and may be able to provide additional insight.

Thanks for the attempts bugslinger. It appears to me that the opinions vary a lot. Most people give credit to the smooth draw, quiet and quick action, but complain about cracks, poor finish etc. It's a great design and I would love to take a chance but not for 700$ and I can't seem to find anything used in hunting weight. If I had 700$ to spend there are so many options opening up: used thunderhorns, thunderchilds, javamans etc. It's hard to find a takedown hybrid longbow for less though. The reality is that in today's standards... and I'm not even talking about the wood combos and fancy laminations you see everywhere.... it's pretty much not acceptable to be known for tool marks being left behind or the possibility of cracks and wobble in the takedown system. Not when a new poisondart, two tracks or even kanati runs you less than 550$. It's a shame though... what a nice design!

The price difference is because of full-time vs part time and eastern US vs western US. Cracks in wood will happen to all bowyers sooner or later if they produce enough bows, unless they only use "stabilized woods" and even then you can sometimes see cracks develop. My most expensive bow I ever bought developed a bad crack and it was from a highly respected bowyer (not a Wapiti bow). Never was addressed by the bowyer due to a short warranty period. Will I ever have a bowyer use this kind of wood again? No, not in designs like that. Expensive lesson learned.

If you have already registered, please

sign in now

For new registrations

Click Here