Shakespeare Parabow

“Archery’s Greatest Improvement” 
Howard Hill

Shakespeare Parabow 

Solid Fiberglass Bows 

by Larry Vienneau

 Solid Fiberglass bows can’t really be compared to wood core and laminated recurves and longbows or the contemporary compound bow. Today’s archers tend to forget that these simple self-bows were one of the most important part in the development of modern archery. Aspiring young Robin Hoods honed their skills with solid fiberglass bows. From the early 1950s though the late 1970s millions of tough fiberglass longbows and recurves were mass produced by archery manufacturers like Indian, Herter's, Paul Bunyan, Ben Pearson, Bear, Ply-Flex, Stream-Eze, Outers, Stemmler, Lockleys, York, Fleetwood, Zeus, and of course Parabow and Shakespeare..

     William Shakespeare, Jr. invented a patent for his fishing reel, and began producing fishing equipment in the late 1800's. In the 20^th century Shakespeare became a major producer of sporting equipment. In 1959 Shakespeare Cooperation acquiring Parabow the Ohio-based Parallel Products Company, a maker of archery equipment that was organized into Shakespeare's Archery subsidiary. Parabow was one of the main producers of solid fiberglass bows in the 1950. Shakespeare was an early pioneer of the application of fiberglass to fishing rods. The merger of these two companies was a match made in heaven. During the sixties and seventies Shakespeare produce fiberglass and wood laminate bow but it did not forsake its Parabow line of solid fiberglass archery equipment.

     The 1950’s was the time of Happy Days, Twinkies, Howdy Dowdy and mass production. Literally Millions of solid fiberglass bow were produced. Parabows, like all solid fiberglass bows, don’t have the smoothness and speed of wood and fiber glass laminate bows and heaver bows are prone to stacking. However there are some very positive features to these bows:

Expense: The cost of a solid fiberglass bow has always been much lower than laminated constructed equipment. For the beginner, or budget archer, the simple one piece, mass produced design is easy choice. Kids are rough on bows, and it makes sense to buy inexpensive equipment while they are learning.  Used solid fiberglass bows are plentiful and can often be purchased at a yard sale or on E-bay for a few dollars. Value is dependent on condition, draw weight, and manufacturer. BEAR and BEN PEARSON fiberglass bows are the most common. Others are scarcer. Prices vary from $25-$75, Rare bows can go as high as $125. Sometimes complete sets are available, some are mint in the box. Mint means un-used. These sets can be priced as high as $300 but you need to look at the condition and research the sets to see if it is authentic. There is a fiberglass bow on eBay now being sold as rare antique and they are asking $598!! 

It is not a rare bow, it is a Ben Pearson youth bow missing its decals. it should be priced at about $35. Buy wisely, do your research, and ask questions

Resilience: Fiberglass bows can be slogged through snow, shot in the rain, dropped in mud, left outside in the wet ground overnight; the bow is will not delaminate. Fiberglass bows have little danger of being over drawn. They can be left strung for long periods of time without fear of the limbs following the string, they nearly indestructible and ideal for bowfishing, hunting, canoeing or boating.  If you want to purchase a more powerful model you are restricted to the used market because heaver bows are not made today. Always check for cracks and hairline splits in the glass, as well as twisted limbs before buying.

Efficiency: A solid fiberglass bow is not as efficient at casting an arrow as well as a built laminated recurve and longbow. Despite this fiberglass bows are lethal; many trophy animals have been harvested with them. The main problem is the narrow limb design which tends to cause stacking in heaver bows. If you chose to use a fiberglass bow for hunting deer, add an extra 5-10 pounds to compensate for the slower cast. My B7 Comet 45 lb. shoots at 158.27 FPS while most of my other 45 lb. recurves are between 170-184 FPS

Shakespeare Parabow #50 RH Brushmaster (Thanks to Lewis Kent), #45  Model B-7 Comet, #18 Model B-9 Fury

Early Shakespeare Parabow Sharpshooter Longbow 40 lbs. with a Waverly Ohio tag

    Shakespeare Parabow bows range in weight from 18 lbs. to 65 Lbs. Many models are ambidextrous, however some are not. If you are a lefty you need to know that some Parabow models were right hand only. Parabow B2 Brushmaster, B1 Hunter, B11, B-8 Rocket, B12, and B12 Omni Bow are only available in right hand models. I was unaware that these bows were RH and bid on a 50# Brushmaster. When it arrived I was disappointed but it was a beautiful bow, fortunately my friend bought it and it is featured in this blog.

     I think everyone has memories of these humble bows. My memories are of shooting them in camp as a child and using them when I was a late teen to target shoot. The most moving memory was when I found a 50 pound Shakespeare Parabow Brushmaster leaning against a tree while I was moose hunting in Alaska; it rested there undisturbed where a hunter had placed it over forty years before, waiting for me to come along to find it. I have had many debates with folks in traditional archery forums who fail to recognize the contribution that the humble Fiberglass has made to American archery.

Chris Libby with son Clint

 Chris Libby wrote a much more in depth article on solid fiberglass for Traditional Bowhunter "Ayuh…Fiberglass!" (http://www.tradbow.com/public/272.cfm) In his article his last paragraph brilliantly places the Solid Fiberglass Bow into its rightful place in modern archery.

“Dismiss my affection for "self bows" made of fiberglass, as nostalgia, and the bows themselves as children's toys and mere junk, if you will. However the fact remains that these bows are as much a part of the history and culture of archery during the last century, as are Howard Hill's bamboo longbows and Fred Bear's Kodiak recurves. If it wasn't for the solid fiberglass bow, millions of people wouldn't ever have known the feeling of standing under a blue sky in the warm summer sun, and watching an arrow arch in its mystical path toward the target. Given the importance and overall usefulness of this basic but deadly introductory weapon to our sport, as far as I'm concerned I'll agree with my Grandfather; "Ayuh…Fiberglass!" “

Parabow by Shakespeare

B-1 Hunter Shakespeare 1960-68

• Charcoal color fiberglass
• Leather grip
• Shaped static nocks
• 55” 51” string
• Draw: 35#-65# 1960-61, 35#-55 1962, 35#-60# 1963-68
• RH only
• 6 ½ brace

B-2 BrushMaster 1960-62

B-1 C 1964-70

• Charcoal fiberglass
• Leather grip
• Shaped static nocks
• 63” 60” string 1960-62
• 55” 1964-70
• Draw: 35#-65#1960-62, 45# 1965, 40-50# 1966-70
• RH only
• 6 3/4" brace

B-3 Sharpshooter 1960-65

• Red Black finished fiberglass, Red 1962-65
• Mottled gray grip 1960, white pistol 1962,63
• 60”-57” string
• RH LH 1960-61
• RH 1962-65
• Draw: 20#-40#
• 7” brace

B-4 Robin 1960-62

• Red and black finish 60-61, red 1962
• White plastic grip
• White nocks
• RH LH
• 54” 50” string
• Draw: 20#
• 6" brace

B-6 Marksman 1960-62

• Brown white mottled fiberglass 1960
• White plastic grip, brown 1960
• White tips 1961, 62 brown
• 58" 55" string
• RH LH
• 25#—50#
• 6 3/4 brace

B-7 Comet 1960-62

• Brown and white molted fiberglass, , two tone brown 1961, forest brown 1962
• White plastic grip 1960, Brown 1961,62
• 56”  53” string
• RH LH
• Draw: #40-#55 1960, 35-55# 1961
• 6 1/2 brace

B-8 Rocket 1960-75

• Red finished fiberglass 60-61, green 62-68
• White handle, wt. pistol grip 1962-75
• 56” 53 ½” string
• RH LH 1960-61, 1965-75
• RH 1962-64
• Draw: 25-35# 1960-61, 20-45# 1963-77
• 6 ½ brace

B-9 Fury 1960-75

• Red Yellow or green fiberglass 60-61, red or green 1962,
• White handle
• 50” 46” string
• 6” brace
• RH LH      
• draw: 18#

B-10 Will Scarlet 1960-65

• Red finish fiberglass
• White handle and nocks
• 48” 41 1/2“string
• RH LH
• draw: 12#
• 5” brace

B-11,   1962,63

• Fiberglass gold finish
• Pistol grip black, 6’ sight window
• 66”
• draw: 20#-50#, #30-50# 1963
• RH 
• 7 “ brace height

B-12,   1962-63,

OmniBow 1964- 67

• Fiberglass copper finish
• Pistol grip black, 6’ sight window
• 64”
• Draw: 20#-50# 1962, 20-55# 1963-,67
• RH
• 7 “ brace height

Here are some beauty shots of George Stout's Parabow. Looks like he had a great day!!!

Thank you George

© Copyright, Larry Vienneau Jr.

All rights reserved.

 

IS IT A RARE BOW?

What is a “RARE” Vintage Bow? 

by Larry Vienneau

The word “RARE” is one of the most overused words on eBay. Sellers use “RARE” liberally and deceitfully. Typacally there are around 600 vintage Bear Bows on any given day but there may only be one Root Bow. Yet Bear dealers insist on using "RARE" to describe their plentiful bows. I recently did a search for fiberglass bows on eBay. I found two sellers who insisted that their Ben Pearson fiberglass bows were “Rare”.

 One seller had a “RARE” Ben Pearson Strato-Jet #339 and he was asking $200. Another seller had a RARE” Ben Pearson Strato-jet Target #337 and he wanted $194.00. Another seller has a unmarked (Ben Pearson) -Antique recurve bow VINTAGE archery 1965 rare-with a price $3,598.00!!!

1958 Ben Pearson catalog

Considering that Ben Pearson produced hundreds of thousands of these bow, one has to delusional to believe that these bows are rare. I did a web search and found hundreds of each models for sale or as topic for traditional blogs. The fact that I found hundreds of Pearson models 337 and 339 in my very first search confirms that these bows are actually fairly common even though they are 40-50 years old.

 

 

Fiberglass bows are pretty tough and stand up to abuse better than laminated wood and fiberglass bows. Solid fiberglass bows were produced by the millions by the many companies which produced them. What really irks me is that someone not knowledgeable will see the deceptive word “rare” and will shell out $200 for a bow that is worth a fraction that price. Sometimes I will do an eBay search for “Rare Bear recurves” and I will find several dozens. Bear produced over 350,000-400,000 bows during the 1950s to 1980s. Very few Bear bows models are actually scarce yet they are found regularly on eBay listed as ‘Rare”.  I think sellers overuse the term “Rare”. Rare means sparse, uncommon, or seldom seen.  Bear bows, like the Tamerlane, are often called “rare” but one can find several on eBay at any given time. Every once in a while there is a real gem on eBay a true rarity, such as bow owned by Howard Hill or Saxon Pope…..that is rare! I consider a rare bow to be one that may turn up in auction once or twice a year. One such bow is an Adirondack Duro-Flex which was a rare dual dexterity bow. During the past two years there have been thousands of Bear bows; however I have seen only two Adirondack Duro-Flex recurves on eBay during that same time. That is a rare bow.

Ply-Flex Professional 1958

1955 AD

I am a proud owner of a very rare fiberglass bow.  I once saw one of these bows on eBay five years ago, and this past year I found another. The seller knew a lot about rare bows and properly used the word “RARE”. I have made extensive searches for this bow and this company, I found very little. I found one archery forum that had a brief discussion about this bow and I found a Korean Horsebow site that had a photo of a little boy holding one. That was all I could find. I knew this bow was very unique and I paid my highest price for a solid fiberglass bow - $129, but I think it was worth it.  Custom Built Ply-Flex bows were made by Sportsmen Accessories Inc., out of New York. It is interesting that they misspell fiberglass, they use “fibre glass”.  The company made fishing gear and archery equipment and went out of business in 1961.

 Most of their bows are fairly common and most were made in the 1950s. They were often straight limbed longbows or reflex recurves. They also made a few wood and fiberglass laminated bows in 1960-61.  In the late 1950s there was new interest in Asian style bows or Horsebows. In 1958 American Archery made a wood fiberglass laminate called “The Mongol” which mimicked the Mongolian bow. Also in 1958 Tri-State archery made a wood fiberglass laminate called “The Turk”. I think my bow was also made about this time. It is labeled “Ply-Flex Professional Model Genuine Fibre Glass”

Ply-Flex Professional Model

 

Ply-Flex Professional Model detail

It is heavy in the hand and it is thumps when shot like all solid fiberglass bows but it is a fast shooter and is also very consistent.  I repainted my bow and tried to match the color as closely as possible. I left the original logo untouched.  I replaced the white leather wrap with black leather and added new arrow rest and strike plate.

Strung or unstrung it looks like a Horsebow. Unlike most fiberglass recurves this bow’s recurve limbs thicken near the end making it a static recurve. 

comparison of a horsebow and the Ply-Fex

static tip of the Ply-Flex

A Horsebow also has thicker tips which are called the “siyah”. The Siyah are static tips which store energy and adds to the overall power of the bow. I tested the speed of this bow and I was very surprised because it was faster than many of my wood fiberglass laminate bows and all of my solid fiberglass bows. I tested by shooting a 412 grain arrow a dozen rounds through a chronograph and averaging the speeds. Average speed 178.89 FPS

comparison of the Ply-Flex with a Mongolian Horsebow

Ply-Flex Professional Model Genuine Fibre Glass

·         Late 1950s

·         60 inch

·         45 lbs. (likely came in a range of 30- 60 lbs)

·         Ambidextrous

·         Solid Fiberglass

·         Painted black and gold, or gold green and black

·         Applied plastic tips

·         Riser: metal with leather wrap

·         Reflex deflex recurve with rigid tips

·         Arrow speed: 412 gr arrow-  178.89 FPS

So what is a rare item? What is a rare bow? Just because a seller says an item is rare, does not make it so. Do your research.  The internet is a vast library, use it wisely. Remember, not everything on the internet is true. Do your research. Ask smart questions. If is smells fishy then it probably is rotten. A rare or desirable item really is in the eye of the beholder. I collect vintage bows. I own, Bear, Hoyt, Groves, York, Ben Pearson, Grimes, Root and Shakespeare. I also own Native American bows and Chinese, Mongolian and Korean Horsebows. I also collect solid fiberglass bows because many are ambidextrous.  I pay what I feel an item is worth to me. I have a unique perspective on rarity I am right handed but I am a left handed shooter. Some bows which are common as righties are very rare as lefties, I pay for the value of a bow as it pertains to me.  There is one seller on eBay who writes 2000-3000 word descriptions and his bows are overpriced. People fall for his spiel, he spins this sale pitch to make a buyer think they are getting a deal on a bow that is 40% higher than it should be. Research the prices by viewing past auctions, this will give you an idea of what the final price should be. It also shows you that the item may or may not be rare. Lastly, be willing to walk away from an item. Another one will inevitably come your way it you are patient.  Ask Questions. Do your research. Bid and buy wisely.

© Copyright, Larry Vienneau Jr.

All rights reserved.