Looking for bow for my son, he'll be 8 next month and he wants a real bow. I've looked at a few diamonds but wanted to see of anyone had a recommendation. Or....one for sale?
I gotta recommend the Mission line of bows. Great quality bows that he will be able to grow with into adulthood if he chooses. For maybe $275 you can find a used Mission Craze that will give him over a decade of use.
+1 for the Mission Craze. I used a Craze in one of my archery leagues when my bow was in the shop, tuned and dialed in in under 10 minutes, great bow for price!
Mission line. My 12 yo has the Craze. Starting shooting it when he was 10. It adjust from about 15 to 70# and I think 19-30" draw. It's a sweet bow. Worth the price for sure.
Another vote for the Mission Craze. I bought one for my son when he was 8 and he's 11 now. He loves it. The new version of the Craze is a little lighter (I think) than the original, which is good for young kids. One of my favorite pics of him...
You can get the diamond for 270 at ****s right now. What options does the craze have that the diamond doesn't? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
On average the Craze is $100 cheaper (MSRP), better let-off with the Mission. I think Mission offers more color options as well which isn't too important to the parent but may be for the kid. Only major benefit with Diamond is it comes ready to go for the most part.
I'm no kid and I have and for a novice..love the Mission Craze. I plan on using it until my wife or boys get into bowhunting. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
The Craze doesn't come RTH the way I understand it unless you upgrade and pay more. Is that correct? The Diamond is 75% let off and the mission is 80% The Diamond weighs less Diamond is 310 IBO vs 306 for the Craze Diamond has a greater range of Draw length including going less for smaller shooters. Diamond has a longer ATA Diamond goes down to 5lbs DW. Mission only goes down 13 lbs. According to Mission's website. MRSP for the Craze II is $319 bare bow. Diamond is 349 RTH.
I based my opinion off personal use of the Mission Craze, Smooth draw, better company IMO My youth bow was a Omega Explorer with max weight of 40#, any bow these days is better than that. Kid wants a REAL bow he said, I'm thinking he could pull more than 5 lbs at this point lol.
I went with the Hoyt Ignite for my daughter. The main thing that pushed me that way was the fit and finish of the Hoyt. They built it just like their top end bows. Some of the youth models I looked at just seemed to be built at a lower finish quality than those brands adult model bows. The Ignite is about as versatile a bow that's out there. Draw 19-30". weight 15-70lbs. Will fit any hunter in any situation.
When my wife was looking for her first entry bow she shot the Craze, Riot, apprentice 2?, and the infinite edge. She shot each one ALOT. She HATED the draw cycle on the infinite edge and couldnt get comfortable shooting it. The cams kept wanting to jump from her anchor. Also, despite the "claims" of ibo on the infinite edge, the craze was throwing the same arrow 11fps faster at the same draw weight and length. While both were over 20fps faster than the apprentice. The riot was the fastest by about 4fps but she shot the craze the best. Also, with the diamond bow you get bowtech technology. IDK about you but I dont want to deal with limb issues.
Although $279 is a good price, and the Diamond IE is also a really good youth bow, unless you know how to do the setup yourself, you would be better off not buying from a big box store. If you need to have it set up for you, there is a high possibility that you will get some young kid or someone else that doesn't know what they are doing if you buy from a store like that- especially ****s. I do a lot of my own bow work, but I assure you that no one at ****s would ever work on any of my family's bows.
No doubt, but knowing that it will grow with her for as long as she wants it, or knowing that if shooting is not going to be her thing, I could use it as a backup bow made it worth the difference in price.
