Home > Bow Reviews > Tomahawk SS Diamond 64" 45#@28"
Tomahawk SS Diamond 64" 45#@28"
Reviewed By Steve , 16 April 2010
Advertised as... " The carbon-core offers increased limb stability, strength, and speed. The Dymondwood/Phenolic riser adds bow stability, strength, and character. The "Diamond Series" medallion adds a touch of class to an already stunning bow. The "SS" is our top of the line bow offering a stunning combination of Tonkin Cane Bamboo for speed and a "Sweet Shooting" experience. The riser of Bacote with accent stripes adds richness and class".... Now I could have saved the writer of these prose some time, effort and ink, all they need to say is "quality". Quality materials, quality workmanship and the result is a bow which positively screams "Quality". First impressions are a reflex/deflex longbow with a very similar profile to the ACS but wider limbs and trapezoid in the manner of a Pronghorn.
The bow is designed by Dale Karch a fine archer and the owner of 3 rivers archery. It's length is 64" and it is marked as 45#@28" which I have put on the scales and it draws 43.6# at my draw which is a mite under the 28" at which this bow is measured.
At the heart of this bow is a carbon core, this is where the power begins, on top of that you have the Tonkin cane bamboo with Maple and Yew laminations all working together to achieve the smooth draw and rapid cast that this bow manages to achieve and puts this bow firmly in the top class.
Very smooth to draw with the weight coming smoothly and steadily out to almost 28" which is my draw, in fact the power continues to flow when the bow is drawn further, I had a friend draw it out to 31" which is his draw, upon loosing, the arrow travelled flat and at tremendous speed for over 60 yards.
The shelf is very narrow - surprisingly so, doubly surprising is that the seemingly small notch in the side of the bow is actually 1/16" from centre. I am very partial to bows cut close to centre as they allow for easy tuning and a greater range of spines to be shot, the shelf is radiused too offering the bow minimum contact with the arrow. I spent the afternoon getting it tuned and it doesn't seem to matter what angle the bow is held it shoots straight, a real advantage for the instinctive shooter
The phenolic tips allow the bow to be shot with fastflight or similar strings which are now the norm amongst high end bows ,the tips of the bow are very fine and certainly add to it's good looks. Once tuned one thing that struck me immediately was the low nocking point I was able to achieve, a low nocking point in my opinion is only a good thing as it allows for a flatter trajectory, the reason it became apparent is that I do like to shoot cock in at times or with a 4 fletch combo at 60/120 - either of these usually allows me to gain a small advantage of a lower nocking point, however with this bow I was getting virtually no kick off the shelf when shooting 3 feathers/cock out, possibly it's that tiny shelf and if that's the case then I take my hat off to the developer because it really works.
The grip is all longbow, however such is the ease with which this bow can be shot I think that even die hard recurve grip archers will be surprised how natural this style of grip feels on this bow. As with other top end bows this one has no hand shock or as near to none as it is possible to be.
Instinctive is my favoured style of shooting, I find that for it to be effective you need a fast bow which will allow a flat trajectory, it isn't all about speed though, the bow has to be stable and forgiving, I have to be sure that when I do the same thing each time the bow isn't looking to trip me up or be "highly strung" - this bow is an instinctive archers dream, fast enough to give you the edge but stable enough to make you look good even when you get a little sloppy.
The bow could be compared to several others with regard to an individual aspect of it's behaviour and what the folks at Tomahawk have managed to do is take the best from here and the best from there to develop a quite distinctive bow which is not only a joy to shoot but a delight to look at too.... real quality from the finish to the shooting experience.
| Rating | |
|---|---|
| Features & Design |             |
| Traditional Longbow styling with mildly deflexed, slightly trapped limbs and a slim shelf, a bow for the traditionalist. | |
| Performance | |
| This will be updated after a full chrono test, but for the present it feels fast and shoots pleasingly. | |
| Value for Money |  |
| It is the top of the range in the Tomahawk line up and at $769.99 priced about right for what it is, the T/D version is another $200 more... I would love to test drive that one ! | |
| Overall | |
| A very nice Longbow, a joy to shoot and as fast as anything else you might care to mention ? There isn't much in it anyway and this bow has almost everything else beat when it comes to shootability. | |
Steve Nicholson and Andy Gilfrin, are real archers interested in the best archery suppliers have to offer. In our search for the very best bow, arrows and equipment we have shot, used and worn pretty much everything on offer.
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| Essential Details | |
|---|---|
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What : Tomahawk SS Diamond 64" 45#@28" Price : $769.99 |
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Smooth to draw and packs a punch.
An ultra slim shelf further enhances it's good looks.
Quite often a bow feels harder to draw without arrows and a good test for sweet drawing and smootness is just to draw it up with no arrows, if it still feels sweet then you have got yourself a nice bow. This one passes with flying colours.
Beautiful, elegant, slim tips.
Reinforced tips will handle high performance strings.
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August 2010
We take a tour the length and breadth of the British mainland to visit Scotland with Border Bows, Yorkshire with Aidy Hayes, the Wirral with Jason from thelongbowshop.com, down South with the Company of Canterbury Longbowman, and Geoff is in Spain.
July 2010
The Mary Rose story comes to life this month, when Steve and Andy went to visit archaeologist Alex Hildred and got our hands on 500 year old long bows (literally). We look at the battle of Vernuiel, Andy visits France on a peace mission and we talk to Sid at Border.
June 2010
Bumper edition this month, a pig in armour, Geoff towers direct from Homildon Hill and a look at the Mary Rose. There is also news of the UK Atlatl championships and all the usual regular items.
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Quick Links |
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Your Comments
Tell us what you think, do you agree with the review or have something to add?
Posted by: Nigel on Jun 8, 20:14
I would be interested to know how heavy it felt with the largely phenolic riser.
Posted by: Andy@archers-review.com on Jun 9, 13:41
Nigel
While I wouldn’t say it was heavy it is certainly not as light as most one piece longbows. I was shooting it alongside my 3PC bow and at no point did I consider there was a significant weight difference between the two. I’m sure there must be but there wasn’t enough of one for me to be aware of it.
Posted by: John Carter on Sep 3, 03:34
I have a Tomahawk Diamond Desert Fox at the same draw,length,an wheight spec’s.
It’s the best longbow I’ve ever owned.
Must be shooting around 175-180fps with a 500g arrow as it has virtualy the same point on distance as my 50lb recurve,,5lb lighter draw wheight though.
No hand shock.
Any extra wheight on the riser is simply not noticable to me,other than the bow being very stable and easy to shoot well.
I live in New Zealand and with the international exchange rate and import taxes,I can promise you I put a lot of thought and research into it before I laid down the $$$ for my bow.
Today I couldn’t be happier,and keep thinking about the old saying “quality remains long after price is forgotten”.