News
March 26, 2022-
Life does not follow a script. After losing my father last year, we’ve just recently discovered another close family member has been diagnosed with cancer. This has come at a time when we’re still trying to regain our footing, and now it seems we may again be spread too thin with our hearts and focus pulled in multiple directions.
My primary desire for Omega in 2022 was to further improve the value of what I can build and offer to you, our dear customers, through quality and efficiency. After the numerous model changes and updates last year, I had created a great deal of confusion over the different choices possible. The experiment in offering different model shapes versus different options within models lead to a lot of learning, but the personal timing was terrible. It strained our budget and only lead to more problems when we needed to be there for the family and times got tough. These are mistakes I do not want to repeat and I believe it’s time to humble myself in order to grow.
For the remainder of this year, the Tribute will not be available for new custom orders. If you have an order already placed your bow will be completed as promised but I will not be taking any more new orders for custom Tributes. The Tribute will still be built as occasional instock sale bows for folks looking for value, as well as a replacement for any older discontinued models still under warranty. However, to avoid confusion my focus for the remainder of the year will be put towards the Royal Huntsman. Custom Royal Huntsman builds will include more woods and materials as we are able to afford them. We have moved to larger strike plates and rug rests and will be ordering crimp-on nocks to set up ready to shoot strings upon request. We have absorbed the third party processing fees for electronic payments as well. Our goal is to focus on the best bow I can build in order to offer the most value possible to you!
Thank you all so much for the support. It truly means the world to us and we cannot express how grateful we are for all of you. Thank you!
March 7, 2022-
Thank you all who have reached out offering kind words of encouragement or consolation. It means the world to me and I cannot express how much it’s been appreciated. We’re trying to help get my mother reestablished now and it’s a challenging process. This has slowed many of the new projects down, and currently, the focus has been on finish quality over experimentation. We deeply appreciate your understanding as we get through this.
Moving into spring, it seems best to address the differences and options between the Tribute and Royal Huntsman since simplifying the lineup. It can certainly be confusing given how much was changed over the last two years. So to address a few of the more frequently asked questions, the Tribute is built using the Spirit riser and the limb shape of the early Imperial blended with the Original. This made for a stable, quick bow that’s not as sensitive and easier to shoot while only losing a small bit of arrow speed. If you have an Original, Spirit, or Native the Tribute is the replacement for these models and will behave similarly to each.
The Royal Huntsman, on the other hand, uses the Imperial riser and a modified version of the Original limb profile. The Huntsman is essentially a one-piece version of the old Delta takedown I’d built years ago, modified with the updates that I’ve since incorporated into each build. This is the best shooting longbow I’ve ever designed. The large riser is very stable and the limbs are faster and less sensitive than previous models. If you have an Imperial or Delta, the Royal Huntsman is a replacement for these models.
The Tribute and the Royal Huntsman shoot very similarly. The Tribute is slightly slower than the Huntsman (~5 fps), all things equal, and will have more recoil in the hand. The Tribute is only available with a lower wrist grip due to the smaller riser. At 62″ both bows can be set up to be just as quiet, and both will produce about the same noise with a bare string and no bow quiver. The Tribute is designed to offer the maximum value to our customers, trading customization for reliability. The Royal Huntsman is slightly more refined and is the best shooter I can offer. For the remainder of this year, I will be working to better address the custom options desired in the Royal Huntsman.
For the Royal Huntsman, more material and layout options are in the works. There are several new kinds of wood that we’re hoping to source for next year now that we’ve rebuilt our drying boxes. Many have also reached out about the dymalux and carbon core options, and those will return this summer for sale. We’re currently working through pricing and establishing what we have available as well as what will fit into our budget to see where we can go from here. This will set up a new custom options list for the Royal Huntsman, although the standard options and pricing will remain the same.
February 7, 2022-
The new year is upon us and brings some fresh updates to the Omega lineup. Due to some sudden and unexpected employment changes, we have returned to full time-production and will continue building and taking orders as usual. For 2022 we will be simplifying our model options and returning to our roots, so to speak, with the emphasis on value and efficiency rather than numerous different models, specialty options, or exotic upgrades. The Royal Huntsman will be available in 60″ to 70″ for spring orders to offer greater customization as our flagship model. The updates and adjustments to the current Royal Huntsman have rounded it out as the nicest shooting longbow I’ve offered and will continue to include more new custom options as they become available to fit shooters’ needs. This will eventually include the return of dymalux as a riser option later in the year, budget permitting, as well as more new spectraply color options this spring to better fit your vision for your new longbow.
The Tribute will retain its simpler option list as our entry model, and the price will reflect that. We are considering other possible layout changes and simplifications in the future to make the Tribute more affordable as a “production style” offering as well, rather than a fully customized build, if interest in affordability over customization remains high. We appreciate your feedback and input and will try our best to offer the best options for our customers! The responses we’ve received about the updated models so far have given us the chance to reset our focus and better address the needs and desires of our customers. The shorter Tribute has been a surprisingly well-liked entry model, and the 60″ and 64″ versions have been significantly more popular than the early 68″ layout. The Tribute was initially designed to offer a more “traditional” style longbow option, however, its price point and shorter length options have made it appealing as a general entry model to hybrid longbow shooting, and we appreciate the opportunity to get new shooters involved in these simple, elegant weapons!
Thank you all for the patience and understanding shown to us during the last year. I never expected that we’d lose my father the way we did, or that so much would happen so quickly. Last year marked ten years of Omega and I was never able to celebrate that with him, though he had been the initial inspiration for this endeavor as a self-employed woodworker by trade. He wasn’t a bowhunter, but I tried my best to follow in his footsteps and make him proud in this way. I turned 30 not long after his passing and struggled with the reality that after years of butting heads and arguing, what times we had together are all that will ever be. During all of that, the moisture issues in the workshop pushed us closer than we’d ever been to having to close Omega and find alternative employment. Yet despite these challenges, by the grace of God and our wonderful, kind customers, we made it through and are on the road to rebuilding- with hopes of surpassing where we were! Words cannot express the gratitude I have for everyone who reached out or who had patience with us during that time, and hope to devote this year to improving even more so I can continue to build and serve you all in kind! Thank you!!!
November 23, 2021-
As we go into Thanksgiving week, there is a great deal we are thankful for this year. Our friends, family, and kind-hearted Omega Longbows customers have shown us patience and support during very trying times. We deeply appreciate everyone who has reached out and we thank all of our customers for being so patient while we get ourselves back together. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts, we are so grateful!!
Headway is being made on the new orders and 2022 updates. Our new Spectraply order is here to replace the Dymalux that had cracked and split during the drying preparations after summer flooding. More alternative drying methods will be explored next year, but until that’s properly addressed and budgeted in we are officially out of Dymalux and will be using Spectraply for all builds.
While exploring different taper and length layout options for the Native and Tribute, it became clear that the recent updates bridged the gap between the two new models far more than expected, and at 60″ they now performed identically. This redundancy has granted us an opportunity to simplify our lineup. So the 60″ Native will be retired and the updated 60″ Tribute will now take its place.
For 2022 the Tribute will be available in 60″, 64″, and 68″ for different draw lengths and purposes. The Royal Huntsman length options will also be expanded. With a selection of different Spectraply and fiberglass colors and several lengths to fit your needs, both models can be better customized to your specifications while offering the best fit and performance I can build. I hope this will give me a chance to better practice this craft and give you all the best Omega longbows possible! Thank you all for this opportunity!
October 23, 2021-
We deeply appreciate the patience and understanding shown during these last couple of months. It has been incredibly hard on our family, but we are getting through the worst of it and have appreciated the kindness shown. During the time of my father’s passing, we also struggled with an incredibly wet summer season and moisture content issues in our materials. That lead to issues in durability and so we made a number of changes in how our materials are stored and prepared. We are now back to work as we should be with dry, strong material again. This chaotic period also exposed several other key areas that needed better addressed moving forward, though. So as of this date, we will be working towards meeting those goals as best we can.
First, we will not be restocking Dymalux at this time. The Dymalux riser option will be removed from the Huntsman due to issues with the moisture/drying characteristics that have become apparent during our moisture crisis. What’s left in our stock is due to run out as the new order of Spectraply arrives, which has been far more forgiving to dry and store and more cost-effective for the color options we hope to offer. This change is being made to produce more durable and consistent bows for everyone with more color options and less confusion.
Second, the simplified length options will be adjusted slightly over winter. The 70″ length option for the Royal Huntsman will return for summer 2022 to once again offer a proper longbow. The Tribute will see new options and will now serve as a replacement for several previous model options that have been discontinued over the years, such as the Original, Spirit, and Native.
Finally, due to the time spent working through warranty replacements over the past month, it’s clear I do not have the inventory done that I was hoping for our November sale. What little stock had been built up has mostly been sold already. This had been a struggle while my father had been sick, however, it had made sense to continue scheduling for inventory rather than be late with a customer’s order should my parents have needed help. Now, after his passing, scheduled inventory builds will be changed to custom orders instead for improved turnaround time. Missed weight bows will be posted as usual inventory, but there won’t be any more inventory-specific builds for 2021. We will be contacting customers as we work through their builds, but start dates will continue to be scheduled as previously set times. This will take some time, but we hope to have everything up and running smoothly by spring next year!
August 22, 2021-
Due to a recent death in the family, we have made changes to our pricing and options. This passing has had a profound impact on our family and we are working through some significant life changes as a result. During this time, I will be working with limited length and custom options for orders to best serve our customers and avoid confusion. The recent material changes have had a more profound impact on the lineup than initially recognized. We will begin taking orders again on September 6 as planned but will be scheduling fewer builds for the remainder of the year to spend more time on each build as well as attending to personal matters. I deeply appreciate your understanding during these times, and hope to resume business as usual as soon as possible. Thank you.
*Older News updates have been moved to archives*
