There is a variety of archery equipment available today from ancient wooden bows and arrows to sophisticated compound bows and carbon-graphite arrows. While some archers have returned to primitive equipment for aesthetic reasons, most archers take advantage of technical advances in equipment. This includes the latest in compound bows in various limb configurations and components of epoxies, carbon and graphite. Steel cables are affixed in various ways over eccentric wheels to permit easy holding at full draw. Better string material, sighting aids, draw stops, vibration dampeners, overdraws, arrow rests and stabilizers are some of the improvements added to the bow to make it more effective for those who can utilize their advantages.
Arrows are available in wood, plastic, aluminum alloys and carbon-graphites.
Fletching, the guidance system, comes in feathers or plastic vanes. The points of the arrow have evolved from the famous flint arrowheads of the Indians to the modern screw-on replaceable heads used today. Since archers are joined to their inanimate equipment by muscle, selection of a bow is necessarily a personal choice that may change with need, physical development and practice. The bow is braced for use between the nocks only and in operation is held in one hand by its handle, while the fingers of the other hand draw, hold back and release the string. Arrow rests and an aiming aid such as a bowsight or bowmark, are permitted as long as they are not electronic or use a lens or prism for magnification.