No sight, no stabiliser, no clicker: barebow is archery stripped to its purest form. What defines the discipline and who it suits.
„Archery with no sight at all — can that really work?" Short and honest: yes, and that is exactly what barebow is. No sighting device, no stabiliser, no clicker — just you, the bow and your arrow. Under World Archery's rules, the unstrung bow has to fit completely through a ring with a 12.2 centimetre inside diameter — roughly the width of a large coffee mug. Anything that does not fit through that ring is banned. No tricks, no loopholes.
Sounds like deprivation, but that is exactly the appeal. Barebow is officially younger than you would think: at World Archery Field Championships the discipline has been shot since 1969, but World Archery only recognised barebow as its own category in target archery in 2019 — the first official world records fell in 2020. You are stepping into a discipline with ancient roots that is only just now breaking through internationally.
The difference from your sibling disciplines is radical: Recurve shoots with a sight, stabiliser and clicker (the mechanical draw check), Compound uses cams, a release aid and let-off, which reduces the holding weight at full draw. Barebow has none of that. You aim with the arrow tip, feel every gram of draw weight all the way to the release, and your equipment does not forgive a single mistake.
### 1. Understand what „bare" actually means Barebow explicitly bans sights and stabilisers. The only extra allowed is a fixed weight on the lower end of the riser, with no rods or dampers — it can adjust balance but must not dampen vibration the way a real stabiliser does. A kisser button (the small anchor point at the corner of the mouth many recurve archers use) is also banned — your anchor has to come entirely from hand and face contact.
### 2. Set yourself apart from recurve and compound Recurve runs with a sight, clicker and stabiliser, compound with cams, a release aid and let-off (reduced holding weight at full draw). Barebow and recurve both hold the full draw weight through the release — so the big difference from recurve is not the draw weight, it is the complete absence of any aiming aid.
### 3. Know your discipline's history Field barebow is a classic dating back to 1969, and the class has been shot at the World Games since 1985. In target archery, though, it is very young: official recognition only came in 2019, the first world records in 2020. You are part of a discipline on the rise.
### 4. Understand why barebow is growing right now One reason: all you need is a bow and arrows to be competition-ready across indoor, field, 3D and target — no swapping setups between disciplines. A second reason: it is cheaper, simply because sight and stabiliser fall away entirely.
Barebow is not more dangerous than any other archery, but your bow arm carries more responsibility: with no stabiliser, nothing dampens the vibration on release. Keep your bow grip loose (more on that in the technique guide) and check that your extra weight is seated firmly — a loose weight on the riser can come off during the shot.
Do not start instinctively, even though it sounds „purer". Almost every community source recommends beginners use the gap method (aiming with the arrow tip over a calculated distance) — it is demonstrably easier to learn than pure gut-feel shooting. Instinctive shooting comes on its own later, once your eye-hand system has logged enough repetitions.
### Is barebow harder to learn than recurve? Yes, that is fairly settled community consensus: with no sight, stabiliser or clicker, nothing in the equipment corrects your mistakes for you. That makes the learning curve steeper, but also more honest — you see immediately what is off.
### Is barebow an Olympic discipline? No. Only recurve is Olympic. Barebow is contested at the World Games, field and indoor world championships, and since 2019 in official target archery — but not (yet) at the Olympics.
### What exactly separates barebow from recurve and compound? No sight, no stabiliser, no clicker — only an arrow rest, plunger, tab and a fixed extra weight are allowed. Recurve additionally uses a sight, clicker and stabiliser; compound runs cams, a release aid and reduced holding weight.
### Can I start directly with barebow as a beginner? Yes, many do. It is more demanding at first, but you learn the cleanest possible fundamentals from day one, because no accessory papers over your mistakes.
Barebow Gear: What You Actually Need (and What's Banned)