More new toys....

It has to be said that I'm always surprised at what stuff costs these days. Have I already become the Victor Meldew character whenever I see a price tag? ... "I don't believe it!". A new gas fire is called for this year, and here's me thinking that £500 ought to cover it, and the actual cost (including fitting etc) is going to hit somewhere between one and two grand. Ouch! The bar in the conservatory I was sure would only be about £2k and ending up being £3k after haggling. I think one of my main problems is that I've become a materialistic snob. So I could have had a bar put in for £2k (or even far less) but it wouldn't have been quite as nice. And we can have a new fire put in for a few hundred quid, but it wouldn't have that nice black marble and chrome finish and have ultra realistic coals. Consequently I should have known when it came time to go and buy the kit for archery that my initial cost estimates when I had my first browse on the web (£175 all in) were going to be a bit short of the mark. You see you can get everything you need to take up archery for less than £100. That's the bow, string, 6 arrows, a quiver, sights, finger tab, arm bracer, stringer, case, etc (yes there's a bit more you need other than just the bow and arrow) but that would be for the same kind of bow we've been using to train with - and a quick look at everyone elses kit in the club shows that no-one does anythnig other than train with that! So the next notch up in the entry level intermeadiate kit where all the bits you get are individually upgradable as you get better (and effectively outgrow them) which is where I settled on the £175 figure.
The real downfall was not going straight ahead and buying off the web, but instead visiting those nice people in Custom Built Archery in Guisborough to see all the kit before we buy. I knew it would be a bit more expensive to have it all setup especially for you, and had already assumed that the budget was going to be up at £300, but once you can see all the kit close up, and try it out then that entry level just doesn't feel as good as the next one up. And then if you are going to pay the extra for the next model you might as well go the whole hog....And to cut a long story not quite so long, £500 later I am now the proud owner of a Hoyt Nexus recurve bow.....which will mean absolutely nothing to any of you except Shelley, but look at the picture - doesn't it look nice?! Mine is a mottled red'n'gold colour rather than the blue