What separates one tab from another is what it does after 200 shots, after a thousand, after four years.
Every tab is built to the order form you fill in, not pulled out of a drawer. You choose from S, M and L, with longer face and extended longer face variants on top, six or seven combinations depending on the leather. You say which hand you shoot with, what bow weight sits on your fingers, whether you want the thinner or thicker feel, and whether you walk the string. Then choose from nine leather colours and nine thread colours.
If you are not sure, download the size chart PDF, print it at 100 per cent, cut it out and hold it against your hand. If it still sits between two sizes, contact me before you order and I will review it with you.
over suede backing
Slightly stiff at first, conforms to the hand after 100 to 200 shots.
19 EUR
1.5 to 1.8 mm
Dense, stiffer at first, then a crisp and steady release.
37 EUR
1.0 to 1.4 mm
Thin but stiff, fast and crisp, very little break in.
48 EUR
1.3 to 2.2 mm
Resilient, smooth release, long life.
58 EUR
What the price follows is the leather, not how fast the tab breaks in. The calfskin at 19 EUR is the entry level, the least expensive of the four leathers, and it takes 100 to 200 shots to conform to your hand. The leather costs less; the work that goes into it does not. The other three are all real cordovan. The Horween at 58 EUR is the most expensive of the four because the hide itself costs the most to buy. The Ogawa at 48 EUR sits just under it, with the shipping from Japan in the price. The Tuscany at 37 EUR is a real cordovan and an excellent tab in its own right. Tuscany here is a region, not a single tannery: several makers around Florence produce it, and the trader I buy from does not always say which one, so two tabs bought at different times can differ a little in stiffness. None of them breaks in sooner for costing more. The difference between the Tuscany and the Horween works like wine: a bottle on the higher shelf can cost ten times the one below it, and it is better, but not ten times better. The Horween is a little better than the Tuscany, and here the price gap is 21 EUR, not tenfold. Carlo, quoted below, has shot his for four years and calls it as good as new. Over four years, the distance between the cheapest tab and the dearest is under ten euros a year.
The price is the same whichever grip you shoot: split finger, three under or two under. Six of the nine thread colours add 10 per cent, from 1.90 EUR on the calfskin to 5.80 EUR on the Horween. A finger spacer is a separate piece if you want one, from 9 EUR for ABS to 27 EUR for wood.
For archery you want the shell, the small part from the back of a horsehide, and the Horween here is pure vegetable tanned in the pit. More on shell cordovan.
I sent two Ogawa cordovan tabs to Andreas, an archer in Germany, to test. He shot one at 49 lbs and wrote down what he found.
“Virtually no time needed to break in the tab. It bends where it should after only 20-30 shots.”
“Hello Laszlo, this is a picture after a bit more than 1000 shots. As you can see the tab looks exceptionally well. No string-creep-marks, the wrinkles did not develop anywhere. This is a thin and very good cordovan-leather in my opinion. It breaks in fast and stays this way.”
His photographs at 36, 108, 144 and 1000+ shots are on the FAQ page.
Everything is made after you order it. I schedule the work by what is on the bench, so orders do not always finish strictly in the order they arrived. If yours runs long, you hear it from me. If something is unclear before you order, write to me.
This is for the archer who has shot a tab long enough to know what needs changing about it, who wants the size decided against their own hand rather than guessed, and who would rather buy once.
It is not for you if you need it this week, because every piece is made after the order. Nor if you want to try it on first. I can help by email and with the printed template, but I cannot put it on your hand from here.
“After four years of intense and continuous use, I can confirm that the quality of the tab is exceptional, as good as new, indestructible, and, like all the other equipment provided, I can confirm that it is built with true passion and craftsmanship that clearly and evidently distinguishes VLBB TABS in the archery world.”
Carlo Macconi
“My experience with Laszlo, has been great, I live in Australia and the communication with him has been fantastic. I first had him make me a Quiver and some two under tabs almost 8 years ago. Contacted him again, and got myself a belt a XL pouch and some tabs again, this time the tabs are of the thinner Cordovan, which aids me with a little more feel of the string but still retains a high quality slip, to help with that clean release.”
Jay P
“Great tab made to my specification. Shoots beautifully.”
Stu Axe
Bow International ran the field quiver in its October 2019 issue. Merlin Archery in the UK and Mebo Bogensport in Germany stock the tabs.
The answer is in how long it lasts. One customer reports that after four years of intense use his tab is still as good as new. The thousand shot test in the photographs is a few weeks of shooting: it shows how the tab breaks in, not how long it lasts. If you shoot little, the calfskin at 19 EUR conforms to the hand after 100 to 200 shots.
Test the printed template against your hand before you order. Trimming the face slightly once it is broken in is normal.
Your tab is made after you order it, and production follows the workshop workload, so I do not give a fixed date I might not keep. If yours runs long, you hear it from me.
A tab travels as a small parcel: 20 EUR outside Hungary, less within it. The fee is for the parcel, not for each tab, so several tabs cost the same to ship as one. The exact amount appears at checkout. If an order of yours has not been shipped yet, write to me before you pay and they go out in one parcel.
Yes, within 14 calendar days of receiving it, no reason needed. Return postage is on you. I refund the full amount including the original shipping, up to the cheapest standard delivery. Parcels sent cash on delivery cannot be accepted.
The order form asks exactly that, and the tab is made accordingly.
You know what you want a tab to do. Tell me the size, the leather and the hand, and I make it.
Three steps, and I take it from there.
Print the size chart at 100 per cent and hold it against your hand. Choose the leather and the grip. Fill in the order form: hand, bow weight, the feel you want, the colours. If anything is open, write to me before you order.
19 to 58 EUR depending on the leather, made after you order it, 14 days to change your mind.
Not sure which size or which leather? Write to me before you order.
5.0 from 29 Google reviews · 100% recommended, from 68 Facebook reviews · Made to order in Hungary · 14 days to change your mind
