I’m a week out from my first compound competition, so I wanted to show you exactly what I’m taking to the line—and why I’ve gone the “good value” route instead of chasing top-of-the-range branded gear. It’s a sunny but gusty spring morning here in New Zealand, and honestly that’s perfect practice because it looks like Christchurch will be breezy on the day too. I walk through my full setup piece by piece (starting with arrows and my release aid before we even get to the bow), and the big takeaway is simple: you can build a competition-ready compound rig for way less money if you choose carefully. On the day I’ll be shooting Pandaras Ice Point 400 spine arrows with 120 grain points, but for this practice session I’m using my older 400 spine arrows so I don’t wreck the good set a week out. My release is a Towoint thumb release, and the bow is the Towoint Reliance (mine says “Reliance Pro”), which I genuinely can’t say anything bad about—it’s smooth, easy to draw, and forgiving enough that it won’t trash your shoulder. I also cover my budget sight/scope setup, a micro-adjust blade rest, and Avalon Tech Max stabilisers, then I take it back to 30m to prove it groups well (even with the “practice” arrows hitting a touch low/right). If you’re new to compound or moving over from recurve, this is my real-world, affordable setup that still shoots better than I do.