At the end of the Bamboo-Backed Bow video, I've included a "Sources of Supply" list, just as I do when I write how-to articles for publication. I've never had a money interest or accepted freebies of any kind for any source I have ever listed anywhere. The sole criterion I employ for listing a source is that it provides the best, most reliable product I know of relating to the subject I'm concerned with.

So it is with Bamboo and Rattan Works, Inc. You pay more with them, but by my estimation you get a whole lot more. I've dealt with them for 20 years and have never had a piece sent to me that corkscrewed or was scarred beyond the rind. They've never sent me water-spotted or decayed bamboo. They hand-select every piece they send for bow backing, whether it's destined for you or for me. In short, they not only know what they're doing, they know what I'm doing.

Beyond superficial considerations, the variety of bamboo they sell (Maso) is in my estimation superior for bow backings to the inexpensive variety (Moso) which is currently popular and available elsewhere. Maso is stronger, with greater integrity. I have only had two bamboo backings lift splinters from B&RW, and that was early on in my explorations when I inclined toward removing every speck of rind off the back, thereby cutting too deeply into the power fibers. The nodes run closer together here than with the cheaper source, but I'll trade that for strength any day.

Splintering proved endemic with the cheaper variety, occurring in about 1 in 15 bows, regardless of whether I scraped the rind or not. For a while I routinely backed Moso with silk as a prophylactic measure, and even wrote an article detailing the fix for this problem. Since I've gone back to Bamboo and Rattan Works bamboo, employing only moderate scraping and sanding of rind—just enough to absorb a dye—I've had no further lifting of splinters.

The only other variety I have used with great success is Madake, which I've brought back from Australia. It is very thin-walled, but quite excellent, with a tight concentration of power fibers and widely spaced nodes. Have not been able to find it here.

Bamboo variety or power fiber density is of little to no consequence when you are grinding laminations for fiberglassed bows. Cost outweighs other considerations. Not so with bamboo-backed bows. The r/d design and the trapezoidal cross section place greater than average strain on the back. Given the time and effort I put into a bow, I'm willing to pay a few extra bucks for quality materials.

I don't want to discourage experimentation. There must be many fine bamboos that will work for this application. I know of two that have proved themselves long term and one that has proved unsatisfactory. Seems to me, from what I've read and heard, the unsatisfactory one is the current and popular choice among natural materials bowyers.

– Dean