A recoil starter capable of preventing vibration of a damper spring due to vibrations of an engine caused during running of the engine, to thereby restrain abrasion of a rope reel, a cam and the like which are made of a plastic material, resulting in the durability of the recoil starter being enhanced. The recoil starter includes a drive section comprised of a rope reel which is rotated by pulling a recoil rope and a cam for transmitting the rotational force of the reel to a crankshaft of the engine through a one-way rotative transmission mechanism. A damper spring in the shape of a torsion coil spring is held in annular recesses formed in joint surfaces of the rope reel and cam to face each other while the damper spring is resiliently distorted, so that the rope reel and the cam are rotatingly coupled with each other through the damper spring.