Whisker Biscuit Question???

[Swamp Dawg]

I was wondering if anyone knew how much a whisker biscuit slowed down arrow speed vs. a drop away style rest. It is such a great hunting rest but feel like I'm giving up too much! And while I'm on the subject, what about rubber tubing that fits on the peep sight. How much speed is lost vs. using something like the tru peep?

I shoot a 29" 70lb McPhearson Hornet with an IBO of 308. However I am only getting approximately 240 fps with a 390 gr. arrow. Does this seem a little slow or about right? Thanks.

[PABowhntr]

My experience.....

...with nothing modified on the biscuit I would say approximately 6-8 fps. With the biscuit modified slightly by trimming some bristles, etc.. I would say 3-4 fps tops.

As for compared to a "drop away" rest, night and day in my opinion. The Drop away rest is designed to provide minimal contact with the arrow. Less contact equals less friction. Less friction means less of a reduction in arrow speed because of the contact.

As for how it fairs as a hunting rest....take that with a grain of salt. If you are shooting a decent setup then even 6-8 fps is not that big of a deal provided your bow is well tuned. It has other attributes that more than make up for the marginal speed loss.

A rubber tubing peep sight definitely decreases arrow speed. Again, my experience is that it could be as much as 8-10 fps...depending largely on the position it has on the string. A Fletcher Tru-Peep or one of a similar design is likely to only reduce speed by approximately 3-4 fps.

As for your particular setup...you are "losing" about 18 fps because of the shorter draw length and heavier arrow which would bring your speed down to about 290 fps. Give or take 5-8 fps for how some manufacturers are "off" on their speed ratings and that brings you down to about 282 fps. A rubber tubing style peep sight would knock another 8-10 fps which would bring you down to 272 fps and a whisker biscuit would bring it down to around 264 fps. Throw in some string silencers, a rubber eliminator button, brass nockset and/or a loop and we are down to about 250 fps.

240 fps seems a bit slow but not by much considering what could be in the rest of your setup.

[Swamp Dawg]

Thanks for the response PA. How much speed needs to be gained before a real difference can be noticed? I can't justify shooting lighter arrows, changing the peep , rest, if I can't tell a difference with 15-20 fps more. I figure it needs to be about 40-50 fps faster to be able to tell. Is this about right?

[PABowhntr]

That depends on what you are trying to make a difference with. Speed and trajectory is somewhat subjective in terms of "a difference". What I mean is that different folks draw the line at different levels. Is a 2 inch drop at twenty yards significant? How about a 2 inch drop at 40 yards, etc....?

When you reach a certain level with speed then it does take a large increase to flatten trajectory further significantly in my opinion. You can go to www.bowjackson.com and play with his trajectory and ballistic tables to see just how much changing a few things with your setup will impact the trajectory.

What I find more important is how an increase in speed, without lightening arrow weight, can add to your Kinetic Energy and Momentum numbers. That is where I believe the true value in increasing speed lies.

Hope this helps some.

[Arrroman]

Speed loss because of the biscuit on a tuned bow with 4" straight vanes will be on the order of 1% of the FPS of the same bow with a dropaway. If the biscuit is flattened on one side to reduce its thickness by half the speed loss can also be cut in half. If you shoot 5" helical you may lose 2% of the arrow FPS. If you use 3" feathers in a straight fletch the actual loss in FPS can be real hard to measure. Happy holidays and Good luck hunting!

[Arrroman]

SwampDawg: The peep alone on a bowstring can cost you 8FPS. The tubing another 8-10FPS. Even the brass nock on the string costs about 2-3 FPS. I tie a string nock on the bowstring and I've already bought back whatever using the biscuit cost me in FPS with 4" vanes. Again Happy Holidays and Good Luck Hunting!