This will be the first installment of “Long and Boring Accessories Report”!!!!
I figure since most of us (except for Frank<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>) are basically tapped out financially and can only realistically Report on so many bows........we’d better start evaluating some less expensive.......but still important items.<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
This will give us the chance to examine everday items that we spend the rest of our hard earned money on.
If anyone has any installments of new accessories they've tried.......we'd welcome your own "Long and Boring" reports!
I know I like to learn a little more about an accessory before I'll drop $50......or even $10 <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
This brings us to the first item to be evaluated.........
Trophy Ridge “Flatliner Extreme” 3 Pin model.
Initial impressions:
First off the sight is pretty darn cool looking.......it’s a design the conventional pin shooter is not used to looking at, and I will outline some of the sights strong and weak points as we go along.
The sight is light weight,relatively inexpensive ($50.00), is simple to adjust, and is very bright.
The design as you can see is based on a Verticle Pin stack consisting of 3 separate adjustable pins which actually sit behind one another with the top pin being the furthest from the eye.(5 pin models are available)
There is also a built in “Torque Indicator” feature which you set basically by loosening the 2 set screws on the top and bottom of the sight housing (using allen screws) and rotate the sight housing until all pins line up perfectly. Once set, if you rotate or torque your grip while shooting the pins will not line up vertically, and you’ll start to see the sides of the pin blocks themselves......nice feature.
Positives:
The sight is SUPER simple to adjust.......After the initial torque setting adjustment and mounting to the bow, put the allen wrenches away......you won’t need them. All vertical and horizontal adjustments can be made by hand with wing nut-screws provided. (There are even wingnuts to mount the sight bracket if you like......I didn’t trust them and they were too bulky).
Fine pin adjustments are made by first releasing the right side cam underneath and sliding the pin itself to the desired height with the lever on the left.......then simply lock the right cam back into position! Say goodbye to stripped screw heads.
The aiming points are super fine on this sight, but they lack nothing in the brightness dept. There is a complete external fiber wrap around the sight housing which gathers light very nicely right up to the point where a deer is going to need a flashlight to see you! <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
The field of view for a 3 pin sight is simply as good as it gets........there is hardly any target obstruction whatsoever. (On GAME or 3D......spots are a different story and we’ll get to that)
The vertical orientation compliments shooting at animals as it makes it very easy to line up just behind the front leg to the promise land.
It should serve as a pretty good 3D sight....However real "Gap" shooting is impossible.
The sight although fairly bulky is actually quite light......due to it’s composite sight housing and streamlined aluminum mounting bracket. (You Mathews Shooters can get one with those “Harmonic hoohas” in them
)
Negatives.....or should I say things I’d change.<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>:
For such a nice design there are quite a few minor negatives that I’d change on the overall design.....this is after shooting it for a few months now.
Even in the tightest (closest to the riser) mounting position the entire sight housing sticks out pretty far from the bow...... And the furthest location is almost comical......it’s way out there.
I’m going to probably shoot a few early 3D's with it, so I split the difference mounting wise, but for brushy tight hunting applications or jerking it up and down trees, a tighter fit to the riser would be a definite benefit.
Some details of the sight are a little “Cheesy”.....the annoying yellow Trophy Ridge raised emblem (sticker) on the side.....falls off and slides around. Why bother?
The inside edges of the Horizontal and vertical adjustment bars have nice marks that allow you to “Dial” in your position.....it’s not micro adjust, but at least it gives you a frame of reference when you are tinkering.......Unfortunately these marks are a DECAL.....and the sharp edges of the dovetail itself work it over pretty badly. I haven’t moved mine much but the stickers looks like my cat was trying to kill a spider on them.
If it were mine to do, I’d have the marks ETCHED into the sunken faces of these ars instead of the cheapy stickers.
I’m shooting a low poundage, low recoil bow with this sight and if I put my ear up to the sight housing and pluck the string, I can hear a slight ‘Tuning Fork” sound.......maybe the fact that it is shaped like a tuning fork is a factor? <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle> That might be why they came out with the new “Harmonic Hooha” version.
As you can see in the pictures I tried to eliminate this sound with some "Mini" Limbsavers.....didn't work <img src=icon_smile_sad.gif border=0 align=middle>, so I assume that the sound is above the frequency where Limbsavers are effective.
I left them on to help defeat any shot vibration as the sight sticks pretty far out there.
The Wing-nuts......as nice of a feature as they are, really need to be tightened down snugly, or I fear the sight will migrate side to side or up and down. (Hasn’t happened, but i take no chances)
I don’t know if it’s like this on all models or I’m just a lucky one.....but the bottom wingnut winds up when fully tightened, dead in line with the bracket making it VERY difficult to get my fingers on it. Might just be luck of the machining.
Unless you are shooting at a fixed yardage with the top pin......this is not a good spot shooting sight. When you are sighting in the bottom pins on a target face, the vertical orientation blots out the entire spot, and you have no up and down reference. It’s not impossible, but it’s definitely not this sights strong point.
Durability of the composite housing,cams,levers,and slightly exposed pins have yet to be tested.
Overall Impression:
This is a pretty nice sight, that will benefit hunters and "hunter class" 3D shooters alike(unless you are a "Gap" shooter)......it's easy to adjust , and like I said very bright. It’s light, fairly cheap, and ........well sorta sexy.<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
Overall I’m quite pleased so far, and it will be on my hunting bow this fall, so I trust it to that point.
Edited for picture screw up.....<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
Edited by - Matt / PA on 02/26/2002 20:21:47
Matt's "Long and Boring" SIGHT Report!!! :-)
