Stabilizers and purpose

[bones]

What is the prupose of a stabilizer? Is it to absorb vibration? Is it to add weight to the front of the bow to balance it? I have a Reflex Excursion and had a with a stablizer on it. When holding the bow at arms length the bow tips back toward me. Last night I put a heavier stablizer on it and immediately noticed a difference in my ablility to hold the bow balanced and it seemed that my groups were tighter.

Bones

[mainehunt]

In my own opinion, the only reason I use one (6" doinker) is because it reduces the "kick" or recoil of the bow. I just bought a new Golden Eagle bow last week. The first arrow shot out of it in the shop made it feel like the bow was going to jump right out of my hand. The shop guru grabbed a stabilizer off the shelf and screwed it on, it immediately made a HUGE difference.

At home, I shot some groups at 15 yards with, and without the stabilizer. No difference at all as far as accuracy is concerned.

[hunter9022]

The newer ones do both. They add weight to the front of a bow so that it will fall slightly forward and out of the way of the shot, and it takes away vibration in the riser.

[Sniper151]

bones, many of today's stabilizers focus on vibration and noise elimination. The purpose of a stabilizer is to balance and stabilize the bow. Start with a stabilizer that rigidly attaches to the bow in a length of 10" to 12". Attach the unit to your bow and hold the bow up with your bow hand. The top of the bow should balance straight up and down or the top should want to fall forward. If it has a tendency to fall back, attach a small, screw in weight to the tip. This is why a longer stabilizer is needed to move the weight from directly over the bow to a forward position. Less mass weight is needed to adjust the balance position. The result will be a very steady bow hand and sight picture. Tuning will eliminate most if not all noise. Should further noise reduction be needed, attach the vibration dampening devices like the Simm's products.

[muzzyman88]

The main purpose of the a stabilizer is just that. Balance your bow before, during and after the shot. Most of todays stabilizer I feel are way too light. I found that I shoot better with a slightlier heavier setup. The Doinkers and the Stealth I just bought have enough weight to them to help with balance. A lot of them don't IMO.

[bow2]

has anyone seen the varaflex stabilizer from extreme archery looks very interesting it flexible and you can offset the weight to level your bow and you dont need to remove it to put it in a bow case.if anyone has tried it let me know how it works

[Matt / PA]

When holding the bow at arms length the bow tips back toward me. Last night I put a heavier stablizer on it and immediately noticed a difference in my ablility to hold the bow balanced and it seemed that my groups were tighter.

You sort of answered your own question........
The main purpose of a stabilizer is to promote good balance before during and after the shot which will enhance your aiming , follow through and accuracy.

There is not just front and back in this equation either.......do not neglect the other planes of movement either. Side, offset and backweight are sometimes necessary to achieve proper balance on many of todays newer bows that are easily overcome with a long or heavy front stabilizer. (Small offset stabilizers aren't just for the target crowd)

The bow should be set up that it's not pulling in any one direction excessively while aiming and the limb tips should not travel excessively in any direction when fired. You need to find a good static and dynamic balance to get the most of your bow.

Watch (or have a buddy watch)your bows top cam/wheel to see what direction it goes at the shot........whatever direction it dives, counter that with weight in the opposite direction until it sits almost still when shot.
The bow should not pull hard in ANY direction at rest or when fired.

This could mean any combination of stabilizer lengths , directions and designs........every bow is different, and accessories will also play a role in stabilizer choice. Brands and makes can be recommended, but lengths, weights and orientation cannot without first hand experience with a particular bow set-up.