This comment is comming from the totally uninformed and is 100% wrong. Therefore it is the real BS.

Stabilizers do just that, they stabilize. Take a 5' broom handle and hold it out in front of you, holding it at the very end. Try to wiggle it around. Then take a 2' piece and do the same. Which one is harder to move around? The longer one is harder to move, therfore it is more stabile.

The V-bar set up used to be more popular with the IBO 3-d shooters. Besides being stabile, you could add more weight to the side opposite your sight to make up for that weight imbalance as well.

The bow pictured with the "long" stabilizer and sight is a target set-up. The stabilizer is the short model of carbon stix. I have the long model at 30". They are great stabilizers. Carbon can dampen more vibration than aluminium which is why they are used on the faster bow setups.

The length of stabilizers is sometimes dictated by what class you are shooting in competition. The bowhunter class was no longer than 12" from the riser. As far as hunting goes, it is hunters preference that dictates the size of their stabilizer or any equiptment for that matter. What ever gives them the best balance, feel or piece of mind, is what should be used. Anything 12" or less should not be a hinderance out in the field. BTW, PSE's torque tamer stabilizer is a good one also. I've used them for years with good results. By the time I installed it on my folding extension over my wrist sling, it measured about 9-10".

I did see a guy out hunting with a 36" stabilizer one time, it had a chrome ball on the end of it. He was totally camoflaged and when he came past my stand, it looked like someone flashing a mirror all over the place.