ORIGINAL: statjunk
I just don't understand why anyone would buy a WB with all the Full Containment Drop Aways that are on the market,except for price. A good drop awayfully contains, speeds up your arrow, is quiet as long as you have fabric on the prong and doesn't make contact with your arrow or fletchings.
There are a couple drop aways that offer nice containment now.........most do not. That little rubber stopper that glues to your riser is junk. I do like some of the newer drop away designs though. It's funny.......so many of the hard core drop away guys blew off arrow containment over the years like it was a meaningless feature...........now all their favorite drop aways are jumping on the bandwagon........and all of the sudden they are all for containment now
You listed a few reasons why I don't like drop aways (for hunting) right in your question. You have to put moleskin on them to quiet them down.......I don't like that for a couple reasons. First of all the rest was designed for the forks to fall the way they are.........now add the weight and drag of moleskin and adhesive to them and do they still fall at the same speed?? I also don't like the fact that what is holding my arrow could change.......I don't want to constantly be checking to see that the adhesive isn't failing and the moleskin has become loose.........or it snagged on a twig on the way up to the stand and peeled up slightly............all that stuff many not bother everybody........but it would bother me. I am a VERY detail focused person and I don't like variables that could screw things up........I try to keep it simple. Second of all I don't like extra moving parts (variables). Depending on a moving piece of equipment with cords, plastic forks, springs, pins, grease, bearings, etc is all trouble I don't need to worry about. I had a drop away and the rubber stopper fell off in the woods and one of the forks went flying during practice one day. Moving parts in the woods is a recipe for disaster IMO. Lastly, I can't even begin to tell you how many bows I have seen with poorly setup drop aways on them and they still get all kinds of vane contact. That is one of the biggest fairy tales out there..........people think that a drop away will NEVER have vane contact by design.............WRONG!!! They have had countless issues over the years with forks not dropping fast enough (I was told by Bowtech personally in 2003 that NAP drop aways and the MZE would not work with their bows unless they were modified) A lot of people out there think you can just strap on a drop away and your arrows will never hit anything......just like magic. I have seen my fair share of bows with plenty of vane contact that have drop aways on them. My good friend had lots of trouble last year with his Switchback........he finally solved the problem when he bought his THIRD drop away. They are good rests for certain and I am not mocking them at all.......I just don't see them as the best option to hunt with.
My arrow increased 3 fps just switching between a tradition 2 prong rest and a drop away.
That is meaningless to me............3 fps is not something you or the deer will ever notice. I agree that you don't want a MAJOR loss of speed with anything.........and certainly a MAJOR gain of speed would be worth it. 3 fps is neither of those.
Someone please explain where the advantage of the WB is, other than price?
Tom
Price is the least of it's benefits.........The rest is simple, solid, quiet, accurate, tough, and holds the arrow at any angle. SIMPLE----It installs quickly and easily and has micro adjustments for easier tuning. It has a side load drop in notch that makes nocking an arrow a breeze and no worries about the arrow rattling off the riser. SOLID----I just grab my bow and go......I don't worry about it hitting something or scraping through the brush. I know when I come out the other side it will be right there where I left it............I'm not sure what would happen if you tried to push your way through some of the brush I have with a plastic fork or that Muzzy fishing hook thing [
] QUIET----This is not even an issue for me because I have never heard a noisey WB I have shot deer as close as 13 feet and they never heard a thing. Believe me if it was too loud to hunt with I certainly wouldn't be using it. I think everyone gets a little worked up over this issue anyways........remember that most deer are gonna be in the 15-20 yard range (some further, some closer) but I would say that is a good average. That is 45-60 feet away........and we are 20 feet up a tree!!! Cmon people.........I know your face is right next to the rest so we hear everything right at the source.........if your rest is so loud that you can hear it 60 feet away then you have some SERIOUS problems.......I could drag my nails on a chalk board and you probably wouldn't hear it 60 feet away. Some people are noise freaks........some are vibration freaks.......some are speed freaks........nothing will EVER be good enough for any of them. All I know is the 6 deer I have killed with my WB didn't hear anything and that is all I need to know. ACCURATE----I can shoot my bow in nice groups out to 40 yards with broadheads. I will not shoot farther then 25 in the woods so it is more then accurate enough for me. At 20 yards I get bored and start shooting at my 3D targets eyes and nose and stuff. All 6 deer I killed were nice double lung passthroughs with short blood trails and quick kills. What else is there??......Oh yea TOUGH----This will be year 4 with this rest.....no problems yet.....tens of thousands of shots and well over 100 trips into the woods.