JeffB

Interesting post..gotta add my two cents here…


I’m not sure I would make the same distinction as Matt has between vibration and handshock…simply because that any vibration will transfer to the hand eventually unless it is suppressed beforehand (pun intended). You feel the vibration in your hand as well (it’s the only point of contact the archer has with bow).

However I do understand what he means…I believe that there needs to be a better term for what he described (though I have no suggestion) .I have owned several bows that did not have any felt vibration, did not have much bow movement (recoil) yet I could feel a “thunp” or “pulse” in my hand. However it did not have the typical “slam a metal pipe on the concrete floor” feel (which produces vibration and ultimately handshock)… Longbows are notorious for hand shock and that “thump” or “pulse”. Better designed longbows will usually take care of the felt shock, but few still eliminate that “thump” (yet the bow does not move significantly.. no recoil).

I believe what we are feeling here is simply the momentum of the limbs returning to brace and/or the momentum of the cam/cams doing the same. While the vibration through the riser may be eliminated, and the bow will move little (no recoil), the “thump” is there. My Martin Rage XRG w/ Zcams was the first bow where I really experienced this so noticeably. It did not move off the spot (no recoil), and I felt no shock (even with the “self” grip), yet I could feel those XRG’s bottom out… Lately the Patriot and the PSE Enforcer gave me the same sensation, though not to the same degree as the Rage (my all time fave bow).

In addition I think many archers tend to rely too much on the initial “feel” feedback of the bow as it is taken off the shelf and shot once or twice. I’ve found with the numbers of bows I have bought in the past that felt wonderful off the shelf and used that as my main judging criteria either A: did not feel as good when completely set-up( the balance was affected, my particular combination of accessories might make for a “bad match” and amplify noise or vibration compared to other designs), or B (and more commonly) that it simply did not shoot accurately or I found it “unforgiving” to my particular shooting form. The converse is also true…Some I have owned made less than a favorable impression out of the box, but once set-up improved by leaps and bounds or simply shot with such ease and/or precision that I was able to ignore the “feel “ characteristics. Hence other than the grip ergonomics, and the feel of the valley at full draw, I generally ignore potential “false indicators” such as shock, recoil, and vibration, and even a rough draw cycle to a certain extent,unless any or all of these factors are overwhelmingly present. With the accessories we have today like Limbsavers, the NV System, String leeches, and some of the better stabilizers on the market, I know I can almost always tame a fairly unruly off the shelf design into a quiet, comfortable shooting machine.

All the time I have for now