Its very much a recent/current top end Hoyt with speed cam wannabee ( like an AM/Katera/Vulcan especially).

1) It uses a Hoyt C.5 cam (Vectrix style ) that Limbsaver licenses. The draw loads up QUICK from the very beginning,the transitions are pretty smooth but the valley is VERY narrow.

2) The 32 model I shot was last years and had the gigantic fat wooden medium/high wrist grip (It makes a Mathews grip seem minimal), but they are including sideplates this year I believe. Balance/lack of torque is good, but the mass weight is up there. The 32 is heavier than the Katera and the 36 is a real brute at 5 pounds bare. LOVE the extra long sight window.

3) Winners choice string/cables, cable and string leeches,shelf pad, limbsavers dampers on limbs and cable guard, teflon slide, etc. Very cool.

4) Shot feel is somewhat like a Hoyt Katera or a Vulcan-not amazing,but certainly better than average as far as recoil/vibe. I think the name Deadzone is kind of a misnomer- It doesn' t have that absolutely "dead" feel like a General/Guardian/Admiral/Outback at all. It's a little quieter than the Katera/Vulcan (has more silencing gear with the cable and string leeches), I don't think the DZ riser does anything better than what the TEC riser has been doing for many years.

5) I did not chrono it, but it's obviously no slouch for speed. It was sending arrows downrange with some zip and authoritah!! It had a really cool "snappy" (in a good way) feel to it.

Overall I thought it was very cool, and the looks have grown on me (especially with the the new camo pockets or the all black color scheme). My shop is selling the one I shot for cost as its just collecting dust unfortunately. I think it offers alot of value at full price (with all the Simms extras and WC string/cables), but for another hundred dollars you can get into a Hoyt and have a much better re-sale value, and better quality riser machining, etc. The Hoyt Z3 cam is also much nicer to draw and hold for the same kind of arrow speeds.

Tough call-It's a good bow, but nothing revolutionary or really groundbreaking (other than aesthetically, and most would probably say "facebreaking", instead) I'd buy one, but only at a significantly lower price than MSRP, otherwise I'd just spend a bit extra and buy a Hoyt.