What do you think about..... (plastic accessories)
 

What are your thoughts of high end archery gear being made of plastic?


I'm just sayingas a consumer paying $80-$200 dollars fora piece of gear(that is ascriticalto having no failure in the fieldas a rest or sight) thatmanufacturing them out of aluminum ormagnesium rather than plasticisn't asking for to much in my opinion.

After breaking severalpieces of gearmade with / out ofplastic components over the past couple years, I now make it a point to only purchase gear thatis made of aluminum etc.

Note: I do see in some cases where plastic would need to be used for fiber optic wraps quivers and stabilizers, but other than that I can't think of one good reason to make a "high end" sight or rest out ofplastic or to use plastic components.
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RE: What do you think about..... (plastic accessories)
 

I won't purchase plastic stuff either. I have seen too many problems. Again, there are certain things that I feel can have plastic pieces in them that are non critical pieces however there is a LOT of gear out there that have critical pieces made out of plastic and the prices on those can sometimes be VERY high.

RE: What do you think about..... (plastic accessories)
 

Yep.......HATE plastic stuff even if it's just on principle. Another thing I hate are decals that some companies use for adjustment marks on sights. [:'(]
Nothing will get skanked up quicker.

RE: What do you think about..... (plastic accessories)
 

there are some drawbacks to plastic but some are also good. You don't want everything made out of aluminum and such. that would be adding weight. By having some plastic parts, i beieve that some products are made better because of the plastic parts

Just my .02

RE: What do you think about..... (plastic accessories)
 

I don't use any plastic accessories anymore... wasted too much money on replacements.

RE: What do you think about..... (plastic accessories)
 

No plastic here. It can break and also I think it has a better chance of causing vibration and noise than an all aluminum part. Plus I'm going to school to be a metallurgical engineer so METAL RULES!:D

RE: What do you think about..... (plastic accessories)
 

As a designer that uses plastic and a variety of metals in designs for a variety of different industries (including the hunting industry), a variety of materials have a place on my bow. My sight, pins, and rest are all metal. This is a no-brainer to me. My quiver is plastic, quiver mount, etc...

Plastics have revolutionized nearly every industry, but plastics aren't a good fit for everything!

RE: What do you think about..... (plastic accessories)
 

I think that if you are going to pay top dollar for equipment, you should get the highest quality materials for that equipment. I'm probably not as hard on my gear sitting in a tree stand as someone chasing elk out west, but I still want the durability.

Now if they could just figure out how to make fiber optics out of metal.;)

RE: What do you think about..... (plastic accessories)
 

That's why I use a VBG sight. The protect them as good as any I've seen, and hunting nearly everyday with my sight for the past 3 seasons, it's held up. I've even dropped my bow out of the tree on a couple of ocasions without having to adjust a thing after the fall!

RE: What do you think about..... (plastic accessories)
 

I don't really thinkthat plastic's lack of performance isas much of a factor as we think it is. It takes a pretty serious blow to break off a sight, even a plastic one, but I did manage to do it once - 25' freefall right to the ground. Plastic scope assembly was no more. LOL Oops.

I'd say it's more of a marketing angle. Really, all abasic hunting bowsight has to do is hold a pin in place, which doesn't take much. People are just more willing to pay that extra $50-75 for a precision-machined chunk of aircraft aluminum, as opposed to a chunk of injection-molded plastic, even if they're equally capable of performing as intended.

So yeah, if I'm paying top dollar, I want machined metal, but if I'm just going for an item that will perform adequately, I'm comfortable sticking a wad of plastic on there and going with it.

Honestly, I've bent and busted more brass, metal, plastic and fiber-opticpins than I've ever ruined sights, so the key feature that I look for is how well are the actual pins protected, since they are the most delicate (and important) part of the entire assembly.

I think the Metal assemblies are more of a necessity for target guys, shooting out to 90 metres, who actually need various micro-adjustments and hundredths of an inch actually matter. As far as hunting purposes go, all that stuff is out the window - you're only shooting out to30 yards, and your target is the size of a beachball.

Theintricate machinework and camo dips on most of the hunting sights out there are just a stab by the manufacturers at sucking an extra few dollars out of each consumer, by convincing them that they "need" something that they don't really "need" at all.

I agree though, if I'm paying $100 for a sight (which I would never do, but if I did) - I'd expect something more - maybe machined metal orthe latest in fashion camo.

RE: What do you think about..... (plastic accessories)
 

That's the spirit now... Equipment Manufacturers get on board. Place your orders now. I'm a Manager at an Aluminum Extrusion Company. PM me for all your quotes!

The Public has spoken!

RE: What do you think about..... (plastic accessories)
 

I agree that plastics have their place but I also look atan all metalsight and think the sight is only as strong as its weakest link. Which would be the fiber optics. Pin gaurds on sights come to mind when I think of platic parts on a sight. This plastic is fairly thick, how much force is it going to take to break that housing. Yet it will take very little force to break a fiber optic and most sights have fiber optics so the weakest link is the same on all sights.

RE: What do you think about..... (plastic accessories)
 

I will tell you one accessory where Plastic really works .....and that's the Muzzy Zero Effect rest. The mounting block and hardware is metal but the main guts of the rest are some super tough delrin type plastic with a carbon launcher rod.
I never would have thought what amounts to almost a completely plastic rest could be that tough and reliable. It's also very quiet when installed properly.
I am glad to see that the pricing came down over what it was when the rest came out.......I remember the first production ones were selling for over $100.

So there ARE a few exceptions to the rule. :)

RE: What do you think about..... (plastic accessories)
 

I agree, Matt... I gotta admit I was extremely disappointed when I bought the MZE to try and saw the amount of platic it was comprised of.

Then, I started using it. Then I started abusing it. Then I wrote my glowing review of it. :)

RE: What do you think about..... (plastic accessories)
 

A Glock is mostly plastic, anybody feel like giving me theirs? ;)

You get what you pay for, and the market for low priced goods is so much larger than the one for top dollar gear that any manufacturer would be a fool to ignore it. If you don't like plastic then don't buy it.

RE: What do you think about..... (plastic accessories)
 

I agree.

RE: What do you think about..... (plastic accessories)
 

If you are talking comparison, you need to ask a single simple question. I will use a sight as an example. What is the advantage of a particular part being plastic? Price should be the primary advantage of a plastic product. That's it..... If the price is the same as a metal alternative design, well, you've just realize who's making a larger profit margin!

Plastic is lighter than aluminum, but most designs that use plastic to replace a metal part are reinforced with additional material to meet the strength requirements. Again, in most applications, plastics are used to reduce cost - period!