2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

I have an Admiral and a S.W.A.T. sitting behind my counter right now.

Initial impressions directly out of the box; better looking in person.

I've yet to shoot them though.

Expect pictures and reviews this evening after I'm off.

Until then, speculate. ;)

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

After I get back tonight there better be a review Dan:D

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

I told you they're good looking. ;):D

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

Dang I would like to see them!

rick

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

Would this not be a Man Law violation, punishable by a sack punch???

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

Actually Tony, several!

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

I cant believe they have reached shops already.
I can not wait to get my hands on these.

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

we're waiting.... :eek:[X(]:D:D:D:D LETS GO!![8D]:D

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

Well then, Wash, if you don't get pics of the new bows up tootsweet, we are gonna Rocky Balboa you ....[>:]

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

it is 6:40 not home yet come on...
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RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

I'm waiting................:eek:

Hurry

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

[:@][:@][:@][:@][:@]what the **** what is up with all you guys talking about this deer or this bow or this hot chick but yet no pics no nothing. We need to start a fund for someone to go around and sack kick every man law violator

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

i'll hold em and everyone can take turns on the punches.

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

Um he's on the West coast guys, perhaps there is a thing called time zones. ;) [8D]

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

just log onto www.bowhunterssuperstore.com for all the specs and prices and to order your Diamonds.

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

Wow, and the Iceman comes with a free American Archery bow vise.

Edit, they all do. Huh.

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

Hmmm that can be taken two ways....one as a BAD sign and as "cool free stuff!"

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

Word![&:]

rick

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

So you want pictures bigtim???




How's the diet going???

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

Okay Bob, you went from great post in the other thread to, your bad in this thread.[8D] LMAO.

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

It's the GR8atta2d vs Badatta2d Ying and Yang thing...Sometimes it's outta my control.. Sorry Bigtim ;)

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

You is mo bad den good :D

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

"Let he, who is without sin, cast the first stone"

Or as we say in the hood

Are YOu talking to ME? [8D]

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

Oh no you didn't just do that...........

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

Uploading to photobucket now... ;)

[&:]

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

I was shocked to walk into work this afternoon and find two boxes from Bowtech sitting on my counter. I was even more suprised to see the names on the labels;

Admiral:



As some of you saw in the thread first showing the pictures of the new models for 2009, I made it clear that I didn't like the way these bows looked. To me, they looked like something you would see in a Star Trek episode - too futuristic. After opening the box and closely inspecting the bow, I've come to find that this bow is actually quite appealing visually.



One thing this bow has going for it that its predecessor didn't is its weight. I imagined this bow would be just as heavy as the General - again, I was suprised. Lightweight and short, this bow is going to find a spot in many whitetail treestands this fall.

While I didn't recieve any literature with thses bows, I'm assuming the draw length is adjusted similar to that of the Edge. Simply loosen the allen screws and slide the module to its appropriate spot. Then adjust the draw stop and viola, you're set. No press needed. It also appears as if the draw stop itself is a bit more adjustable as far as fine tuning it is concerned. Loosen the alen screw and slide the peg one way or the other, whichever you like.





Another noticable difference in this bow is the lack of a... cap over the point where the limb pivots.



Now, I didn't have much time to shoot both of these bows this evening... I shot maybe a half dozen arrows through each. I wasn't able to weigh either or shoot them through a chronograph, that'll come later. This bow is a shooter, guys. Its difficult to explain to anyone who hasn't shot very many different bows... but every once and awhile you cross paths with one that just shoots. I won't say that the draw was incredibly smooth, but it was... even... all the way through. There was no sudden hump in the middle of the cycle. It was a continuously even weight all the way through and fell into a solid back wall.

For as light as it is, this bow is rock steady in your hand. I shot it without a sight, but wasn't suprised to find nearly all of my arrows very close together. Quiet and shock free, this is going to be the bow to beat come fall.

S.W.A.T.:

Of the 2009 lineup, the SWAT was the one I was most anxious to get my hands on. Perhaps because it reminded me of the "traditional" paralell limbed bow or because I was dead set on disliking the rest of them I don't know...



In all honesty, the SWAT reminds me a lot of my Allegiance. The weight is roughly the same and it holds equally as well in my hand. Yet, I was still left wanting.

One thing that disapointed me was the cam itself. It almost seemed as if they were an afterthought in the design process. Not much too them, really.



Another thing I was slightly disapointed in was the redesigned cable slide. The Bowtech guys can correct me, but I'm assuming its a lot like the cable slide Alpine is using on their bows, in so far as it has a plastic shell with a teflon core. Excellent idea, but upon drawing the bow, the slide had a tendancy to hang up and skip across the cable gaurd, rather than slide smoothly. It could be that it will take some breaking in shooting it, but I don't know.



Onto shooting it. As with the Admiral the bow is extremely quiet and shock free. It again reminded me of my Allegiance as far as the draw cycle and how it held. The biggest difference I noticed was the wall. Extremely solid, difficult to explain. Maybe Matt can put it better than I can, it'll really take shooting it to understand.

The same module/draw stop system was used on these cams.

Something I did notice was the invelvet felt... better. More durable perhaps. Especially on the limbs.

Between the two, I found the Admiral to be the one to beat. As far as a quiet, light, quick, enjoyable to shoot bow, you'll be hard pressed to find something better.

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

both great looking bows i have to say for liking hoyt so much and shooting them i will have to shoot a bowtech and see what i think of it everybody says they are great bows i think this might be my next bow who knows what will happen
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RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

Thats what I've been waiting for:D

Good review, Thanks Wash

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

Nice pics WH and congrats on getting the new bows!

I wanna know how you rate though. I haven't even gotten mine yet!

:)

I look forward to hearing future comments.

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

Man I like that Admiral .......ALOT!!

Thanks Wash!!

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

Wait til you have it in your hands, or so I heard...any day now, any...day...now. ;) :D

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

seen pics of most of the line up the other day. They are sweet looking IMO. :)

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

The Admiral looks awesome, if it shoots as good as it looks...it is going to be a VERY popular bow!!

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

I love my tribute but I think the admiral might kick it to a back up bow.

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

Washington Hunter, you from Washington state or D.C.? Myself I'm from State.

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

Thanks Wash.......I just knew your initial impression of them wasn't going to hold up. LOL :D

If you guys really get down to looking at the pictures it does show some of the features I alluded too:

Limbs:
You can see the "Bolt Through" axle design (See the lack of E-clips?) The limb tips are beefier and incorporate a thick metal "U" channel that covers the strees areas of the limb tip to make it bulletproof. The entire unit is then drilled through after fitting for precision. That bolth through axle system also increases the limb tip tolerances by not relying on plastic washers/spacers or having to allow just enough "slop" to get e-clips on the ends.
The limbs themselves have a new process and materials that I can't really explain because I don't have the technical data on it........but it is supposed to be on Bowtech's website shortly after Oct 1st launch outlining the entire limb make up and science behind them. after the General recall I think it's important that people understand that the limbs have been addressed to rpevent any chance of that happening again.

Center Pivot:
You can see as Wash mentioned a lack of a top cap........in reality all you guys with older CP bows? Yours really doesn't need it either.(but leave it on!):D
You can see the pivoting rocker / limb cup design peeking out alongside the limbs.I saw one without limbs on it and this is a really smooth floating /pivoting sort of deal that will keep the limbs from simply levering around a static hard unit. Gone is the actual moving center pivot arm and a bunch more e-clips.
I think there are actual bearings inthat unitbut I'm not positive?

As with the limb tips, the less loose additional parts such as e-clips and washers and spacers etc that a bow has........the quieter it will be without all that stuff moving around under vibration.

Cams:
Again they were described well.........the module simply rotates to the desired position in 1/2" increments and tightened back down. No more messing with additional mods if you want to fine tune draw length or set them up at a shop for customers. A couple turns of the wrench and you have everything you need built into the bow.
Draw stop is adjustable for fine tuning valley and let-off hence the shape and design. It gives more possible contact positions along the outer radius.

Limb Bolts:
HArd to see in the pictures but the limb bolts are extremely long........on purpose. They will allow the user or shop to completely relax the bow to service, install peeps etc.

Speed:
Here's an interesting thing for you guys to consider. For 2009 Bowtech will establish their speed ratings based upon the average speed shot by an actual "Pilot run" of bows. Not one or 2 tweaked and retweaked prototypes and then find out the production bows are a little slower, or worse yet what some other manufacturers do........inflate the bows specs (increased draw length and/or weight) in hopes that the end user isn't smart enough to check or care that they aren't REALLY doing what they say they are.
Bowtech will take the pilot run, average the speed of every bow shot (dozens of actual production bows) and place that number into the upper end of the speed rating. This will ensure that every bow will hit the speeds we advertise and some should even reach the very top of the range at the specs we say they are.
This way hopefully people are happy when they see a bow rated at 317-325fps come in at 324fps rather than 317. :(

To illustrate what I was talking about with TRUE speed ratings.....Bowtech has in their possession pretty much every production bow out there from other manufacturers, only smart to see what everyone else is doing performance wise.

Well we took a measured AMO 28" / 70# Bowtech Sentinel and shot an exactly 350gr test arrow through the chrono graph at 305fps. The Sentinel is rated 317-325, so BAM!, it's dead on high end speed rating for thatone which was a production bow off the line.:)

Next we took a "Speed" bow from "Another" manufacturer rated to the mid to upper 340's that has only 1/4" more brace height. After having to set the draw length BACK to AMO 28" ;)and turn the draw weight BACK to 70# to get the bows to match we again shot the same 350gr arrow...........and got a whopping 308fps apples to apples. :eek:

That's 3fps difference real life from a bow that is ADVERTISED as being 21fps faster.

3/4" long in AMO draw length and 3lbs heavy on shipped weight equals .whoops maybe an extra 10-12 fps? :eek:
Knowledge is power, and some of these manufacturers count on you being dumb or your shop not caring because that "fake" chrono number is selling bows. Demand more from your equipment and hold them to what they claim.........same goes for us. Learn how to check these things and not just take the maker's word for it. ;)

Mass Weight:
I don't know the actual listed weights yet but I do know as Wash mentioned that the Admiral is quite a bit lighter than the General, something like 4# even I think?
IMO the Admiral is simply the single nicest feeling , balancing and shooting little hunting bow I've ever seen. I dont' expect anyone to take my word for it, you just have to handle one yourself to understand........

If anyone has any questions fire away, I'll probably steal everythingI wrote here and more when mine shows up to the East Coast shortly.

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

Good writeup. A couple of things I really like, even if considered minor changes. I like that they lost the cable guard string stop, and replaced it with lower riser mount. I also like the fine tune adjustability of the string draw stop, and the DL adjustments built right into a rotating module is a great addition. Finally, I really like the ability to back out the limb bolts and relax the limbs enough to install accessories without a press. All little additions that really add to the functionality of the bow.

Matt, that's great to hear they're taking that approach for the IBO rating. Reminds me a bit of how the EPA revised the mileage ratings of all vehicles a few years ago to better reflect real world numbers. Bowtech get's props from me for that.

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

jjlemm001- I'm from Washington State.

Matt - Thanks for adding all of that. I had planned on spending a good hour or two last night messing around with the two bows, but wouldn't you know it I got busy for a change. [&:]

As for how we got these bows so early... Sportsman's buyer decided to get on the ball for us this year. No one else has these bows that we're aware of.




I uh... I do phone orders. ;)PM me if you want the store's number...

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

It's not that we did it 'wrong" necessarily before, it's just that the advertised specs were often established from preproduction models and sometimes the actual production speed while technically still falling within the range didn't excite anybody because many of the bows fell into the bottom end of the scale. :(
Some would actually make it UNDER the advertised speed, and would have to be sent back to be retuned, rebuilt etc to get it shooting in that range which slowed production.
YES Bowtech shoots EVERY single bow in front of some very good equipment to test them. I saw it being done.

So now everyone should be happy that their bows should solidly make the advertised number and some will/should be at the very top just by law of averages.
If you think about it this should also make the 29", 28" on down shooters evern MORE happy because the trickle down affect is that a 29" shooter could conceivably get a bow shooting at the bottom of the 30" speed rating by default. :)

RE: 2009 Bowtechs have arrived.
 

I'm a 28.5" shooter, so yes, that makes me happy:D What bows can we expect you to have your hands on first?