Restring crossbows in the field
 

I am looking at several crossbows. The Parker Cyclone is one and the Excalibur is another. They show on the Excalibur website how to restring their CB in the field. Can you do the same thing with a compound CB? I really like my bro in laws Cyclone. Any input into which of those 2 is the most reliable?

RE: Restring crossbows in the field
 

You can re-string the Excal in a matter of minutes anywhere. Also, if you use the same type of string set to the same brace height your poi won't change. a lot of the Excal crowd carry a pre-stretched string and stringing aid in their hunting pack. the pre-stretched strings are usually carried w/ end loops tied together w/ twistie tie [bread wrapper type] to prevent twists from being lost or changed. Very few if any compounds offer this. The only one I'm aware of is the Stryker.

That being said, it's also relatively rare to need to change a string in the field or at camp. About the only scenario I can invision is if you nick your string w/ a bhead. Don't do that, lol.

I live in the sticks and don't have ready access to a bow monkey, so the recurve's are my answer.

Any piece of machinery that has less moving parts than another is always going to be 'more reliable'.

Both companies you mentioned have good reputations. I shoot Excals because I can't offhand compound xbows. I shot the Parkers awhile back at a show in Ms. The Cyclone had a problem w/ hooks on cocking rope rolling over at the receiver. The Buck Buster impressed me. Have fun!

RE: Restring crossbows in the field
 

Excals simplicity is the main reason they are so reliable. There is so little that can go wrong with them. The hook rollover issue is an easy fix...use and Excal rope aid, their hooks are better designed (I include them automaticaly when I sell a Cyclone)
Wyvern

RE: Restring crossbows in the field
 

I shoot both. Excal is very simple to string, don't even need a press. You need a good press to do the Cyclone. It's relatively short limbs and separate in-limb cable pockets make the Cyclone a bear to press. Even the local shop has a hard time pressing this bow. I made my own press and can do it but don't look forward to it because of the short limbs and high draw weight.

RE: Restring crossbows in the field
 

Yeah, bet you do. you're that kinda guy which is why your rep is all over the xbow forums. Thanks for the clarification on the Cyclone, I still liked the BB better, shot more accurate for me, and the trigger seemed a lot better.

Actually, the DS impresses me a lot. I wouldn't buy one because of their original owner only warranty and needing to take it to a dealer 1st. Kinda arrogant imho, like Harley Davidson used to be, lol.

RE: Restring crossbows in the field
 

I own a Cyclone. I love it, but I don't know about the restringing part. I don't know why you would need to restring in the feild? I plan on taking mine to the bow store to get restrung.

RE: Restring crossbows in the field
 

I went to Gander Mountain today to shoot the Cyclone. It is not something I would buy. It shot fine and it was kind of quiet. That rear stock rig was noisy. Not bad butI could hear it. After shooting it a dozen times I could see it was accurate. The bow tech ask me ifI was comparing CB's. I told him I was indeed. He ask me which I preferred and I told him I would be buyingthe Excaibur. He smiled and then took me to the WX room. WOW! He had a bunch of Cyclones with broken strings. I am not saying anything BAD about the Cyclone it just is not the CB for me. Someone ask why would I want to restring it in the field. I wish you could talk to a friends dad who had a string break for some reason in Canada and missed the chance to harvest a huge bull Moose.

RE: Restring crossbows in the field
 

The Cyclone is indeed quieter. The stock rattle is no big thing, piece of duct tape between the two parts does the trick. It is very fast and handy in tight spaces like a tree stand. But it's not for someone who does not have support close by and/or can't do for himself simple maintenance like changing strings. The string problems were generally with the early issues, seems that Parker has fixed that. I would not recommend it as a starter bow. Having said that, it's the bow I pick up when the hunt gets serious.

RE: Restring crossbows in the field
 

I had to restring my ExoMax once in the field, at camp, I was one of those that did knick the srting with a BH, severed about 1/4 of the strands...restringing was accomplished is about 2 minutes. I really enjoy my Excal do to it simplicity...and the fact it really gets the job done...

RE: Restring crossbows in the field
 

I rarely get concerned when I hear about a "pile" of any returns at a big box store like Gander. All of them stock pile their returns and send them in at the same time and there was a group of early models that had bad strings but I have had no failures at all for months....That and the fact that most of those stores cause their own problems because they dont know what they are doing with the product they sell, but that is another issue...

"I wouldn't buy one because of their original owner only warranty and needing to take it to a dealer 1st."

Most warranties are not transferable...pretty standard. The "dealer 1st" deal is not really much of a problem...if you have a good dealer. If your dealer is an idiot then it can become a nightmare....

Wyvern