mideerhunter

Alright this might be a newb question, but it just never made sense to me, I know you need to have a bow press or some sort of portable bow press to hold the limbs compressed a little bit to get the string off and what not, or else chuck norris, one of the two.....I have yet to meet someone who can change their compound bow string without any sort of tools, but I'm not saying it isn't possible cuz there is probably somewhere who can do it, but alright, I have seen in ads and stuff for bows that can adjust the drawlength without the need for a bow press, how the heck is that possible?...or is it just some marketing slogan thing to make it look like the bow is an easy beginners bow, I've always wondered, sorry if it is a newbie question.

Paul L Mohr

It depends on the bow and the cam design. Most bows are adjustable by either changing the cam itself (mathews) or by changing a module on the cam or cams (most others). Some are adjusted with a stop on the cam. Some designs you have to have a bow press to change the modules, others you don't. My bowtech you can change the draw length and adjust let off without a bow press. My darton requires a press to change the module. Hoyts do not need a press and my girlfriends alpine micro does not need a press either.

To change a string, harness or cam you obviously need a press. There might be one or two people that could do it without one, but it would be difficult. The limbs are holding quite a bit pressure, even when not drawn. I have done it with a kids bow with a really low draw weight. I got it apart, but couldn't get it back together without a press. I couldn't imagine doing it with a 70 lb bow.

Paul

BGfisher

What Paul said, and more. Some bows by Browning, Martin, Hoyt and others have a rotating module that all you need to do is loosen set-screws and move it to another hole. Most cover about a 3" range and some like the Browning Micro Midas III and Alpine Micro cover as much as 10".