idahoelkinstructor

I am posting this becaue I have had a few PM's asking me what bow I liked the best between my three Mathews. Instead of answering each one I want to post this here for you all to read. So to start off I can't say which one I like one the most, but I dolike each bow for different reasons. They are all top of the line very fine bows. But if someone wants to pick out the little details between the three it can be done. I work part time in a pro shop and I wasn't all that inpressed with the Drenalin when it first came out.I thought it was just a lightweight switchback. But after shooting the shops demo a lot and testing it head to head against the other two I really became inpressed.All bows seem equally quiet IMO and almost the same with smoothness and zero hand shock. Here is my list of the best positives and worst negatives that stand out for each bow compared to the other two. Note I am being very picky because these three are all awesome bows, and a archer can't go wrong buy owning any of them.
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Drenalin
Positives

1) Light Weight almost a half pound lighter than the other two bows.

2) Fast, on paper its listed as only 2 f/s faster than the Switchback but in reality its a good 9-10 f/s faster than the Switchback.

3) Well balanced and is very accurate, this is a matter of opinion but for those who have owned both bows or all three seem to think that drenalin just holds better and as a result it more accurate. I tend to agree with this as well, I rate it as most accurate of the three.


Drenalin
Negatives

1) Has a slight kick out from the bottom, it's not hand shock, its just kick that can be felt. With even a small stabilizer such as a Slim S Coil this problem is eleminated.

2) Slim Lims are not yet proven over time so that is why I am listing it as a Negative. For some this scares them away from this bow. Mathews states they last twice as long as the regular lifetime warranty limbs. I really like them myself and like all Mathews products they come with a lifetime warranty, so even if they do have problems so what. Mathews has one of the best reputations for customer service.
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Switchback XT
Positives

1) Smooth, very smooth, IMO there isn't a bow on a market thats as smooth drawing and shooting as the XT. Sure the Dren and regular switchback are smooth to, but the XT is even more so its the best of thethree in this category.

2) Very Short axle to axle at 31" comparted to 33" for the other two. This comes in handy for the treestand hunter or hunting out of a blind. I too like the shortness of it for these reasons. When hunting out of a blind this is my bow of choice.

3) Forgiving, it has a half inch more brach height (BH) over the other two at 7.5" compared to 7". This again is a matter of opinion but some archers realy like that half ince more BH and claim it gives them more accuracy. I mysef realy can't tell much difference in accurace between the XT, and SB. Both are really accurate bows IMO but with that said the Dren is more accurate for me.


Switchback XT
Negatives

1) Slow, sure its smooth but that smoothness came at a price in speed. Its about 12-16 f/s slower than the Drenalin depending upon the arrow weight. I myslef could care less about speed, when it comes to big game hunting. I like shooting heavier arrows around the 270-280 f/s mark and the XT does that with ease. The XT is plenty fast for any bowhunter and plenty fast for me. It just happens to be slower than the other two bows.

2) Short axle to axle, I know I lised this as a positive too, but some archers hate short axle to axle bows prefering a longer ATA. So this is both a negative and positiver depening upon the archer you are talking to.
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Switchback
Positives

1) Its a all around well balanced bow, it preforms very well and gives a hunter all his or her needs like a good hunting bow should. It has good speed better than the XT but of course not as fast as the Dren. It is smooth shooting with zero hand shock, as mentioned not quite as smooth as the XT and to some it might be better than the Dren becasue it has no bottom kick like the Dren has. Like the other two its deadly quiet and overall good accuracy for a hunting bow.

2) Cost, its cheaper than either the XT or Drenalin.

3) Well proven and reliable. Not that the other two will not be, its just I like to hunt with a bow that has preformed for me in the past. For whatever reason, this gives me a boost of conifidence when the moment of truth presents itself. I bet I am not alone in my thought process.


Switchback
Negatives

1) It doesn't do anything special that either the XT or Drenalin does a bit better. Not to sound like a broken record, but bottom line its not as fast as the Dren and not as smooth as the XT.

2) Weight, out of the three its the most heavy. Overall its a normal weight hunting bow compared to all the bows on the market today, but the Drenalin has up the bar in the weight department.

MidwestJ

very good report there. wish this would've been posted approx 3 months ago when I was buying. I got the xt and am happy with it. I too just wish it had a bit more speed.

anyhow...good post.

LittleChief

That's amazing! In another thread, I had mentioned that one of the two pro shops here hates Mathews because, as he says, their customer service is horrible. I get tired of hearing him rant every time I take my Drenalin in, but he is good at what he does.

PABowhntr

Nicely done. That was a very thorough and objective comparison.

Matt / PA

I was shooting the Switchback XT and Drenalin recently at a show I was working and put enough arrows through each to be relatively informed.........I haven't heard it mentioned anywhere else but has anyone who owns a Drenalin seen or felt the bow's propensity to canting to the right??
I'm dead serious. No matter how I or even the Mathews rep held the bow at full draw with a relaxed grip it would cant about 10 degrees top right. Really noticible. I tried every grip on the planet from low to super high and even the death grip and you could feel the bow want to cant to the right?

The grip on theDrenalin and Switchback XT at least to my eyes looked identical but the Switchback XT held dead in a vertical plane with no torque and any grip style.

It was very odd and I just couldn't put a handle on why it wanted to do that. It shot nice enough, if not a little jumpy but all else equal if I had a gun to my head and those were the only 2 compound bows on the market...... I'd honestly pick the Switchback XT over the Drenalin.

Nicely done review though.........sorry for the mini-hijack.
(And that's as close as you're gonna see this Bowtech guy get to reviewing the competition. LOL )

Rick James

I haven't seen this but now I am curious. We have about 15 of them at the shop right now and I will check them out tonight to see if this was a fluke or common.......................

idahoelkinstructor

Nope that is the first that I have heard of that, nor have I seen it with any bows in our shop. We are a top 100 Mathews dealer out of 1200 dealers worldwide, we have many of Drens come through our door. I wouldhave no problems listing it as a negative if that is what I have experienced, but that has not been a problemthat I am awareof or heard of from anyone else. Not trying to start a war or saying your a liar, but maybe you had a lemon. Or maybe your just used to the Bowtech grip? Don't know and without being there next to you its hard to say why?
Just my opinion.