SwampCollie

25% of all bows sold in this country are PSE's. Sales wise...they sit on the top. Money wise, same thing. The hold the patent to the solo cam (not Mathews), so every bow that Mathews sells, about $40 of that goes to PSE (which is suprisingly little).

As far as companies that have exploded in the last 5 years....BowTech, no doubt about it. For a company thats only like 7 or 8 years old to be considered one of the big three makers now is a true success story. But, while they are pretty inovative, their heart and soul, the Binary Cam, was a purchased patent from (who else) Darton.

ijimmy

Quality control Ross
Inovation Darton
Hype All the rest

I'll edit this to say I think bowtech's bridged rissor is of merit and will be around for awhile , though it was not their design ,but a refinment of past designs of other manufactures .

SwampCollie

Depends which one you go to. As far as Bass Pro and Cabelas go, most everyone knows whats up. The Bass Pro in my neck of the woods acctually has the most honest, knowledgeable and compitent staff of any archery store in that 1/3 of the state. Lots of high end Hoyts, Bowtechs and Mathews sitting around that place waiting for service, and lots and lots of people who keep coming back. Honesty has a lot to do with it too.

Mathews never was up on innovation. The only innovation they have is the Harmonic Dampner, which does infact work, but thats about as innovative as they have gotten. What they have is Matt McPherson, who is a genius of a buisnessman, who pays his pro shooters very well and advertizes and sponsors ad nausueam. I don't think I have ever opened a major archery huntingmagazine and not seen Mathews on either the back cover or inside front/back cover. And there will be at least three full page ads throughout.

I don't know who said it, but someone said that Mathews has peaked. At current status, I am somewhat inclined to agree. However, I also think Hoyt has peaked, and if they want to stay innovative, they need to lighten their bows up (overall weight wise). But they are doing good things with the hybrid cams. Where Hoythas the advantage is their machining is VERY precise, and their bows are tough as cast iron skillets. Mathews bows, while quiet and smooth, are not really made all that well.

As a company overall, I think of those Big 3 (hoyt, mathews and BT), Hoyt will still be on top. Just because they are so diverse. They are making Reflex, as well as a couple of bows for Bass Pro. Well over half the countries of the world in the olympics shoot their bows as well. Bowtech would have to be second in my mind, there again, because of Diamond being a hot seller in catalouge bows, and now they are doing CrossBows too. Mathews does now have the Mission line, but they won't sell them to any of the big box retailers, and I think the Mission line is going to fail dismally if they refuse to put those Bows in bass pro and Cabelas.

TFOX

Mathews was innovative for taking the 1 cam to an acceptable shooting platform.It wasn't accepted by very many untill they started marketing it.Then after a few years,they did get it to a great system but the first were not much but they did advertise it well.I agree that their Mission line probably won't do much if the big retailers can't sell them.

I don't think Hoyt has peaked because they haven't backed themselves into a corner with 1 design like Mathews has.They would have to eat a lot of crow to switch to another cam system and as long as sales are doing as well as they are,why should they?


Bowtech is without a doubt growing by leaps and bounds and I would say they are following the same path as Mathews.Lots of advertisement.Atleast they aren't putting bows in every pros hands and claiming all the wins that Mathews did.


These are just opinions on my part and are not meant to discredit anything any 1 company has or is doing.

Alpha Capo

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say martin is the best Manufacturer....not just in the last 5 years...of all time.

they might not sell the most(they dont advertise the most either)...they might not be the ones that Create the Greatest Thing since Ice Cubes every year....but their products are very consistent...they dont make a bad bow in their whole line, i'd be happy to own anyone of them weather its theSceptor or the Saber...they have bows for everyone and every style. different limbs, different cams, long riser, short riser, high dollar dealies, and soup kitcken specials....

alsotheyve kept their traditional bows going and theykicktail as well....Pick up a Martin Mamba in a comfortable wieght range for you,tune her up, and cast a few arrows and youll have a big smile on your face guaranteed...They (Howatt) are the best "High volume" traditional bow makers in the world...Martin doesnt make a bad bow period...

On top of that they put HOT CHICKs in their Calanders.

ijimmy

Mathews makes a great single cam bow , its got the best nock travel ,tune ability of any single cam bow Ive used , they did pioneer parallel limb bows , bowtechs first "patriot" in profile looked identical to past q2's made by mathews .

dick_cress

I took the question literally . . . "Who is the best bow manufacturer of the past 5 years?" Not who sold the most or who had the best customer service.

Each of us will probably name the bow that hangs on our rack and each of us will be right.