I need some help, I went to two pro shops both had different answers. One says rest should drop away asap. The other says the arrow should stay on the rest as long as possible and should be at full drop right before the fletchings. What is the correct way to set up a drop away rest?

as soon as possible.

the less the arrow touches the rest the better, thats kind of the idea

The rest should be up as long as possible and drop in just enough time to clear the fletching.This provides the maximum amount of guidance.


http://www.spot-hogg.com/newsletter2.shtml

Here is a quote from the article.

When the fall-away rest gave maximum guidance and got out of way just in time for the fletch to clear, the scores were better.

TFOX has it right, the rest should normally be up as long as possible and not contact the fletchings. On many fall aways this means that the rest should be reaching the full up position in the last 1 to 2" of your draw cycle. Setting the distance more than this normally leads to the fletchings getting to the rest before it is fully out of the way.

Giving a plug to my all time favorite drop away, the Limb Driver ensures this is the case as it is actually pulled out of the way by the limbs rather than relying on spring tension and cord timing to get the drop time set.

I'm with Tfox, the rest should be timed so it drops just before the fletchings reach it. Normally this means it will rise just as you are coming to full draw. If your rest comes up half way through your draw cycle it is timed way too early.

Having your rest drop immediately could cause the front of your arrow to drop with the rest because there is not enough momentum yet to keep it going in a straight line. This could cause slight inconsistencies that would effect your accuracy, especially at longer ranges or with fixed broad heads. It would also make tuning a nightmare.

Normally if you follow the directions that come with the rest you will have pretty good results.

A properly set up drop a way rest is not a cure for anything. The only thing they do is let you shoot a fletching that would not otherwise go through a prong or other type of fixed rest without contact. Truth be known a properly set up prong rest is probably more forgiving than most drop aways on the market. They are just hard to get fletching clearance with the new skinny carbon arrows, stiffer vanes and a hard offset or helical fletches. Using feathers and a light spring tension on a prong rest would give you the same results you would get with drop a way rest.

My opinions anyway.

Paul