The new GKF Power Drop
 

Rangeball asked me to do a review on this rest. I seem to be one of the first to recieve it. All I can say is lucky me!:D

So far everything is a big thumbs up.

Installation was a breeze since there are no linkages to worry about. It mounts on the bow with one screw and has a small set screw to keep it in place. You simply mount it so that the plunger is about a quarter to halfway down when the bow is at rest. The plunger rod also has an adjustment so that the drop can be fine tuned after the rest is mounted. The center shot, prong height and prong tension adjust about like any other prong style rest. It was very easy to tune. It took about ten shots to get a perfect bullet hole and then I proceeded to punch bullet holes with every arrow I had in the quiver. I' m down to four arrows right now so I' ll be ordering more soon.

When I first started shooting groups with it at twenty and thirty yards, I noticed that an arrow would hit way low every now and then. I started watching the rest when I drew and realized that the prongs weren' t lifting all the way to the up position on every shot. The problem was that I had the lift tension too light. The same spring has to lift the weight of the arrow and push the plunger rod back to the shooting position so it needs to be set fairly tight. I double checked it through paper and it was still punching BH' s. After adjusting the lift tension, it has performed flawlessly on every shot afterwards.

The only thing I would say was a problem at all was that on my bow (2002 MQ1) I couldn' t get the cable to hit the plunger button exactly in the center after the center shot was set. They are connected and wouldn' t go quite close enough together, but it doesn' t seem to affect the performance at all. I will keep a close eye on the plunger button for premature wear since the cable is hitting it slightly off center. I may also be able to find another slide that will move my cables over the extra eighth of an inch I need. I consider this a very minor problem.

It comes with several different sets of prongs so you can choose your poison there. I left the teflon coated prongs that came with the rest on it because I wanted to see how quiet it would be. It is dead silent on the draw.

The teflon prongs hold the arrow well and the arrow stays on the prongs when the bow is at rest so there is no need for an arrow holder on the shelf. I didn' t notice the prongs hitting the shelf and making any noise on the shot so I also don' t think it needs anything on the shelf to keep the prongs from striking it. I drew the bow back quickly a few times and the arrow doesn' t have a tendency to jump of the prongs like some rests. I would say that the arrow capture ability is not quite as good as the MZE or the Mirage, but very adequate.

I have a cable dampener on my cable slide so I adjusted the CD so that the rest would be pushed all the way down before the cable slide strikes the dampener. This seems to work very well and should keep the rest from absorbing the full impact of the cables when they come forward, but it doesn' t hinder the way the rest works at all. I don' t have string silencers on the bow, but it is still very quiet on the shot. I would assume that since the plunger button stays in contact with the cables after the shot that it would definitely help to dampen any cable noise.

Now for the braggin' part. :D
I didn' t get to shoot it much after I got everything the way I wanted it. It was getting dark and the mosquitoes were coming out in full force so I had to wait until the next day to do some concentrated group shooting. Like I said before, I' m down to four arrows and that was probably a good thing. My movable sight was set at thirty yards so that' s were I started with my group shooting. I always stick an oak leaf in my target as an aiming point because my yard is littered with them and the price is hard to beat.;)

The first arrow absolutely dead centered the oak leaf. The second arrow took half the nock and part of a fletching off the first arrow. The third arrow banged into the same hole as the first two without doing further damage. The fourth arrow took half the nock off of the second arrow. After that, I replaced the broken nocks and continued to bang arrows together and cut fletchings on almost every group. My arrows are currently fletched with straight 4" feathers and they are mostly in tatters now. I will be getting a helical clamp soon, but I honestly don' t know how it could group much tighter with field points.

Now I' m not the best shot by any stretch. I' ve got a couple of buddies who can outshoot me on their worst day, but I' m satisfied that this rest is everything as advertised. I am very pleased so far.

That' s it for now. I' m sure I' ve left something out so please post any questions you may have and I' ll answer the best I can.

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

Thanks, that answers all my initial questions. I' ll be interested to see how the rest holds up to repeated shooting. Please keep us posted.

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

What other type of launchers came with the rest? I think I remember hearing that GKF was making another launcher, in addition to the teflon launchers shown in the picture.

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

RonS,
There are two more sets of launchers besides the ones on the rest. I' m not sure what they are called, but one set has the slight forward curve and the others are the mantis shaped ones. I would consider these more for target/3D shooting even though there is a set of teflon sleeves for the curved ones.

There was also a note in the package for me to call GKF and they will send me yet another set of hunting type prongs and some sort of arrow guard.

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

Nice Review...
We are getting good Response on this Rest!
GKF Tech:D

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

Thanks nice review. rest sounds very interesting to say the least. Mosquito' s alreadly!!! Hate those darn bugs!!!!

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

I have the GKF tech checking to see if the Power Drop will work on my Extreme now, anyone have info on there other new model drop-away the: Hunter Elite? Bow-Tech makes the cable slide for this and the tech said I can use my existing cable slide on my extreme as it has a hole for the cable to attach. Anyone familar with this, I like some opinions, thanx

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

GKF tech, can you elaborate on exactly what the above is? Does it promote more arrow holding on ability while the bow' s at rest? Any pics anywhere?

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

Range sir....one of the Pluses is the POWER DROP launchers are ALWAYS in the up position so there is no need for a Foam or Rubber holder to keep your arrows from Bouncing around! See picture on site...

GKF Tech ;)

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

True, but so do most two launcher non dropaway rests. I think the best feature in a drop away is the ability to design something that will always hold the arrow on while walking through the field, sitting in a stand or drawing. In this regard, the power drop launchers don' t offer any advantage. How about adding a variation of the arrow trap to it? As long as the top was open, to prevent fletching contact when the prongs drop, I think that would be a huge plus...

Perhaps the Auto Lok would fit on it?

http://www.goldenkeyarchery.com/arrow.html

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

Range ...The launchers stay up to hold your arrow at all times
and then are pushed out of the way at the adjustable precise time by the POWER STROKE of the Bow.
Holding of the Arrow is the main NEGATIVE of other Fallaway Rests
The cradle launchers and New V launchers hold your arrow nice without the use
of a Arrow Holder.
Range you need to see and TRY one ,it is hard to show it by pictures.

GKF Tech:D

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

Range.. one more thing ,You are Right the Arrow Trap could be a Nice addition
..IF..
we could get that type of launcher to clear perfectly ?
Auto lok will work on the Power Drop.
Will try it.
Thanks GKF Tech

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

Stickemup or GKF Tec, does the cable slide hitting the plunger add any noise to the situation? Doe the launchers clear no matter the speed of the bow? On the release, for how many inches of travel is the rest still in contact with the shaft?

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

Rangeball,
The cable to plunger contact doesn' t seem to make any extra noise. Since it maintains contact with the cables after the shot, I would think it would help reduce any cable vibrations.

The speed of the bow shouldn' t matter at all. There are two different plunger rods and a couple of spacers to give the plunger rod a lot of adjustability. This rest should work well even on the bows with little cable slide travel. All I did was mount it so that the plunger was pushed in about a quarter of the way and never had to adjust the plunger rod any more.

You can adjust it to drop as soon or as late as you want. Since the cables don' t hit the plunger until the last instant, the prongs stay in the upright position for most of the power stroke and drop just before the fletchings get there.

I truly believe this rest is the best of both worlds. It basically works exactly like a typical prong style rest, but the prongs drop just before the fletchings can make any contact. SWWWEEEET!!!

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

Is there any chance that the rest will rise back up, before the arrow clears the bow? Since the cables are not touching the power drop at the end of the cam cycle what keeps the rest from popping back up and making fletching contact. Can this happen???

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

CWB,
I' m sure it could happen, but I haven' t seen this problem so far. If this did occur, I have no doubt that it could be adjusted out very easily. From what I' ve experienced myself and read from others, if you just mount it with a small amount of preload, it' ll work like a charm without further adjustment.

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

Cwb I have ran about 500 shots through the PD so far and it has not happened yet. This rest is a nail driver all day long![8D]

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

I' ll second that BPS. I refletched my arrows with helical feathers and started cutting them up at 40 yards. I' m now group shooting at 48 yards to keep from damaging any more arrows. The PD on my 2002 MQ1 is just deadly accurate.

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

THE Sims Bumper helps to make the Power Drop extremely Silent .
GKF Tech[:-]

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

I have well over 1000 shots through the PD with no Malfunctions or any readjustments the sims bumper also eleminates any wear to the buss cable
the PD is a very well thought out Design.
I will be using this one for a long time to come!!!:):D[:-]

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

I dont mean to rain on anyones parade , but a dropaway rest isn' t going to make anyone miraculously become a better shooter! If you are grouping better now with a dropaway than you were before , I' m betting my lunch money that your bow wasn' t properly tuned before. I have a dropaway myself and noticed zero difference in accuracy. They deffinately have some advantages with the amount of offset-helical you can play with on your fletchings. I just see it too many times where folks will get a new product and rave about how their accuracy improved greatly because of the product , which then sends Joe Blow off to the sporting goods store to get this new product. Then Joe Blow turns around and puts down the new product whenever he gets the chance because he was expecting imediate accuracy improvements and didn' t get any.[:' (]

Nothing against the Power Drop guys! Maybe I should have made a new thread about dropaways in general or about how what you report about a product effects other folks.

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

Bowfanatic
I use a fallaway because I like4" and 5" radical Helical fletched arrows and with a regular prong rest the rear end of the fletch wil brush aginst the prong of the rest,
This will have a DIRECT effect in the accuracy of the arrow no matter how well tuned your bow is.
So I will say in cereain instances a fall away will up your accuracy.

However I do agree If you are a Lousy shot a fallaway wont help:D
Only Practice and knowing how to Preciceley tune your bow will make you a better shot.;)

I would also add If you Sse strait Fletch or Short Helical fletching a regular rest will work as good as any fallaway

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

Bowfanatic,

I' m not trying to convince anyone that the Power Drop will make them into a Byron Ferguson overnight. I am just calling it like it is. My nocks and fletchings have always been safe at 40 yards with straight feathers and a prong style rest. Since I installed that Power Drop and helical feathers, I' ve been busting nocks and cutting feathers regularly at 40 yards. Like I said before, I' ve now moved back to 48 yards (limits of my back yard) to keep from damaging arrows. I' ve never been able to do that before.

The MQ1 I' m shooting had a Trophy Taker on it when I first started shooting it and though the rest tuned and worked well, I still wasn' t getting near the groups I' m getting now. Blame it on what you want, but that Power Drop rest is everything as advertised. It sets up easy, tunes easy, holds the arrow very well, works dependably so far and it' s driving tacks at long range. I don' t know what else one would want in an arrow rest.

It won' t make anyone a pro, but it has tightened up my groups considerably.

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

TRUE....The Fallaway is not for everyone and neither is the Containment type
rests...
Some people will prefer a simple spring bias launcher rest.

That is why we have a few different types of rests to choose from.

GKF Tech[8D]

RE: The new GKF Power Drop
 

Wow,
I saw the ad for the Power Drop in Bowhunting world looks like a interesting Fallaway rest,No strings ,I like that!

Thanks