Campo

Last night at the proshop there was a 2007 Darton AS400 out on the counter. The owner, who I am in pretty tight with, pointed it out and then said, much to my extreme happiness, "Take a few shots with it." Given, it was about two inches too long in the DL, but I jumped at the chance.
Smooth, that is all I have to say...really, really, really smooth. We worked the bow up to 316 IBO, which was pretty nice. The ATA I believe was 33", but was steady in the hand. The cam system was, well, exactly like last years Bowtech Tribute, with the same style draw post and everthing. This is because, and I might be getting the story mixed up a bit here, Darton owns the patent on the Bowtech cams, and they were the ones who actually designed the Bowtech cam Binary cam system. Of course, Darton calls their new system the "2 and a half cam", but the looks are the same as the Bowtech, minus the smooth and speed mods. Also, these cams are adjustable in the DL, but only by the inch, a feature which I think needs to be worked on. The backwall was a little soft, but again this might have been because I didnt have a one that was properly setup for me and my shooting.
From the rumors that I heard, in January Darton is going to be releasing their full lineup, most of which will have this cam system. From what I understand, they are going to slave the two cams together, virtually eliminating all cam lean in the bow. I will have to wait and shoot one then, but I think Darton is on the right track for this year...

JOE PA

That sounds good. To the best of my knowledge, Darton did not design the '05 or '06 Bowtech cams. They may have designed a similar system that they did not market, but somehow were given a patent for the slaved binary system. It seems as though a few companies at least feel that the patent is not enforceable. Elite, which apparently does not have permission from Darton to use the system, is again using binaries for their bows. I believe High Country and/or Newberry is planning to do the same when their bows are ready to market. Not sure how it will all shake out. I really like the Darton CPS system, but feel they could change a few things (like thier limb pockets) and have much better bows. That is one reason I am currently shooting 2 Champion bows with the ETS (CPS) sytem, and nicer risers, limb pockets, quieter shooting, etc.

I forgot to add that the limb taper that Darton is using is how they are getting rid of the cam lean/limb twist. The limbs are thicker on the cable side of the limb, so they will pull back straight despite the cable guard torque effect. This type of cam system has always been slaved from cam to cam. Not trying to be critical, I do think it will be a very good line of bows. They have been great shooters in the past, but seem to get little respect from the bow snobs who prefer what THEY think is a better bow.

Alpha Capo

Darton is the sh**!!!!!!!!!! i agree about their limb pockets tho
Martin is the Sh** as well...
i think that in a few years these companys will be on top again and Mathews, and especially Craptech will be taking a back seat to these guys.

RobVos

I agree that Darton did not design the previous cams -- and I also feel their patent would not stand up with a good patent laywer on the case because there is prior art. There is an old patent on a slaved 2-wheel bow that is cabled the exact same way, only it is wheels, not cams (thats what was shot back then.

And slaving the cams does not mean they wcannot be out of time, however it does minimize the effects of being out of time by preventing the other cam from continuing to rotate once the first one hits it's stop.

accetasen

Hi people

Check out my new web site at www.as400-news.com.

Thanks a lot

JOE PA

So you make a web site with kinda the same name as a bow, and come on here spamming with it? No connection!

3Children

Behind the times Darton doesn't make that bow anymore. But they have improved the grip, limb pockets, and cams.