Matt / PA

Muzzy,
With respect to noise there was a 16.7 decible difference between the lowest (Xtec @ 81.6db) and highest (Kodiak 32 @ 98.3bd)
That's quite a bit considering they tested at AMO specs.

Vibration was REALLY interesting![:-] They measured horizontally from a low reading of 58.6 m/s sq. to a high of 168.4 m/s sq.!!, and vertically from a low of 25.5 M/s sq. to a high of 76 m/s sq.

They also averaged vibration (horizontal + vertical / 2) Only 3 bows came in under a total reading of 60 m/s sq. , the Xtec, Liberty , Outback.


The worst average vibration score was a 129 for the AR-34, followed by the High Country TSSR @ 116.9 m/s sq.

Orions_Bow

sound slike a good test, I may have to pick up a copy.

Rack-attack

I told you so................. - no body believed ME[]

Damn rattle trap....LOL

JeffB

I heard about this too..Folks from BT are going to send me a copy soon.

The top results don't surprise me at all. I'm anxious to see what the actual category scores are. As a "for instance", though I have an XTec and a Liberty (and have shot the OB on several occasions), I would say the OB is the quietest of the three with the Liberty close in 2nd. I have an 70 pound X-Tec totally decked out w/ Sims gear including Sims Xtreme limbsavers and my 80 pound Liberty still sounds quieter to my ears..even when both bows are shooting 400 grain arrows!

But that''s based on my ears (which aren't so good, and the reason subjective tests..are..well..subjective)..not a decibel meter. Of course I suspect some folks (not neccessarily here, but in general) will B#tch cause thier fave bow feels alot better than the test would suggest. Then again, I'm sure these would be the same people who balked at the "feel" test done at the Bowsite too. I see over at AT the fans of bows who did not do so well are already saying the test is bogus

I wonder if the test took into account the Hoyt, Mathews, AR,PSE, Champion, Jennings, Parker , Pearson, and BowTech have silencing gear of one kind or another on the bows out of the box?

c j

Outdoor Life has also named the sun the world's biggest source of light and heat and Judge Judy the most foul, nasty creature on the planet. It seems they've changed their format to simply stating the obvious.

Straightarrow

This really perplexes me. About a month ago, I tested a Kodiak (36" model). Without any doubt in my mind, it was the quiestest bow I've ever heard. And it wasn't just me. The same judgement came from the other 10 guys that were at the shop at the time. However, it also had a great deal of vibration in the grip, on the shot. Now, this test says the Kodiak was the loudest, yet good enough in other areas to score high in the test! All I can say is, that either there is a lot a variation from bow to bow, or the setups did not include identical vibration control accessories. The results of this test are so far out of line with my experience on this bow, that it leaves a lot of doubt in my mind, as to the value of someones else's opinion of a bow.

muzzyman88

I'm not suprised that the Liberty and Outback were very close. In actuality, these bows are carbon copies of each other in overall design. What really suprises me is the AR bows didn't fair well in the tests. Again, very similar to the Liberty and Outback. Another thing that wasn't mentioned is string materials of the bows. I know for a fact that Hoyt uses a more traditional D75 material. If I recall, Bowtech uses a Pre-stretched string? Not sure what Mathews is putting on theirs from the factory nowadays. In that case, the X would probably be quieter. The prestretched strings a little louder. I replaced my stock strings on my X and noticed a little more noise.

Noise dampening devices will also make a difference depending on where they are placed on the limbs. Optimal position is critical on quieting the bow. Did they mention where they were placed?

One thing I can honestly say is I'm not suprised about the vibration results. I shot the Liberty side by side with my current Xtec and thought the Liberty had more "kick". But thats just me.

These test are nice FYI articles. But honestly I don't think you can go wrong with any of the three top bows they listed. Hoyt, Bowtech and Mathews clearly stand out, year after year, and, for good reason.

PatapscoMike

It's about time someone did a report like this! I'll be buying my first issue of OL in quite a long time tonight.

PMantle

I just got my hands on the review. I have a few observations. First, I am a bit confused on the scoring. Were all the raw numbers converted to the fair, good, very good, excellent system? Also, each rating(fair, good, etc.) has a 10 point range, but we are not shown the actual points to see if some were low within the range, while others high.

I was surprised by some of the speeds. For instance, the Parker Phoenix, which I looked at in person yesterday and am/was very interested in, has a similar design and cam(looks anyway) as the Outback and a little bit shorter brace, yet it shot at 224.6 while the OB was at 238.6. Not only that, the advertised speed of the Parker is 310 IBO while the OB is only 308.

Again on speed, and I realize not everyone wants the same thing out of a bow, but the winner of this test only received a fair speed rating, while 5 received excellent. To me, when a bow is that much slower, it would seem easier to reduce noise, vibration and shock. No?

No bow in the test got an excellent on fit/finish nor on balance/grip. Hmmm.

Although none of the bows received an overall fair rating, the Browning got 7 fairs. I was surprised to see a CSS bow receive 6 fair ratings.


The three highest scoring bows all got only fair on weight. Is mass weight one way or the other necessarily bad? Looking closely at this, I also am confused on this particular scoring. The Alpine weighed in at 3.9 and got an excellent. The Liberty was only 4.2, yet got a fair, which is the total opposite of the spectrum. Four bows weighed 4.1, and they all got very goods. No bow got a good. The two heaviest bows were 5.5 and 5.6 respectively and they too got fairs. Hmmm.

In the end, I am very glad this was done, if only for the raw numbers. I will totally forget the subjectives, and shoot several bows over the next two weeks before I buy.

walks with a gimp

I just got done reading the review and it sure looks like they went to great lengths to record data. Scoring was a little odd but in the end,,, some of us knew the results before the test was even thought of I still wonder how the BowTech Patriot VFT would have measured up
Quote; "We found that it's Freedom cam resulted in a teflon-smooth draw cycle. And though testors are supposed to keep their comments to themselves to avoid inffuencing others, a few were caught smiling as they drew and felt the Liberty's solid back wall, which was judged to be the best in the group." End of quote.
Buy this magazine to see how a test should be run