Buck Magnet

Well guys, tonight I finally bit the bullet and went to try out the new Allegiance, I was very concerned as I really don't want/need a new bow and I figured that I would be too tempted to get one!

Well, here are my thoughts....

Draw cycle......... very very smooth, no bumps or peaks at all......... BUT...... I really don't like the feel of starting at peak draw weight! Maybe it is just because I am so use to having the cycle ease into peak draw weight and then ease into the let-off! I have concerns about shooting the equalizer cam in cold weather! I think that you need the momentum of easing into and out of peak draw weight to get that bow back when it is bitter cold and your nerves are being tested by an animal in front of you!

Grip, well, the grip is another win/loose situation. The grip seemed narrower and smaller overall than in past years which is nice, but it is different than my Liberty and it would take some time to get use to. The grip seems smoother than my Liberty which has a nice feel as long as your hands aren't sweating!

Noise.... well, I couldn't get a real judge on noise as I was in a room but it seemed to be every bit as quiet as my Liberty!

Hand-shock......... well, this is hard to tell. There seemed to be no hand-shock at all after the shot, but this bow was also equipped with a very large target stabilizer! I wanted to shoot it without the stabilizer, but the lady at the shop ensured me that the stabilizer was on the bow for balance and the hand-shock would feel exactly the same without the stabilizer.

Looks........ I like the looks of the new equalizer cam, but the cams on the bow were silver and I would like to see them black! Camo was flawless, no white spots like alot of the BowTech's last year!

Speed....... It seemed very fast, but this is hard to tell as I was shooting at about 8 yards (the lady must have thought I didn't know how to shoot a bow). The bow was set at 64# draw weight and was either 28" or 29" draw length! One thing that I noticed is that the limbs looked narrower. I am not entirely sure if they are narrower, but they appeared to be.

Overall, I really like the bow, but I definetly prefer my Liberty! The Allegiance may be faster and have absolutely no bumps in the draw cycle, but I think that the Liberty is more enjoyable to shoot! I am not trying to say that this isn't a great bow, but it just isn't my cup of tea. This bow set at 64# draw weight seemed heavier than my Liberty set at 71#'s. This could be due to the draw force curve of the equalizer cam. Like I said, great bow, but I don't think that this is a ground-breaking/earth shattering bow like the Freedom cams of last year were! Just my $.02

DaveC

Great input Buckmagnet.
I Have yet to shoot the Allegiance, but had the same result after shooting the Switchback. It stacks earlier than my Patriot, which I don't care for, but felt pretty much the same after that.
Funny you should mention the stabilizer, the shop I frequent has had me shoot both the Outback (several months ago) and Switchback (12-31-04) with heavy aluminum arrows. Well no-da there's very little shock, I just whirrel a Lincoln Log! LOL

PABowhntr

I can understand your impressions of the new cam system. I have not even had a chance yet to wrap my hands around an equalizer cam bow but I am looking forward to it.

Some observations though based on your comments.

1. Even before you mentioned the Liberty I was guessing that you were accustomed to a slightly smoother drawing cam. I wonder what your comments would be if you would still be shooting your Mighty Mite and then made the comparison. Do you think it would be from a different perspective?

2. As for the comment about cold weather....I am guessing this is going to be somewhat similar to the I-cam and dual cam bows in that regard. Many folks dropped their draw weight levels down somewhat in order to compensate for the "slightly-more-energy-storing" draw cycle. I ordered a 70 pound Old Glory but now I wonder if I should have went with a 60 pounder instead. I normally shoot around 65 lbs but after shooting the Pro 40 Freedom predominantly for the last few months I wonder if it is going to be a bit of a difficult transition.

I guess we will just have to wait and see. Thanks for sharing your impressions.

JOE PA

I don't know, since I really haven't even drawn an Equalizer cam bow, but again the draw force curve is a personal preference type of thing. With my shoulder problems, I had no trouble at all pulling my Pro 40 Wheely at #68 with no "after ache" like I get with other, later peaking cams. The Equalizer sounds like it has similar draw charachteristics, but is smoother, without the drop, hump, drop of the Wheely, which felt (to me) alot like the old Jennings Carbon Extreme.

BTW Frank, I'm surprised you don't have your Old Glory yet. Thought you would be on the A list, or at least the B list. I guess it's that long draw thing.[8D]

Bowshopper

Geez Frank, hard to believe you haven't shot one of the new Bowtechs. Figured you should have received your new bow allready.
I downloaded the 05 charts and am wondering about the speeds posted.
The OG at 70lbs 350 grain arrow, 27.5 draw it shows IBO of roughly 280. The little notation at the bottom states, SPEEDS ARE AT 70lbs. , SUBTRACT 3 fps FOR EVERY 10 LB>DROP IN DRAW WEIGHT. My question is At 50lbs. are they also dropping the arrow weight to IBO or are they still using a 350 grain arrow?

muzzyman88

Buckmagnet, my thoughts on the EQ cams are the opposite. Because the cams build right away, I felt that it was more comfortable and easy to get back to full draw. As many have already stated here and other places, the draw cycles feels as though its tailored to the strengths of a human. We obviously have more strength at the front of our draw, then we do at the back half. This is what this system was designed to do.

As for the grip, I really liked it compared to grips from past Bowtechs. The older grips were just too wide for my taste. One of the big selling points to the Hoyt's. Bowtech narrowed it slightly, but it still has enough meat to feel like a grip.

This is all coming from a person who was very skeptic about Bowtech the first 5 years the company existed. I told a good friend of mine last year that if Bowtech comes up with something other than a single cam......I'll probably jump at one. Well, Bowtech finally got over the single cam hurdle and moved on to bigger, better things.

BowTech_Shooter

The bows are tested at 5 grains per pound regardless of draw weight so they use a 250 grain arrow for 50 lbs. etc., etc.

Buck Magnet

Hey guys, I figured that I would chime back in.

Frank, compared to the Infinity cam, I would say the Equalizer is a major step-up, heck, it might be a step up from the Freedom (it is in speed), but it would take some getting use to! The Infinity cam and the Equalizer both are hard cams, and you can feel the differance between these cams and the Freedom cam, but the major differance between the I-Cam and E-Cam is that there are no peaks, valleys, or bumps in the E-Cam! I think that it would be easy for me to fall in love with a E-Cam bow, but it would take some time to get use to the draw force curve! The way I am looking at things is that I have the Liberty, I have grown accustom to the feel and it just doesn't seem like it would be worth getting rid of it in order to get a new bow that would take awhile to get use to!

muzzy,

I am glad to hear you like your Allegiance! It is a great bow, but like I mentioned above, I am in a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" phase! Mostly because it doesn't seem worth it to me to get a bow that I would have to get accustomed to when I am already so comfortable with!

The funny thing though is that even though I the E-Cam didn't seem to be my "cup of tea", I just can't get it out of my head! I have been thinking about it almost non-stop since last-night! I keep thinking that I need to shoot it a little more, maybe try to get use to it before I can really make a good judgement on it!

I would say that this is a MUST-shoot bow! It is something so different that alot of guys just need to try it out and see how it feels! I think that this is a cam system that people really just need to get use to! I would be willing to bet that if I had a E-Cam bow to test out for a week or two, I would get use to the draw force curve and fall in love!

I was able to tinker around with the Independence VFT and this bow impressed me! It uses the F-Cam, but they upped the Idler Wheel to 5". This thing pulls so easy and I really liked the balance of this bow! Heck, the only thing that I can say was a "downside" is the looks of the idler wheel. Come on......5", it looks like a motorcycle rim wedged into the limbs of a bow

walks with a gimp

Buck Magnet,,, you're just spoiled,,, Liberty spoiled!!! Just like the people in Iraq,,, when you get a taste of Liberty,,, there's no going back

BUT,,, take your Liberty in and test it side by side against the Allegiance,, and check both through the chrono

You might find,,, Justice,,, in upgrading to the Allegiance

BowTech_Shooter

It's not the standard F cam, it's bigger to go along with the 5" idler wheel and we call it the "Big Wheel Single Cam".

O.K. how many of you had a big wheel that you skidded around the driveway in when you were a kid?...