You have spent the last hour coaxing in a big Tom turkey and he is
finally getting close. You raise your bow in anticipation of a shot. You
wait and wait until you figure he must have walked off and you put your
bow back down. Just as the bow hits your lap - presto there he is! Has
this scenario ever played out for you? It has for me on several occasions.
Another situation that has caught me off guard with my bow on my lap is
when a gobbler sneaks in without ever making a sound. Stealth Archery has
come out with their new bow holder that may just put that gobbler where
he belongs, in your game bag!
 The
Stealth Bow Holder is constructed of steel and weighs 7.5 ounces. Assembled
length is 14 5/8" while the take-down length is 10 7/8". A spring loaded
locking feature allows you to assemble or disassemble the unit with ¼
of a turn. The widest part of the holder is 3.5". The Stealth is designed
to be pushed into the ground or placed on your treestand with an adapter.
The treestand adapter has approximately 4.5" of height adjustment. The
part of the bow holder that actually comes in contact with your lower limb
and the treestand adapter are both rubber coated for quietness. Adapters
are available in standard, API, Summit, Gorilla, Rivers Edge and Warren
& Sweat stands.
The testing parameters used to evaluate Stealth's new bow holder included;
General quality, ease of installation and operation, quietness, and structural
strength.
Initial quality testing found the Stealth Bow holder to be average in
manufacturing and cosmetic terms. The black paint and rubber coatings were
applied well and the units few moving parts functioned without incident.
One of two welds on the receiver-to-rod joint contained notable porosity.
Also the treestand bracket-to-tube adapter joint produced weld splatter
that was not removed before the rubber coating was applied. The weld splatter
is located in an area that will not cause any functional problems and is
therefore considered a non-issue.
Next, I simply went through the motions of setting up and using the
bow holder in both treestand and ground-blind situations. Of the two types
of treestands used, square and round tube construction; the thumbscrew
locked the holder onto the round tube model more securely. The thin rod
used to manufacture the holder made inserting it into the ground simple.
The bottom half of the Stealth bow holder is designed with a "Z" shaped
step. This step not only allows you to drive the holder into the ground
with your boot but also serves as an anchor once seated. I practiced placing
my bow into the holder and then removing it while in my treestand and also
in a ground blind. In both situations I was able to easily perform this
action with little movement. The rubber coating proved to be a valuable
component and kept the whole operation silent.
Structural strength was a concern after noting the porosity in the
one weld and the small diameter of the solid rod. Two bows were tied together
and placed in the holder to test its strength. The two bows combined for
a total weight of 8.3lbs. Once the bows were in the holder I pushed them
back and forth with some force, flexing the rod and welds. Other than some
swaying after the pressure was taken off, the holder performed well. No
permanent bends were noted and all welds remained in tact.
The new Stealth Bow Holder will indeed help out while waiting on that
deer, bear or turkey to finally show up. One of my favorite features is
the compact size - it takes up virtually no room in my pack! At $19.95
the Stealth Bow Holder is an inexpensive way to increase your odds - especially
on that Ol' Tom.
Design: 4 of 5
The design was well thought out and is practical in operation. The
only suggestions would be to: 1) paint the hardware black to make the complete
package hunting ready and 2) to increase the length above the "Z"-step
by 3" so that when I'm kneeling on the ground my bow would be slightly
higher.
Ease of Operation: 4.5 of 5
Installing and using the holder in both a ground blind and treestand
proved to be simple and quiet.
For information on this or any other Stealth Archery products contact:
Stealth Archery
1921 Donald St
Lincoln, NE 68505
Contact: Jerry Sanford
Phone: (402) 325-6019
Web: www.stealtharchery.com
Email: jwsan@aol.com
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