Field Evaluation - BradBow Sight By Keith Dunlap
May 14, 2008 - 6:26:39 AM
Located in Savannah, GA, BradBow is a privately held company, driven by love for the outdoors, and guided by faith. Founded by lifelong hunter Brian Bowen, BradBow's initial step into the marketplace is the BradBow line of bow sights.
BradBow sent their new DOTinator bow sight to me for evaluation, and I was anxious to give it a try. I will describe the features for you and evaluate its performance in this posting.
The DOTinator bow sight by BradBow.
Initial Inspection:
Upon initial inspection out of the package, I found no visible defects in workmanship or finish. The quality was top notch. The first thing I noticed about the DOTinator was its simple design and lighter weight, at only 3.83 oz. as tested. The camo finish on the DOTinator is Mossy Oak Break Up. The body of the sight is made of CNC machined T6061 aluminum. The sight lens is made of glass, with an anti-reflective and moisture resistant coating. The iridium illuminated aiming point is green in color, and is charged by any light source (sun, flashlight, etc). The pivoting sight lens can be set to a fixed position and sighted in at a distance of twenty yards, from ground level. Once sighted in at twenty yards, you can loosen the top setscrew on the pivoting lens and use the DOTinator as a pendulum sight, from a height of 15 feet or higher. There are two pins located at the top of the sight lens that act as stops for the pendulum action of the lens. These pins are covered with a plastic shrink tube material to ensure that the sight lens makes no noise during its pendulum-swinging action from varying elevations.
Just "shoot the green dot".
The DOTinator installs in seconds using the two machine screws provided. The windage and elevation adjustments are both simple dovetail designs, with a machine screw to lock each into position after adjustments are made. There are elevation and windage adjustment markings on the sight for easier adjustment tracking. There are no micro-adjustments on the DOTinator, but I found the windage and elevation adjustments to be sufficient without them.
The iridium illuminated aiming point is charged by sunlight or any light source.
Testing:
I evaluated the BradBow DOTinator for design, function and accuracy. The design, as stated earlier, is simple, but effective. The dovetail sliding adjustments for windage and elevation are sufficient for accurate shooting. The setscrew holds the pivoting pendulum style sight lens securely for flat shooting situations, and for elevated positions, the DOTinator converts to a pendulum sight by simply loosening the setscrew on top of the sight lens. This allows the sight lens to swing freely to compensate for varying angles from elevated shooting situations. It should be noted that I did not find any components of the DOTinator that would wear or break easily with normal usage of the sight.
The anti-reflective and moisture resistant lens has a green dot in the center.
The next part of my evaluation of the BradBow DOTinator included a test for accuracy shooting from ground level and shooting from a treestand at 20 feet high. I shot 30 arrows at twenty yards from ground level. I then shot 30 arrows at varying distances from my treestand at 20 feet high. I was more than satisfied by the results. I was able to accurately group three arrows into each target at each of the various distances and elevations. It took a few shots to get used to the green dot aperture, but once I adjusted, the DOTinator definitely took the guesswork out of judging distance and elevations. I was able to aim for the green dot each time and get good results.
Specifications as Tested:
Body of DOTinator: machined T6061 aluminum
Sight Lens: anti reflective coated and moisture resistant glass
Iridium illuminated aiming point - green color
Camo design: Mossy Oak Breakup
Fits all bows with AMO sight holes - LH or RH
Weight: 3.83 oz
Pope and Young legal
Suggested Retail Price: $119.95
Conclusion:
The BradBow DOTinator sight performed well. I like its simplicity of design and function. You can be accurate with it from flat land and elevated positions alike. The only con I would give this sight is that the green dot in my sight did not stay illuminated long enough into a dusk hunting situation for my liking. In PA, we have a half hour of legal hunting after the sun goes down and I need a sight that remains bright enough for these situations. Contacting the company I was informed a small percentage of sights had material that did not hold the light as long as normal. Only a few had this problem and I got one. But, they want no sub par performance, which I admire, and are changing to a new material for the center dots that would meet their stringent quality control. These new dots would be in bright orange and last long enough for anyone. I've got my name in for one as soon as they are available so check their web site. BradBow also has the Stopping Point sight, which is designed primarily for hunting from ground level.
