| You have a trophy whitetail or pronghorn exactly
where you want him. Broadside at 20 yards, a bit nervous from the swirling
winds, but you are more than confident in yourself and gear that you can
make the shot. You have been practicing all summer from your treestand
or ground blind just imagining such a shot. Your buddy has tagged along
and is hoping to capture the whole event on video. You draw and anchor
just as your trophy steps forward exposing the full heart and lung area.
The twenty yard pin settles in and you tell yourself relax and squeeze
the trigger. Next thing you know your arrow is on its way, nothing could
be more perfect. But fear and disgust start to take over as you see the
white fletching from your arrow as it grazes the hair at the top of the
trophy's back. You watch bewildered as he bounds away to the safety of
the nearby tangled woodlot.
You and your buddy review the tape over and over wondering how your
"state of the art" speed bow has let you down. It reveals that upon the
release of the arrow your trophy was able to drop over a full body length
to avert your arrow. Further replays confirm your suspicions that excessive
noise from the release of your arrow caused your demise.
Many a hunter repeats this scenario each season due to the fact that
deer reaction times to unusual noise are a lot quicker than we believe.
This is more commonly known as "jumping the string".
Arriving at you local pro shop you learn that in the past five years
the archery industry has averted more attention to solving the agonizing
problem you just went through. Upon further investigation you learn that
not all the power your speed bow develops is transferred to the arrow but
throughout your bow producing excess noise, vibration and torque. Your
first question is how do I defeat these gremlins without sacrificing the
speed? Your second is how expensive is the modification and how will it
effect the performance of your bow?
ShockFins from Global Resource Inc. has proven to defeat the gremlins
of torque as well as vibrations that attribute to unwanted noise. Test
performed and measured by Global Resource has proven that ShockFins outperform
competitive products on dampening vibration as well as torque. They are
also reasonable priced at around fifteen dollars for a complete set of
four dampeners.
 The
ShockFins are comprised of a rubber like material that is very flexible.
They derive their name because they are in the shape of a dorsal fin or
tail of a jet. The ShockFins can be mounted anywhere along the limbs but
I recommend mounting on the top and bottom limbs to each side of the cams.
You do not need to worry about a split limb or solid model because they
will work on both. Global Resource does however make an optional model
that can be used just for split limbs.
How do they work? I will do my best to try and explain through the eyes
of a bowhunter. As the release is triggered the limbs release the energy
that was stored during the draw cycle. As the arrow leaves the string a
great deal of energy is still left untapped. This remaining energy is transferred
throughout the bow causing excessive vibration and torque. The ShockFins
reduce a great deal of this energy by absorbing and dissipating it through
the flexible material it is composed of. You can think of the extra energy
stored in the bow in terms of a tuning fork. The greater the energy the
more the fork vibrates. The ShockFins act as dampeners that suppress the
vibration when attached.
To illustrate this I took an older (six year old) Jennings ProGold split
limb bow maxed out at its limit of 70 lbs. For arrows I used 29 inch ACC
360's with 100-grain field tips that brought the total weight to around
420 grains. This I feel is a great weight for hunting at an even 6 grains
per pound.
The bow was first shot without the ShockFin dampeners applied. As I
expected the bow did make a good deal of noise. Too much I thought and
I soon discovered a loose hex screw in the rest was to blame. After securing
another group was fired which still resulted in a noticeable "thwack".
Just to make sure I inspected all areas of the bow to make sure everything
was tightened and secured.
It was now time to apply the ShockFins. As stated earlier I applied
mine to each side of the cam on both limbs. Global Resource gives you a
couple options when applying the ShockFins to the limbs.
Before you begin either method you should wipe down the limb area of
attachment with the supplied alcohol wipe. This is to ensure that the area
is clean and void of all foreign matter that will inhibit the adhesion.
Also included in the packaging was a .7 oz tube of RangeAid instant adhesive.
Option one is to glue the ShockFin directly to the limb by placing a thin
bead of RangeAid glue, included and spreading it evenly over the ShockFin.
It can then be secured by pressing down firmly directly for approximately
30 seconds.
A second option is instead of gluing the ShockFins directly onto the
limbs, glue them on supplied pieces of hard-rubberized adhesive tape. The
great feature about the tape is that it is cut precisely to match the base
of the ShockFin. You don't have to spend extra time cutting the bases out.
Next peel the back off the adhesive tape and apply directly to the limb.
This option is not as permanent and allows you to remove the ShockFin at
a later time without leaving any residue on the limb. Either way the bow
is ready to shoot in a couple hours but Global Resource recommends waiting
overnight.
The following day I couldn't wait to launch an arrow to see if these
things really worked. From the first arrow I could tell the difference,
both in the sound and how the bow vibrated with the shot. The bow was recognizably
quieter. The loud thwack I usually heard was now replaced by a much quieter
and dull thud. By transferring and dampening more of the energy away from
the bow I believe the ShockFins have the legitimacy of what they claim
'Making you a better shooter'. Anytime you can reduce the amount of torque
or vibration it is one less element to hinder your shooting. So until the
perfect bow is produced, (I believe the manufacturers are getting closer)
ShockFins can definitely produce results.
Design/Function 4 of 5
The ShockFins not only eliminated a substantial amount of vibration
from the bow limbs, but they actually look like they were designed by someone
who knew what looks good on a bow. Unlike a knobby hunk of rubber, ShockFins
accent the bow while they work to reduce shock and vibration. One thing
you really don't see but is present and as destructive as the shock is
torque of the limb tips. And while ShockFin didn't completely eliminate
torque it was certainly the most effective product I've seen. Don't get
me wrong they did reduce the effects of torque but bow balance and setup
play an integral part as well. As for attaching them I would recommend
using the adhesive tape method. My reason for this is replacing them after
a season or two would be simpler. Dealing with and stripping adhesive tape
is much easier that dealing with a super glue bond.
Ruggedness/Durability 4.5 of 5
Obviously I'll have to shoot these longer to see how they hold but
they seem to be pretty tough, based on their material and simple yet very
effective design. The RangeAid glue is of the super glue family and has
very strong bonding powers. So effective that it can also be used for vanes,
nocks and inserts. If they make it through the entire season I would bring
the rating up to a five, so being fair I rated them almost perfect.
Price 5 of 5
The price of the ShockFin is a very good value at under $15.00. This
takes into consideration of other products on the market compared to the
results. This is an exceptional value based on its design, material and
actual performance. The ShockFin does what it says it will do and looks
good doing it. What more could you ask for at this price?
For information on the complete line
of 'ShockFin' Anti-Vibration products contact:
GLOBAL RESOURCE, Inc
89 Lucas Dr.
Stoughton, MA 02072
Phone: 781-341-2441
Fax: 781-341-8618
Email: GLOBALRES@ATTBI.COM
TO ORDER TOLL FREE: 877-874-5346
Web Site: www.shockfin.com
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