I went to my local archery shop (Tim-Buck-Outdoors, tbtoutdoors.com) tonight and he had just gotten in the Diamond Iceman today. I asked if I could shoot it along with the Admiral and the Captain. No problem, they all already had rests on them. Nothing else just a rest. First off, let me say the Iceman is one sharp looking little package. He had it setup at 65# with a 29” draw. A little short for me but I had to shoot it. He gave me a few arrows and off to the range I went. The draw on this bow is silky smooth with no hard spots the entire length of the draw. I drew it several times before attempting a shot. Just a very gradual buildup of resistance and a slight fall into the valley. Rock solid at full draw with no wanting to creep. I touched of the release and a slight thump was barely heard and the arrow smacked home in the backstop, very, very quiet. This will be a great hunting bow, with the effortless draw and quiet shot. Now to be honest, I did feel a little vibration with the shot. Nothing major, just a slight tingling in my bow hand. Of course a few accessories would take care of that for sure, remember this bow only had a sight on it. I’ll bet if I would have put a stabilizer on it I wouldn’t have felt anything. With this bow being the only single cam center pivot bow out there, I can see it being a big seller for Diamond. It will cater to whole new crowd that have to have a single cam bow. While there I also shot the Admiral and the Captain from BowTech. I am not a big fan of the super short bows. Being 6’ 3” tall I like a little length to my bows. But the little 31” Admiral stole the show shooting against the longer Captain. However the Admiral was set at 60# and the Captain was at 67#, so there was a difference there. The Admiral was smoother on the draw and quieter at the shot, the Captain seemed to have a big hump in the draw right at the end. But after talking to Jeff after shooting the bows, he said a lot of that can be adjusted out by playing with the draw stop setting and the let off. These new bows can be customized to each individual shooter in a variety of ways. You can get a lot of different feels from the same bow, depending on how you like your draw or let off to feel. Both of these bows were super quiet, just a slight thump and a loud whack of the arrow hitting the backstop. The new string suppressor system is a big improvement over last year’s model and with the carbon fiber rod a lot lighter too. I can’t wait to get one of these bows and set her up with a sight and all of the goodies and see just what they will do on the targets.
I would have to shoot them both fully dressed to make that decision. But from shooting them both bare tonight, I'll have to say the Admiral was my favorite. Great draw and the least noise and hand shock of any of the 3 I shot. A great little bow for me not being a big fan of super short bows.
Good stuff, John. I missed a package from UPS today. Don't know if it was my Iceman or my Captain. Maybe both. Got all the accessories for both of them lying on my archery table. Can't wait to put them through their paces with the Carnivore and the Admiral close by for comparison. You're right on about the Admiral, too -- I never have particularly liked short a-to-a bows (The General was the only bow I didn't order last year), but somehow the little Admiral overcomes a lot of what I didn't like before.
Was it anything like Val Kilmer said it would be. I heard there's a string on it you can pull.. and the bow rings "you can be my wingman anyday." Is this true? Does it man? Did you get the free aviators for trying it out at least? Speak up?:d
With this bow being such a short ATA, how well suited do you think it would be for a long draw, say a 30"?
Not sure, but I have shot the Admiral and the 31" Ross Carnivore at 30" draw and they felt wouderful. Some of the best shooting I have experienced.
Well, no dice on the Iceman. Wife just called me to say my Captain arrived by itself. Looks like the guy in brown's gonna have to make another trip.
Greg I am so in love with my 101st I just can't even amagin me shooting any other bow, but since Bowtech isn't bring the 101st back the captain was catching my eye. How does the captain compare to the 101st. Walt
Walt, I got an 82nd instead of the 101st... but I'll tell you this much after having just finished putting a few shots through it: do NOT shoot a Captain. Just don't. Seriously.
