Let me begin by saying I am certainly a noob when it comes to Bowhunting. I bought my first bow the day after Christmas this year, due to a trip planned for Illinois in Oct 2012. I have since sold that bow along with everything else and just this morning finished my setup for the 2012 season. A Matthews Heli-m in 28 inch draw. A Axion 5 inch Stabelizer, and Axion 5 Pin Sight. I went with the NAP Carbon Apache rest (which is unreal btw), and shooting 27inch Easton Injexion arrows. Well due to my addiction to this site I noticed the Lakewood Bowfile video on the front page one day. After seeing it I had made up my mind this was going to be my case. Well this morning I planned to order the case through lakewoods online store. However currently you can not order the lost camo or the matthews logo through the online site. After sending an email, they immediatly returned my email letting me know I could do so over the phone. They also let me know that the Heli-m would fit in pretty much any size case you buy from them, however the C275 would be the most ideal choice. So I decided to hold off and headed off to put all the accessories on my new bow at the only proshop in town. They have been in the process of remodeling so 50% of the stuff in the store today wasn't out when I bought my Heli-m last friday. Well it was either coincidence or God telling me I needed this case because right inside the door sat 3 Lakewood Bowfiles. I purchased the C275 Bowfile, along with the accessories case c215 and the arrow case c255. I kept telling myself if I was going to spend top dollar for my bow, I was going to spend top dollar to take care of it too. This is the Bowfile Case The one thing I have against this case is its flat out heavy. By heavy I mean with the accessories and arrow cases in it, but nothing else we are tipping the scales at around 21 pounds. At first I was really worried about the weight, but honestly for something that is also airline approved there has to be some strength there. As far as the construction it looks fantastic. The dividers aren't some flimzy plastic, heck it looks like some accrylic particle board honestly. The cusions for the bow are more then protective, I really have no idea how the heck you would hurt anything once it was inside it. This is the accessories case which looks like you can store near about any of your usual (o let me just toss that in my case) stuff. The front part is made so you can insert broadheads point down and not have them flying around slicing stuff open. Its even big enough to put my release in without any issues in taking up too much room. Now the Bowfile itself comes with two foam inserts in the very bottom of the case, this allows you to cary arrows without having to buy the C255 Arrow case. However if you use the C255 Arrow case you need to remove these two foam inserts so your bow with arrows in the quiver can rest all the way down, and not be supported by the arrows in the quiver. Here is the foam inserts This is the Arrow case in place of the foam inserts Now outside of the weight of this case, I do have one pretty serious gripe. They claim you can put 18 arrows in either the foam inserts if you don't have the arrow case, or 18 arrows inside the arrow case itself. But as you can see the foam in both places are setup with 9 very neat holes for your arrows. Now where I am from 9 isn't the same as 18. After emailing Lakewood (once again I got an immediate reply), they responded "The slots are for 9 but you can put the arrows in and stager them back and forth and you will fit 6 per slot." So in other words you put 2 arrows per hole with fletchings facing opposite directions. Now this may be the norm for arrow cases, but it just felt like a letdown. I mean my goal is protection of all my gear, and knowing that $16 arrows now had to be jammed in the arrow case, praying that I don't have a fletching bend, was just not ideal. I mean as small as most arrows are now I don't see how the foam could not have been redisigned to have 18 holes and actually fit all those arrows. These next pics are of the Bowfile completly filled with my stuff as well as letting you see where the accessories and arrow case fit in the case. Overall I am more then pleased with this case. However I will admit that most people would probably think of this case as overkill. Its heavy, practically indistructable, and beautiful to look at. But unless you are doing some serious traveling or are OCD like me it may not be used by the "average" hunter. The biggest pro for me is the accessories case being so big yet fitting in the Bowfile itself. I mean you honestly could put everything outside of a new sight or rest in it to replace everything on your bow in some emergency situation. Given the chance again I'd buy the case again, giving this a 9/10 on whatever scale it is that you rate things on. One last thing, the C237 Case will also fit the Heli-m, however this case is not made to hold the accessories case. You can still put the arrow case in it though. Move to the slightly larger C275 if you are looking to get the accessories case or think you may sometime in the near future.
please tell me people can see the pics, for some reason I can't see them at all unless im logged in. Is this the same for everyone else?
I have been using these cases for several years and I have always been more then pleased. I am good friends with the owner and have worked with him on some of his other cases. If everyone that attends the GTG is interested I can get a discounted price on these cases. Just let me know. Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk
I use the same case. Weight really doesn't mean very much to me as I don't trek through the woods with my case. The top load feature is hands down the best part. I like the fact I don't have to have a lot of room to unload/load the bow. The case fits nicely in behind my seat. I just open the flap remove my bow and go. No more dragging the case out of the truck to get ready. I chuckle every time I see my buds drag their brief case style case out and lay it on the ground to open it. My kids step on the case to get to their seats and I don’t worry about them breaking something. A great case and reasonably priced for what you get! Long trips you can also stack a bunch of gear on top and don't have to worry about something getting crushed. I can't say I have ever traveled with it via aircraft, however if I do I will have absolutely no worries!
Found a good video review done a few months back on this case too. Sound isn't that great. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD5h_JEo5Ds
I have been looking at these cases. Will the bow file work with a Destroyer 350 and a Tight Spot Quiver without taking the quiver off? Most Quivers don't sit that tight to the bow as they do. Thanks for the review BTW!
I would find a retailer that's has them and try it with your bow. Check the website I believe they have a list of retailers. Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk
the case itself was 159 i think the arrow and accessories cases were like 35-39 each or something close to that. Just and Update The case is still doing great. I now have enough stuff in this case comfortably that with a press I could rebuild my bow from the ground up all from stuff in the case itself. Even last weekend I put my sons matthews genesis mini infront of my bow in the case and traveled 2 hrs for a 3d shoot. The case is amazing honestly and a great investment for the money you probably spent on the bow your putting in it.
