I was reading a new bowhunting mag last night & saw the ad for the new PSE. 370 FPS? Are you kidding me? That's ridiculous! Anybody know any info on this bow or have any experience with it? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'll take a slower, more forgiving bow any day of the week. At 5.25" brace height, I'm guessing that bow isn't very forgiving.
Ok, i've seen this alot since i've gotten into the nuts and bolts of archery. Can someone please explain what they mean by "forgiving" and how brace height relates to that? Can someone also explain why 6.5-7" seems to be the magic number and why speed bows seem to have lower brace heights?
I love a shorter brace height. Is it as forgiving??? No, it's not but it requires me to be a better shooter. It's forces me to keep my form as perfect as I can. Plus I enjoy the speed I pick up. It's like in golf playing with blades vs cavity backs. Once you learn to hit blades you'll never go back to another golf club. Same thing with a shorter brace height bow. "Live Life at Full Draw"
I have a 30" draw length. Couple that with a short brace height, any flaws in my form will be magnified. This is why I prefer the longer brace height. I copied this article, and it kinda explains brace height and forgiveness. Brace Height Brace height is yet another important factor in the energy storage equation. A bow's brace height is simply the distance from the string to the pivot point of the bow's grip. You can kind-of think of brace height as how close the string will be to your wrist when the bow is at rest. The closer the string is to your wrist, the more work you have to do to get the bow drawn back. If you're drawing a 6" brace height bow back to a 30" AMO draw length, you'll have to pull the string back a total distance of 22.25" before you reach full draw*. But if the string rests farther back from your wrist to start, say the bow's brace height is 8", then you'll only have to pull the string back for 20.25". So the bow's brace height also figures into how LONG the bow's powerstroke will be. And as you know, a longer powerstroke generates more energy. As a matter of energy storage, brace heights are analogous to the length of the rubber-band on a slingshot. If you hold a slingshot at arms-length and pull it back to your cheek, a shorter rubber-band would be stretched for a longer distance (and shoot faster) than the same slingshot with a longer rubber-band. In much the same way, a short brace height bow stores more energy and shoots faster than a tall brace height bow (all other things being equal). So brace height has the same affect on total powerstroke length as does the bow's draw length setting. The only difference is that the brace height determines where you start and the draw length determines where you stop. But unlike draw lengths, brace heights aren't adjustable. So you have to get this one right the first time. You can't change your bow's brace height later, should you change your mind. If you compare brace heights and IBO speeds, you'll find an obvious correlation. Shorter brace heights tend to make for faster bows. Easy enough. Then it would seem that in order to get better performance from a compound bow, all you have to do is look for a model with a short brace height, right? Well, not so fast! Short brace height bows may be hot-performers, but they will come with a few drawbacks you should think about *A bow's AMO draw length is measured 1.75" beyond the grip pivot point. So a bow's powerstroke distance is found by subtracting the brace height and 1.75" from the AMO draw length. Brace Height - Speed vs. Forgiveness If you’ve been shopping for a new compound bow, you’ve certainly noticed a variety of advertised brace heights, generally ranging from 5-9". But if shorter brace heights result in faster bows, then why aren’t all bows designed with short brace heights? Trade-offs! That's why. Short brace heights aren't automatically favored because a bow's brace height has a profound effect on the bow’s forgiveness and shootability. Short brace height bows are generally less forgiving and require more skill to shoot accurately. Since the arrow is in contact with the string for a longer distance and period, there is more opportunity for any glitches in your shooting form (hand-torque, trigger punching, etc.) to have a detrimental effect on the arrow’s flight. Longer brace heights have the opposite effect, limiting the effects of form glitches. In addition, very short (sub-6") brace height bows tend to yield more string-slap on the shooter's forearm (ouch!). So there are some trade-offs to consider here. If you shoot with absolutely perfect form and technique, a short brace height bow will be just as accurate as it’s longer brace height cousins. But if you have average skills and are prone to occasional goof-ups, a bow with a little longer brace height will yield better accuracy in most shooting situations. The average new compound bow has a brace height of approximately 7". Bows with shorter brace heights (5-6.5") will be faster but less forgiving to shoot. Bows with longer brace heights (7.5-9") will generally shoot slower but will be more forgiving to your errors. Consider this carefully when choosing your new hunting or 3D bow. Unless you have a specific need for a blazing fast bow, you may find that a more moderate brace height will increase your enjoyment of archery and your success in the field. SPECIAL NOTE: Tall guys with draw lengths 30" and above should be especially conscious of brace height - as a long draw length and a short brace height are a particularly bad combination, especially for new shooters. Brace Height Market Trends Just as 300 fps seems to be the accepted IBO speed-minimum, 7 inches is the generally accepted brace height minimum in today's compound bow market. If you visit our compound bow specification charts, you'll surely notice that a disproportionate number of bows are advertised with exactly a 7" brace height. This isn't by accident. Experienced shooters - particularly bowhunters - tend to avoid short brace height bows, regarding any brace height under 7 inches as "radical" or "unforgiving". So a bow with a 6 7/8" brace height is often a lame duck - at least regarding bow sales. As such, most manufacturers try to aim to hit the market-pleasing 7+ inch brace heights on most of their new bow designs. As a matter of selecting a new bow, we submit there's probably no justification for such an exacting prejudice, as there's nothing particularly lucky about a 7" brace height. But that does seem to be the commonly accepted line-in-the-sand between performance and shootability. Short-Draw Archers - Built in Forgiveness If you are a short-draw archer (27" draw length or less), you'll be pleased to know you have a nice advantage regarding forgiveness and shootability on your compound bow. As we noted earlier, a bow which has a 6" brace height and is set for long 30" draw length will have 22.25" powerstroke. This means the during the shot, the arrow will remain in-contact with the string for approximately 23-24" (including string follow-thru) until the arrow finally releases. This would generally make for a rather unforgiving setup. But that same bow in the hands of the short-draw archer will be considerably MORE forgiving to shoot. If a short-draw archer shoots the same bow at - say - 26" draw length, his/her powerstroke will only be 18.25" long. So the short-draw archer's arrow gets off the string in a shorter distance - thus the short-draw archer has some "built-in" benefits of forgiveness. If you are a short-draw archer, don't spend too much time fretting over brace height. Instead, consider shooting a bow that's a little more aggressive. The same bow that might give your 6'4" hunting buddy fits, will be quite manageable when set for your short draw length. And choosing a more aggressive bow will help you to recover some of the speed and power lost in a short-draw setup.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the correct answer is that a shorter BH bow actually maintains a longer string to arrow contact/propellant time..making the faster FPS measurment but it also magnifies each and every flaw the shooters form and technique because of the extra time the arrow is on the string. The shorter BH also brings the string closer to the shooters wrist, possibly causing wristslap or clothing contact. The 6.25-7" is the magic number because thats about as fine a line as designs allow to achieve a balance between comfortable BH shooting and speed. Speed bows often also have more aggressive cams which makes the forgivness problem more of an issue. EDIT^^^^^^^^^^^^Haha, beat me to an answer, lol.
Ok, so what i'm getting, is that a shorter brace height will force me to become a better archer. And It'll be faster. I don't see a problem here. I'm buying this damn thing....anyone know where I can pre-order it?
Well, yes..that's exactly right...it'll force you to have to perfect your form...all the time, in all conditions and in all situations. Any hiccups and you are going to shoot loose groups which from a stand means wounded and possibly unrecovered/unrecoverable deer. This just to obtain a faster arrow by 30+ FPS...I don't consider that a very fair trade off and I'm a fast bow and flat trajectory guy. I wouldn't rule it out offhand but I wouldn't waste the money on it before I could even lay hands on it...that's just me and my free opinion. I would like to shoot one though. Good luck....they surely have a dealer locator on their site...
You gotta remember though, I'm shooting my 6 year old 1st gen stinger still. I havent had a new bow in a long time. Getting this could likely give me a 70-80fps gain. I will obviously shoot one first, I do like PSE bows. I don't like their marketing. I've also been looking at some of the new bear bows, and matthews, but I hate the way the matthews bows look. Whatever I buy I'm likely going to have for the next 6 or 7 years. Theres also the KE to think about, moose don't react like whitetails do.
I hear ya...I never cared for Mathews waffle iron pattern either. I love the looks of several of the PSE bows and I would deff. like to shoot the 2014's. I shot some of the 2013's before I bought my Hoyt and they were okay, the DNA I really liked to be honest. The DNA was the second or third of my favorites. I shot a couple of the Prime bows that I liked as well as Bowtech had some decent stuff. With PSE and Bowtech...both once I got away from their top tier bows I didn't care for any of the others at all but I suppose that can be said for most bow lineups too. What you're shooting now compared to that particular bow wouldn't necessarily sell me on one...you need to compare that PSE to what else is on the market not a 6-7 year old bow. Every new bow out there will be a vast improvment over your old bow.
Not exactly. Shorter brace heights amplify any flaws, and even more-so the longer your draw length is. So if you think that you can have perfect form and flawless release in every situation, then a shorter brace height is perfect for you. For me, I'd like to have a bow that works with me, not against me.
What is your draw length? What poundage do you typically pull? Those are two of many factors that will quickly pull you down from the 370 FPS. I'm still with the other guys. I'd like to become a better archer with a more forgiving bow. No matter how much you practice, shooting a target is nowhere like shooting a real deer. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk www.skyangler.com
That is one bad *** bow....! If speed and power is what you like...this one is for you....lol. I'm more a 6" or so brace height guy myself...lol. I would say it will be a great hunting bow.
I have a 30 inch draw and im shooting 67lbs simply because i had a weak spine issue with the shafts im shooting now. Tuning things and getting a hold of some blue streaks should get me into the 330 range i would think.
Sadly speed sells in the bow world like sex does in the media world....doesn't make it the right or best way to go though.
