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Hamskea rests?

SnakeEater

SnakeEater

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2020
Messages
1,563
What makes them better than a qad? I’m running the Mathews qad integrated rest on my v3 but I keep hearing great stuff about Hamskea’s and I’m looking at the new epsilon model. Is it worth the upgrade? I’ve never had issues with my qad. What rest do you guys prefer? TIA
 
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In my case the QAD wouldn’t drop consistently. It was actually ripping fletchings off my arrows. Had it to the pro shop many times trying to diagnose the issue. It wasn’t till I was bare shaft tuning and noticed the arm still up after the shot that we figured it out. I replaced with a Hamskea and it’s been flawless.
 
What makes them better is they just are. Built with better components, faster than a cable driven rest. Their built like tanks if you have ever held both in your hands and compared. I’m not very brand loyal but I probably won’t buy another rest ever besides a Hamske. There are worth the upgrade.
 
One thing I like about the qad is how it stays locked up and holds the arrow in place. Anyone ever had any issues with the arrow bouncing around or anything in a Hamskea? I live in WA now so I’d say about half my hunting if not more is going to be spot and stalk and breaking brush
 
I can’t say it’s a better rest but there are some things to like. They are over built and plain work. They have the capability to work as a spring rest if things go bad. They are said to be a little faster and consistent. However, the QAD is a very nice rest.
 
I've watched both QAD and Ripcord fail multiple times. I've seen them just sh*t the bed for no reason, and I've seen them ice up in cold weather and refuse to drop, and I've had them stop dropping reliably.

Hamskea just works. Full containment, no issue bouncing around including spot and stalk. The only issue is if you don't set up the launcher cord correctly, it can loosen a little bit over time, but you can literally see it start to happen and the way it happens (launcher blade starting to rise up at brace) it isn't going to completely destroy your arrow flight.
 
Exactly why I shoot Hamske @Brendan

I worked at an archery shop for around a year, mainly was a salesmen and worked beside a pretty famous bow tech around our small area. Anyways saw some failures in the same brands you mentioned “rip cord and qad”. Not saying they arnt a good product or anything. Also not saying Hamske will make you shoot any better than another.

My main point is the durability ive seen. There’s not much that can go wrong with one.
 
Here's another one. I had a brain fart not paying attention and my Carter two finger thumb release slipped out of my hand at full draw (Sweaty fingers, heat of summer, hadn't put on grip tape yet) and fired the thing from my 73# Hoyt into the back of my Hamskea Trinity rest. I can't remember if it actually even knocked the rest out of alignment, maybe, but there was just a mark on it and that was about it, pretty much as good as new. Was back to shooting a minute or two later.

Try that with a QAD or a Ripcord. And, the release didn't fare nearly as well as the Hamskea...
 
the only thing qad has going for it is lighter and more compact to the bow and it holds the arrow within a smaller area...everything else goes to a hamskea or vapor trail limb driven rest

the arrow moving around on the limb driven rests is a non-issue once you use one

nock an arrow and stick it inside the containment cage on the hamskea, note everywhere the arrow can possibly hit and cover that with stealth strips...done

you go from the arrow can move 1/8" side to side with the qad to it can move like an inch or so side to side....the limb driven rests pick the arrow up no matter where it is in the cage and the cage keeps you from ever losing the arrow
 
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raisins said:
the only thing qad has going for it is lighter and more compact to the bow and it holds the arrow within a smaller area...everything else goes to a hamskea or vapor trail limb driven rest

the arrow moving around on the limb driven rests is a non-issue once you use one

nock an arrow and stick it inside the containment cage on the hamskea, note everywhere the arrow can possibly hit and cover that with stealth strips...done

you go from the arrow can move 1/8" side to side with the qad to it can move like an inch or so side to side....the limb driven rests pick the arrow up no matter where it is in the cage and the cage keeps you from ever losing the arrow
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Ripcord makes a limb driven rest too, that offers better containment as well as a Hamskea style.

I like Hamskea and it's nice to see them trending towards less bulky design, however, I do think the lack of more restricted containment isn't ideal for stalking. WB beats them all for containment, but RC and QAD are pretty good.

I also am not a fan of limb driven connections if you sit with bow on lap, but from a technical perspective there can be a theoretical advantage in the function.

Oftentimes the setups of any of these lack the fine tuning to do them justice. And sometimes one is just a better fit than another.

Anyway, that's some of my experiences /thoughts
 
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Brendan said:
I've watched both QAD and Ripcord fail multiple times. I've seen them just sh*t the bed for no reason, and I've seen them ice up in cold weather and refuse to drop, and I've had them stop dropping reliably.

Hamskea just works. Full containment, no issue bouncing around including spot and stalk. The only issue is if you don't set up the launcher cord correctly, it can loosen a little bit over time, but you can literally see it start to happen and the way it happens (launcher blade starting to rise up at brace) it isn't going to completely destroy your arrow flight.
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I seem to recall arrows getting wedged between the Hamskea launcher arm and containment loop in the early goings, up to the Trinity at least, resulting in an arrow that was not centered for the shot. I'm certain this must have been addressed in more recent offerings.

Offerings form QAD and RC have evolved, so comparative experiences may not be up to the standards of current models.

Again, I like Hamskea for engineering. But for containment, they aren't the leader of the pack.
 
bowhuntr09 said:
In my case the QAD wouldn’t drop consistently. It was actually ripping fletchings off my arrows. Had it to the pro shop many times trying to diagnose the issue. It wasn’t till I was bare shaft tuning and noticed the arm still up after the shot that we figured it out. I replaced with a Hamskea and it’s been flawless.
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Same exact story here
 
Plebe said:
I seem to recall arrows getting wedged between the Hamskea launcher arm and containment loop in the early goings, up to the Trinity at least, resulting in an arrow that was not centered for the shot. I'm certain this must have been addressed in more recent offerings.

Offerings form QAD and RC have evolved, so comparative experiences may not be up to the standards of current models.

Again, I like Hamskea for engineering. But for containment, they aren't the leader of the pack.
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I've used 4 versions of Hamskea older through current and never had an issue with the arrow getting caught off center, and I've tested with Micro Diameter Arrows too. My guess is for someone to get an arrow off center like that, you'd have to draw the bow pretty damn torqued to one side. Only launcher issue I've had with them is the felt peeling off but I've had that on every other rest that uses it too.

Containment on a Hamskea is a non-issue. I've used them for tree stand hunting, but also Elk and Mule Deer where I'm spot and stalk hunting crawling through the sage, or chasing bugles over 15 miles a day. You get used to it, and if you're really anal it's easy to use a finger to stabilize the arrow. The fact that I've seen two different QADs on two different bows being shot by two different people fail the same way at the same time on an Elk hunt was a "Never Again" moment for me. The launcher wasn't letting down and dropping on the shot and was resulting in trying to shoot through the launcher arm - no bueno. Last thing I want is wondering if I'm going to have a failure that costs me an animal I've worked all year for.

If I wanted to try something that wasn't Hamskea, I'd probably be looking at AAE next.
 
Brendan said:
I've used 4 versions of Hamskea older through current and never had an issue with the arrow getting caught off center, and I've tested with Micro Diameter Arrows too. My guess is for someone to get an arrow off center like that, you'd have to draw the bow pretty damn torqued to one side. Only launcher issue I've had with them is the felt peeling off but I've had that on every other rest that uses it too.

Containment on a Hamskea is a non-issue. I've used them for tree stand hunting, but also Elk and Mule Deer where I'm spot and stalk hunting crawling through the sage, or chasing bugles over 15 miles a day. You get used to it, and if you're really anal it's easy to use a finger to stabilize the arrow. The fact that I've seen two different QADs on two different bows being shot by two different people fail the same way at the same time on an Elk hunt was a "Never Again" moment for me. The launcher wasn't letting down and dropping on the shot and was resulting in trying to shoot through the launcher arm - no bueno. Last thing I want is wondering if I'm going to have a failure that costs me an animal I've worked all year for.

If I wanted to try something that wasn't Hamskea, I'd probably be looking at AAE next.
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I'd get the new micro adjust vapor trail limb driven that can hook to bottom or top limb, if I gave up on hamskea.
 
Brendan said:
I've used 4 versions of Hamskea older through current and never had an issue with the arrow getting caught off center, and I've tested with Micro Diameter Arrows too. My guess is for someone to get an arrow off center like that, you'd have to draw the bow pretty damn torqued to one side. Only launcher issue I've had with them is the felt peeling off but I've had that on every other rest that uses it too.

Containment on a Hamskea is a non-issue. I've used them for tree stand hunting, but also Elk and Mule Deer where I'm spot and stalk hunting crawling through the sage, or chasing bugles over 15 miles a day. You get used to it, and if you're really anal it's easy to use a finger to stabilize the arrow. The fact that I've seen two different QADs on two different bows being shot by two different people fail the same way at the same time on an Elk hunt was a "Never Again" moment for me. The launcher wasn't letting down and dropping on the shot and was resulting in trying to shoot through the launcher arm - no bueno. Last thing I want is wondering if I'm going to have a failure that costs me an animal I've worked all year for.

If I wanted to try something that wasn't Hamskea, I'd probably be looking at AAE next.
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I do think those scenarios involved drawing in torqued positions.

I'm going to just disagree on containment, as a point of personal preference. Do I think it's a major issue, no, and your experience demonstrates this. But that arrow has more freedom of movement than others and I don't particularly care for that.

I'm with you on QAD. I had trouble with QAD out of the gate, similar to @bowhuntr09. Their first version. Customer service didn't impress me and I've sworn them off. My brothers have run newer rests from them for years though, with no issues.
 
Plebe said:
Customer service didn't impress me and I've sworn them off. My brothers have run newer rests from them for years though, with no issues.
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In my case it was a Mathews branded QAD and QAD wouldn’t support it at all. I had to to go through a Mathews dealer and ship it back and they sent a new one which I promptly sold. The rest I sent in was camo and the one I got back was black as well. All in all, very glad I’m done with them and couldn’t be happier with my Hamskea.
 
Brendan said:
Good point. I used a vapor trail I got used with a bow for a while and liked it while I had it.
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Yeah, I love my Hamskea Trinity but keep eyeing those vapor trails (they are slightly lighter and smaller, the rest arm design probably picks the arrow up better 'cause there's nowhere for it to get on a bind, the rest arm is probably easier to silence, and you don't need to mess with a spring or rubber rebound dampener).
 
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