Limb driven or cable driven rest?

[Plebe]

I shoot a WB with feathers and a helical fletch, no problems out to 50. If you are noticing that much difference within that distance, the problem probably isn’t the rest.

I agree, but shooter issues are more likely under hunting conditions and I do think the advantage is to a drop away rest in that respect.

On the other hand, the containment of a WB can't be beat. For anyone who does a lot of spot and stalk, still hunting, etc. the WB has a clear upside.

 

[elk yinzer]

I'd go with either or for the average hunter. Limb driven has more street cred among archery geeks beyond that I'm not even sure what the pros and cons are honestly.

If cable driven I'd splice it into the cables though. I've seen some that are attached with a little alligator clip thingy that looks to me like asking for trouble.

 

[DroptineKrazy]

No one has brought up cost. I can buy 4 WB for what a Hamskea cost. For whitetail distance you can't beat the WB.

 

[woodsdog2]

I like limb driven the best. Easy to replace and easier to time the drop by moving further forward or back. The more forward the quicker it goes down the more back ( toward the string) the later it drops. I’ve actually tuned vertical tears out by making this adjustment.

 

[Zero One Actual]

It's not the loss of speed that's the issue. WB is more sensitive to issues like torque, as the arrow is in contact with the rest until it clears the rest completely.

Absolutely correct. I forgot to mention that as well. Thank you for brining that up!

 

[Plebe]

Cable driven rests can be really good, or they can be finicky and hard to time in. Limb driven rests are simple. Up/down. I've owned a Hamskea, have a Limb Driver on my Insanity and an AAE Pro Drop on my Reign. I tie into the cable to reduce rope length, vibration, and the opportunity for it to hang or catch on something while in the woods. Hopefully the pics will show how I tie in.

Up front, my thoughts are:
-Limb driven is the most reliable drop away system, but is a step behind in arrow containment and the tie in is less ideal than cable driven
-Cable driven can offer better arrow containment and a short tie in, but the system is a step behind limb driven for reliability
-WB is very reliable and tough, but effects arrow flight more in instances of poor shooter mechanics.

All three may be effected by adverse conditions such as freezing precipitation.

Personally,

I had been shooting a WB when I was gifted a QAD ultrarest. This was around 2006 maybe.

I had issues timing the QAD rest on a Switchback XT. Had a proshop and a professional Archer look at it, neither could get it right. Sent it in to QAD who "tested it" and said it was functioning correctly. That was my last experience with QAD. (Although my brothers have been using them without problems).

So, I put a Ripcord on the XT and had no issues timing the rest. It served me well until it gummed up and started to drop sluggishly about 5years ago.

I had been following Hamskea for awhile when this went down and was leaning that way, but I didn't like the sloppy containment, so I replaced my Ripcord with their newer ball bearing Max Micro model. It was easy to time and, having over 10 years of excellent performance from their early model rest, I have high hopes the better sealed bearing system will last longer. Time will tell.

Personally, I think Hamskea has the best build. But I still don't like the sloppy containment. I thought the Ripcord Lok might be the ticket, but I've read too many reported problems to feel it's where it needs to be yet.

 

[Gator]

Ford or Chevy question. I've been shooting QAD a long time with zero issues (maybe I'm just lucky). WB is the bullet proof rest tho. I was very reluctant to change from a WB for hunting but finally did and never looked back.

 

[katiesmom]

I have QADs on all my compounds. Have never had a problem in the 3 years since they were put on.

 

[bowhunthard88]

QAD is probably going to be at the top for popularity. The WB is going to perform comparably to a drop-away in perfect/controllable situations, but will reflect/exaggerate shooter error/form issues (especially, in my experience, less than perfect hunting shot opportunities). The WB is an awesome hunting rest, but not in a less-than-ideal longer range situation... I would recommend limb-driven styles, specifically tied to the limb, given the option (although a limb-driven rest tied to the cable is better than a cable-driven rest tied to the cable). I've shot the Vapor Trail Pro-V series of rests since 2012, and the only complaint vs. Hamskea/standard Vapor Trail would be the possibility of reduced brace measurement forgiveness (not accounting for torque tuning possibilities).

 

[Zero One Actual]

Up front, my thoughts are:
-Limb driven is the most reliable drop away system, but is a step behind in arrow containment and the tie in is less ideal than cable driven
-Cable driven can offer better arrow containment and a short tie in, but the system is a step behind limb driven for reliability
-WB is very reliable and tough, but effects arrow flight more in instances of poor shooter mechanics.

All three may be effected by adverse conditions such as freezing precipitation.

Personally,

I had been shooting a WB when I was gifted a QAD ultrarest. This was around 2006 maybe.

I had issues timing the QAD rest on a Switchback XT. Had a proshop and a professional Archer look at it, neither could get it right. Sent it in to QAD who "tested it" and said it was functioning correctly. That was my last experience with QAD. (Although my brothers have been using them without problems).

So, I put a Ripcord on the XT and had no issues timing the rest. It served me well until it gummed up and started to drop sluggishly about 5years ago.

I had been following Hamskea for awhile when this went down and was leaning that way, but I didn't like the sloppy containment, so I replaced my Ripcord with their newer ball bearing Max Micro model. It was easy to time and, having over 10 years of excellent performance from their early model rest, I have high hopes the better sealed bearing system will last longer. Time will tell.

Personally, I think Hamskea has the best build. But I still don't like the sloppy containment. I thought the Ripcord Lok might be the ticket, but I've read too many reported problems to feel it's where it needs to be yet.

Your first paragraph is one hundred percent accurate.

 

[woodsdog2]

As far as names, I like Hamskea and vaportrail in that order.

 

[Samcirrus]

Up front, my thoughts are:
-Limb driven is the most reliable drop away system, but is a step behind in arrow containment and the tie in is less ideal than cable driven
-Cable driven can offer better arrow containment and a short tie in, but the system is a step behind limb driven for reliability
-WB is very reliable and tough, but effects arrow flight more in instances of poor shooter mechanics.

All three may be effected by adverse conditions such as freezing precipitation.

Personally,

I had been shooting a WB when I was gifted a QAD ultrarest. This was around 2006 maybe.

I had issues timing the QAD rest on a Switchback XT. Had a proshop and a professional Archer look at it, neither could get it right. Sent it in to QAD who "tested it" and said it was functioning correctly. That was my last experience with QAD. (Although my brothers have been using them without problems).

So, I put a Ripcord on the XT and had no issues timing the rest. It served me well until it gummed up and started to drop sluggishly about 5years ago.

I had been following Hamskea for awhile when this went down and was leaning that way, but I didn't like the sloppy containment, so I replaced my Ripcord with their newer ball bearing Max Micro model. It was easy to time and, having over 10 years of excellent performance from their early model rest, I have high hopes the better sealed bearing system will last longer. Time will tell.

Personally, I think Hamskea has the best build. But I still don't like the sloppy containment. I thought the Ripcord Lok might be the ticket, but I've read too many reported problems to feel it's where it needs to be yet.

Do you have a link to the exact model you have? I Mean is it the 2018 one? It looks so awesome I'm wondering why and how its not more popular???

 

[raisins]

I have a QAD HDX (cable driven) on my old/backup bow and a Hamskea trinity pro hunter (limb driven) on my primary.

For me, limb driven all day and it isn't even close.

The arrow moves around 1/8" or so in every direction in a QAD and can't fall off and always works. The arrow (unless you get a grabber thingie) moves around 3/4" or so in every direction in a Hamskea and can't fall off and always works. The 1/2" extra movement makes no difference in either a stalking or stand setting.

I can take my bow with the hamskea and an arrow nocked and shake it like crazy and it makes no noise and then I draw and it shoots.

 

[Plebe]

Do you have a link to the exact model you have? I Mean is it the 2018 one? It looks so awesome I'm wondering why and how its not more popular???

2018 sounds about right. Mine is from the first year Ripcord made the Max Micro, if I remember correctly.

I can't speak to brand popularity and marketshare. Probably a number of factors are in play, from advertising, celebrity endorsement, availability, user satisfaction, customer service, and price.

It's just what's worked out for my bow. Like @Loucamp pointed out, cable driven rests can sometimes be here-or-there for certain setups. For me Ripcord has worked, and I had issues with QAD. That's not to say a different QAD rest or other brand cable driven rest wouldn't work exceptionally well. QAD rests have served my brothers and others I know well.

Were all other things equal, I prefer the launcher on Ripcord.

 

[Samcirrus]

2018 sounds about right. Mine is from the first year Ripcord made the Max Micro, if I remember correctly.

I can't speak to brand popularity and marketshare. Probably a number of factors are in play, from advertising, celebrity endorsement, availability, user satisfaction, customer service, and price.

It's just what's worked out for my bow. Like @Loucamp pointed out, cable driven rests can sometimes be here-or-there for certain setups. For me Ripcord has worked, and I had issues with QAD. That's not to say a different QAD rest or other brand cable driven rest wouldn't work exceptionally well. QAD rests have served my brothers and others I know well.

Were all other things equal, I prefer the launcher on Ripcord.

Yeah, but just the idea of it staying up all the time till firing the shot, and even during a letdown makes it much more whisker biscuit-like that i wonder other companies haven't tried to do the same thing...
I just bought a new Hamskea epsilon which is supposed to be top notch but like you said the contain of it is less than desirable especially for me coming from shooting a WB exclusively until now.

 

[Horn]

Yeah, but just the idea of it staying up all the time till firing the shot, and even during a letdown makes it much more whisker biscuit-like that i wonder other companies haven't tried to do the same thing...
I just bought a new Hamskea epsilon which is supposed to be top notch but like you said the contain of it is less than desirable especially for me coming from shooting a WB exclusively until now.

I'm also shooting ripcord max, both bows. I've put them on since January. While I have had issues with timing I don't believe it's the rest. One I would blame the tech who put it on. The other my cables were stretching, bad. Since getting ths cable issue resolved it has been great. Takes a little while to get use to pre-cocking it but thar becomes habit. I also prefer it without the top containment arm, if my arrow falls out top I've got bigger issues lol. I'm currently shooting a 5mm arrow and there's no noise that I'd call problematic, even when I shake it pretty vigorously.

Customer service has been great. I had broke both launcher arms, they sent free replacements even with my admitting it was my fault, not a defect.

 

[raisins]

Yeah, but just the idea of it staying up all the time till firing the shot, and even during a letdown makes it much more whisker biscuit-like that i wonder other companies haven't tried to do the same thing...
I just bought a new Hamskea epsilon which is supposed to be top notch but like you said the contain of it is less than desirable especially for me coming from shooting a WB exclusively until now.

Adding that function in would disrupt the simplicity of the design and make it more likely to have issues.

If Hamskea made an "always up" limb driven rest, then I wouldn't want it unless they came up with some very slick engineering.

 

[bowhunthard88]

Adding that function in would disrupt the simplicity of the design and make it more likely to have issues.

If Hamskea made an "always up" limb driven rest, then I wouldn't want it unless they came up with some very slick engineering.

G5 had an attempt at this, mirroring the VT Pro-V design, and in my opinion it was pretty much a failure...

 

[heretic]

I've used WBs for a few years. I've shot had multiple QAD HDXs on multiple bows without issues. I even have a trophy ridge floating around here somewhere that has yet to fail me.

I'm currently going into my 3rd season shooting a Hamskea and it's lights out a night and day difference.

Initially I was concerned about the lack of containment after years of being used to the QAD containment. However the concern was unwarranted. I can't think back to an incident ever were containment was an issue while drawing back (or letting down) on game, regardless of orientation/position in the tree.

My issue with the WB is it doesn't play well with skinny heavy arrows.

My issues with cable driven rests are many but the biggest one is your timing changes if your strings stretch or your draw length changes. Probably a non issue for most folks, but enough of a problem to me to stir malcontent

 

[Samcirrus]

Adding that function in would disrupt the simplicity of the design and make it more likely to have issues.

If Hamskea made an "always up" limb driven rest, then I wouldn't want it unless they came up with some very slick engineering.

True, but they'd have to do something original anyways to 'not copy' Ripcord's patent.