Mathews’ Avail is a compact, lightweight bow engineered for female archers and bowhunters. The Avail tested here was set for a 25-inch draw length and slightly more than a 50-pound draw weight. This draw weight / length is efficient for tagging animals such as black bears, whitetail deer, springtime gobblers, and more. These bow specs generate  respectable kinetic energy, touching 50 foot-pounds across the board.

The heart of the Avail is Mathews’  CrossCentric Cam system with Advanced Vectoring System (AVS) technology. This cam was inspired by Mathews’ No Cam technology, which maintains the smooth nature of that Gen-1 technology while increasing speeds to boost KE transfer without sacrificing the bow’s smooth character. During the draw cycles, limb tips move little between rest and anchor positions which transfers energy more efficiently for quieter shots.

When pulling into anchor, partially concentric string payout produces a smooth, bump-free draw cycle. The AVS technology vectors the draw forces to maintain perfect synchronization while working with a True Center Nocking Point for straight and level nock-point travel. The Cams on the Avail increase leverage during the draw cycle, making any draw weight seem lighter than what the scale reads. Also, CrossCentric Cams kick out at full draw to open the bowstring angle and help this 30-inch bow feel 2 to 3 inches longer, increasing forgiveness and better peep placement. Meanwhile, the CrossCentric dual string-stop system creates a solid rear wall and consistent arrow speeds.

The Avail includes a Dual Bridge Riser that provides an extra-stiff, stable shooting platform while minimizing mass. This bow’s riser has a bit of reflex, setting the Flatback Grip slightly behind the limbs’ pivot points, but the bow remains stable and well-balanced because of its long-riser and short-limb configuration. The Avail’s pivoting one-piece-milled limb pockets are set on a wide base to shift balance rearward while anchoring the bow’s slim-profile split limbs. In addition, integrated mounting slots milled into the riser accommodate Mathews’ quivers and the lower riser holds two steel stabilizer mounts.

The Avail features an array of silencing technologies including an integral Harmonic Damper above and Harmonic Stabilizer Lite below, which are set in rubber webs beneath each limb pocket. Mathews’ Avail also includes a carbon-rod-mounted rubber-bumper string stop, and proven Reverse Roller Guard system mounted on a carbon rod. On release, the Avail creates merely a dull thump.

The Avail’s compact 30-inch axle-to-axle specs make it ideal for treestand vigils or a cramped popup blind. Its sub-4-pound mass also makes it a great companion when logging long miles in rough-and-tumble terrain. With little tuning and sighting, this bow easily shot fist-sized groups at 20 and 30 yards.

To learn more, please visit Mathews Archery’s Website.

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The 2017 APA Mamba M34 TF is one of the fastest compounds I’ve tested for Inside Archery, recording 365 fps speeds with the lightest arrow in the Bow Report’s lineup. The Mamba 34 TF is less demanding than other APAs I’ve shot. Its low 6-1/8-inch brace might make the Mamba 34 TF slightly touchy, but that’s offset by a more forgiving 34 1/8-inch axle-to-axle length and a smoother-pulling version of the MX Cam.

The Mamba 34 TF includes MX Cams that are much smoother than their predecessors as well as highly adjustable for draw length and tunable for cam synchronization. The newest MX Cam matches the draw-cycle characteristics of some of the industry’s smoothest compounds and delivers high-end arrow speeds. Dual cams must remain perfectly synchronized on the Mamba 34 TF to deliver their full potential. The Mamba 34 TF cams’ easily seen tuning marks make it simple to bring things back into line. The EZ Tune Mods make minor timing and tuning a snap, even without pressing the compound.

The MX Cam includes a solid rear wall, 7 inches of draw-length range in half-inch increments, dual-sealed ball bearings, dead-level nock travel, and comfortable 75 percent let-off. An exclusive camlock feature, which is part of the APA Tool Center, lets shooters quickly replace nicked or worn bowstrings or cables, string silencers or lost peeps without a bow press. The MX Cam is radical enough to push the spine limits of several test arrows in the .340 to .400 deflection range which explains several instances of uncharacteristic jumps in kinetic energy. At our 71.9-pound draw weight and 30-inch draw length, .300-spine arrows would have produced more even energy transitions from the heaviest to lightest shafts.

APA also incorporated Twin Flex Limbs which deliver more performance and speed by incorporating the entire limb surface on this compound. This compound’s Twin Flex Limbs flex all the way through the forks, which better distributes the load while storing additional energy. Twin Flex Limbs are held solidly in pivoting, machined-aluminum pockets, and are ultra slim and held past parallel to make the Mamba 34 TF lighter, super quiet and easier to handle.

APA’s Riser Fang lets treestand bowhunters hang their bows on any handy branch without a bow hook or hanger. The Riser Fang also lets bowhunters hang bows above dirt and debris while resting or glassing for game. The Tool Center is built into the bow’s riser below the grip, so it travels everywhere with the compound. It includes a broadhead wrench, nock-indexing wrench, Cam Lock pin, and a carbide sharpener to touch up knives or fixed-blade broadheads. Other features include: rear stabilizer mount, direct-mount wrist sling with locking set screw, a side-plate grip, a POV camera mount, and APA’s signature Carry Handle.

The Mamba 34 TF includes a LimbSaver string-stop dampener that’s held on a vibration-absorbing carbon rod. This compound also has a carbon roller guide that minimizes buss cable friction and vibration. A Soft Touch Armor coating on the riser eliminates contact noise and feels warmer in cold weather. APA also equipped the Mamba 34 TF with LimbSaver’s latest limb silencers and rubber-combination speed buttons/bowstring dampeners.

That much silence is remarkable from a compound that generates chronograph numbers beyond 300 fps with hunting arrows. The APA Mamba 34 TF is everything bowhunters could want. It’s fast, quiet, quickly tuned, easily handled, and equipped with special touches like the Fang Riser and Tool Center.

To learn more, please visit APA Archery’s website.

The post APA Mamba 34 TF: Bow Review appeared first on Inside Archery Archery Newsfeed.

Watch as Senior Editor Patrick Meitin reviews the Bear Archery Cruzer Lite RTH!

For more information visit beararchery.com

The post Bear Archery Cruzer Lite RTH Bow Review Video: WebXtra September appeared first on Inside Archery Archery Newsfeed.

PSE raises archery‘s technology bar yet again with its 2016 Pro Series Carbon Air. PSE made one of the first Carbon-fiber compound in 1996. PSE calls the monocoque-designed Carbon Air “TrueCarbon Technology.” Monocoque construction creates a single structural carbon-fiber shell that’s rigid, strong, durable and lightweight. PSE’s Carbon Air has more notable features such as its foam-filled Rigid Acoustic Core, or S-RAC, carbon construction, and its “Arch Bridge” riser design.

The result is the industry’s lightest ultra-performance compound, weighing only 3.2 pounds, and delivering dead-quiet, vibration-free shooting and excellent insulating qualities. Although cutting-edge carbon forms the heart of the Carbon Air, features like titanium limb and pocket hardware, a customized HD hybrid cam, Center Lock Speed Pockets, and patented X-Force parallel split limbs help achieve the bow’s raw performance, accuracy and shooting ease.

The Carbon Air’s grip is integral to the riser, and offers a comfortable flat back for repeatable hand placement. The carbon rod holding the Backstop 4 string stop also molds into the riser, translating into one less set-screw to work loose after hard use. The riser on this compound also includes four molded-in, precision-milled aluminum sight taps, an inset aluminum rest mount, and a stainless-steel stabilizer mount.

PSE customized a version of its proven HD hybrid cam to hold ABB Platinum low-stretch strings and cables, all of which pair with past-parallel X-Force limbs to deliver an extremely smooth, bump-free draw cycle. The draw cycle on the Carbon Air builds to peak evenly, dropping into an 80 percent let-off without surprises. The shooter must pull through many inches of peak before hitting the solid back wall, which is created by a string stop on the bottom cam that’s also part of the draw-length adjustment.

The Carbon Air’s HD hybrid cam offers wide-ranging drawlength adjustments with a rotating module that’s anchored by two set-screws. Both set-screws are on curved slots, with the bottom correlating to alphabetized holes that accept a stainless pin when tightened. Top and bottom HD cams include laser-etched hash marks that correlate to the forward-most buss cables to show proper timing/tuning reference. The HD cam system offers such symmetrical turnover that the cable-guard holding the slide is a stubby 1.5 inches and curved inward.

The Carbon Air includes four sets of speed buttons are included on the bowstring top and bottom. The foam-filled carbon-shell riser, past-parallel limbs, and a highly adjustable Backstop string suppressor. In addition, the Carbon Air holds Shock Modz Limb Dampeners, which are press-fit between the split limbs and include three fins with outboard weights. The TrueCarbon riser construction also makes the Carbon Air dead in the hand on release. Its design and inner S-RAC material see to that.

In a word, the riser defines refinement. Further, the bow balances extremely well in the hand with or without a stabilizer. Although adding a vibration-dampening active stabilizer almost seems redundant, there’s no such thing as a bow that’s too quiet or vibration-free. The Carbon Air comes with a custom padded soft case with accessory pockets, a great complement whether lashing the bow to an ATV rack or tossing it into a pickup bed.

To learn more, please visit PSE Archery’s website.

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