# Lets talk stabilizers



## sizzle (Oct 15, 2016)

I'm going to purchase a stabilizer for my recurve in the next couple of weeks. There has been a bunch of new stabilizers released from Shrewd, to Spider, to Fivics, to the Win & Win WIAWIS S21 or the Ramrod Ultra. Which do you think is the best?


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## Bob Furman (May 16, 2012)

All of them are best......To someone, it just depends who you ask. Go with a nice carbon rod that won't break the bank. Whether you spend 700 or $200, they all do the same thing. 

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## Bob Furman (May 16, 2012)

Btw, what style are you shooting? Are you using any stabilizers now?

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## bubuchan (Aug 12, 2016)

If you're in a club or have one nearby, you can ask other people to try out their stabilizer on your bow. Last week we had a member that was able to test about 6 different stabilizers because we had a good variance in the group. Personally, I use the Fivics CEX 1900, mainly because they come in the most variety of colors.


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## clbatch2 (Nov 17, 2015)

Go to www.hi-teksports.com and check out his bars. The cheapest I have found anywhere and look really good. Mine showed up at my door 28 hours after I ordered them. I will be trying them out tonight when I get off work. But a 32" carbon bar for $72 is a great deal to me. They have been in business since 89. Try them out


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## Jim C (Oct 15, 2002)

most of my club shoots Bernie's stuff because they can be had for less money than some of the other stuff and are just as good. My son uses his wind dragon pros which are really thin and stiff. He really likes them. I shot them my last 2 years shooting recurve and they worked well for me. I now use some of his heavy aluminum 12" bars on my Crossbow


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## 10X Archer (Mar 7, 2016)

Whatever you do go for the thinest rod you can afford. I notice a huge difference when the wind picks up. RamRods are by far the best in my opinion. If you want stiffness the RamRods ultra will beat everything but the Hero Doinker (because the Hero's are slightly bigger). From my experience RamRods are better made then the Bernie stuff and slightly smaller (wind dragon long rod is bigger in the middle). However if money is tight wind dragon's and shrewd revel seam like good alternatives. 

If you go to any tournament that RamRods goes to they should let you shoot all the ones they brought no problem. If you can, it is extremely valuable to be able to see what stiffness and rod lengths work the best for you.


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## Jezza (Oct 21, 2013)

I have bernie's wind dragons pro, dragon xl are they are all super light, hi mod carbon stabs. I do have carbofast, wiawis stabs. The bernies works well for me because i can focus on stacking varying weights at the end instead of having to carrying a heavy bar prior to adding weights. I am unsure how to check for quality of rods between manufacturers so i cant comment on the quality. None of my rods have broken on me. They do what they have to do and they are not as expensive as similarly specced rods. 

as for how the stabilzer affects grouping, i am not sure how it works, but i have brought my rods to the range and shot with them and noticed the group sizes were changing when i changed different stabs. the wiawis stabs provided the most consistet grouping for recurve while the bernies light weight rods made it less tiring to shoot overall.


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## phallenthoul (Aug 21, 2016)

another vote for RamRods UHM


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## GoldArcher403 (Jun 25, 2014)

I personally use Ram Rods but Win&Win stabs are hard to beat at their price... Plus, quality is no argument seeing as how tons of Olympic and World Cup medalists use them.


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## erose (Aug 12, 2014)

I have to say I like my Easton Contours.


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## zal (May 1, 2007)

I've shot Kaya Souls (version that says Soulmaker) ever since they came out, as I got two sets for the price of one from a local dealer who had bought too much stock.

Cheap, sturdy, stiff. Good enough to shoot world records and win medals (Oh Jin Hyek) so good enough for me. Will keep them until they break, as nothing I've ever tried has made me shoot better.


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## midwayarcherywi (Sep 24, 2006)

zal said:


> I've shot Kaya Souls (version that says Soulmaker) ever since they came out, as I got two sets for the price of one from a local dealer who had bought too much stock.
> 
> Cheap, sturdy, stiff. Good enough to shoot world records and win medals (Oh Jin Hyek) so good enough for me. Will keep them until they break, as nothing I've ever tried has made me shoot better.


This ^^. I really don't get the stabilizer fascination. But I have to be honest, I've tried a few. All they ever did was make me a bit lighter in the wallet.


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## Nick728 (Oct 19, 2014)

Having used stabilizers on both compounds and recurve what I've found is some give better feel and balance while others are paper weights.
Adding dead weight after buying an expensive light weight bow never made any sense. Adding good dampening and better balance is a different thing entirely. For my bows, compounds and recurve I've tried Bee Stinger, Doinker, Easton Z Flex, SF and a few others I can't remember. Feel, length, weight, balance, where and how they will be used, are all factors in choosing configurations. If anyone tells you they know all about stabilizers, run as far away as possible.
Junk or benefit is a very personal trail and error ongoing endeavor.


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## midwayarcherywi (Sep 24, 2006)

Ongoing endeavor. Sounds like a stabilizer makers best customer. Now this is not to say one should not experiment will all things archery. And I suppose this includes stabilizer stiffness, etc. I am fully in the camp of people who believe what brand of stabilizer is much less important than how one would configure it on the bow. 

And let's not forget the primary purpose of the stabilizer is to stabilize the shooting platform to allow the archer to aim and execute expeditiously. 

One final point. Far be it for me to poke fun at anyone who wishes to spend money on archery. I've spent my fair share of disposable dollars in archery.


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## Nick728 (Oct 19, 2014)

midwayarcherywi said:


> Ongoing endeavor. Sounds like a stabilizer makers best customer. Now this is not to say, one should not experiment will all things archery. And I suppose this includes stabilizer stiffness, etc. I am fully in the camp of people who believe what brand of stabilizer is much less important than how one would configure it on the bow.
> 
> And let's not forget the primary purpose of the stabilizer is to stabilize the shooting platform to allow the archer to aim and execute expeditiously.
> 
> One final point. Far be it for me to poke fun at anyone who wishes to spend money on archery. I've spent my fair share of disposable dollars in archery.


Exactly...


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## zal (May 1, 2007)

All this gear hoarding always makes me almost blush when I rock up in the shooting line and a former Olympic gold medalist parks next to me, still shooting TD4 with original Carbon+'s and decades old ACE stabs. And wins, every time.


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## >--gt--> (Jul 1, 2002)

zal said:


> former Olympic gold medalist


Tomi is an Olympic Gold Medalist, not a "former" one. Unless IOC strips the title, no one who has won the Olympic Games is a "former" Gold Medalist.


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## Jim C (Oct 15, 2002)

>--gt--> said:


> Tomi is an Olympic Gold Medalist, not a "former" one. Unless IOC strips the title, no one who has won the Olympic Games is a "former" Gold Medalist.


an excellent point. I guess Lance Armstrong's description would be an interesting one


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## Azzurri (Mar 10, 2014)

midwayarcherywi said:


> This ^^. I really don't get the stabilizer fascination. But I have to be honest, I've tried a few. All they ever did was make me a bit lighter in the wallet.


When you get lighter in the wallet you have to remember to compensate with more weight on the v-bars to keep you balanced just so.


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## zal (May 1, 2007)

>--gt--> said:


> Tomi is an Olympic Gold Medalist, not a "former" one. Unless IOC strips the title, no one who has won the Olympic Games is a "former" Gold Medalist.


Just lost in translation.

Loving this Miika's video from 2015:






ps. Jukka, on the right, also shot quite a few international tournaments back in the day.


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## sizzle (Oct 15, 2016)

Thanks for all the replies. I've been shooting recurve for about 6 months with my cheap SF Axioms. But I want to start playing around with adding weight. I don't have a lot of opportunities to try other stabilizers and so your feedback is important to deciding what to get.


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## ryan b. (Sep 1, 2005)

I'd go with $100 stab that you like to look at and $300 towards quality coaching instead of ram rods etc. . You're not going to buy any points at your level with equipment upgrades, especially stabilizer upgrades. I know that's not what people want to hear on equipment threads but it's the best free advice I got! Lol


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## iArch (Apr 17, 2015)

sizzle said:


> Thanks for all the replies. I've been shooting recurve for about 6 months with my cheap SF Axioms. But I want to start playing around with adding weight. I don't have a lot of opportunities to try other stabilizers and so your feedback is important to deciding what to get.


I shot the SF Axioms at least 1 year and stacked enough weights on it. At some point I shot 15oz total on the stabs (7oz on front) and they didn't have issues with the weight.


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## Astroguy (Oct 11, 2013)

I like 36" long rods , with lighter weight than most run. My old Easton aluminum gear spoiled me to the length. I have long arm and like long rods so thin is best for what I like. 

The leverage on the tip out that far from the wind is something to think about. Indoors use what you want. 

Lancaster has a nice deal on Shrewd Pro 875 28 -30" Which is a nice rod for shorter draws. If your fully grown. It comes with dampening and weights for $129 while it lasts. Shrewd has quality threads. That's important. 

http://www.lancasterarchery.com/shrewd-pro-875-stabilizer-28-30.html


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## Nick728 (Oct 19, 2014)

https://youtu.be/eADJF5YdqLw
You might find this interesting


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## zal (May 1, 2007)

Nick728 said:


> https://youtu.be/eADJF5YdqLw
> You might find this interesting


Sadly, that has very, very little to do with recurve shooting. Most insightful advice for that I think is in Frangilli's book.

One of the biggest problems for beginner-intermediate archers is to go with the trend of getting uber-stiff stabilizers and then complain constantly about joint pain. There is no need for them, unless you stack (too much) weight on them. You can get the same effect with a stiff 5-6" extender and normal stabs, which is what most top competitors use, rather than short or no extender and craploads of weight which some few use. That way you avoid some nasty injuries in the long run.

Compound and recurve require quite different center of balance, which also equals to different body position balance.


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## Nick728 (Oct 19, 2014)

Zal, the point of posting that video was to show how much thought goes into choosing stabilizers. I doubt choosing stabilizers could even be properly covered on the Internet.


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## Unk Bond (Aug 1, 2004)

Bob Furman said:


> All of them are best......To someone, it just depends who you ask. Go with a nice carbon rod that won't break the bank. Whether you spend 700 or $200, they all do the same thing.
> 
> Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk


=============

Hello
Quote = they all do the same thing. 

Well not quiet all :wink: Mine is a Telescopic front stabilizer. 
If he only new how easy they are to make.[ Later


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## tunedlow (Nov 7, 2012)

i usually shoot what i can afford and what feels good then refrain from changing most things on my bow too much. i think working on your execution technique will serve you more than worrying about which stabilizer is "best."


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## theminoritydude (Feb 11, 2013)

Well, your execution technique is dependent on the stabilization of your bow.


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## Jay-El (Oct 16, 2012)

Buy ones that you think look cool. 


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## erose (Aug 12, 2014)

I think it more than just buy the ones that you find more ascetically pleasing. There is a difference and sometimes a huge difference between the cheap stabilizers versus the more expensive ones. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the case. There is a improvement when you transition lets say from Axiom+ stabilizers to lets say Easton Contours. What that is and how to quantify it? Well that seems to be the problem right? Since we don't really have the ability to quantify "feel".


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## uscarcher (Sep 26, 2018)

Ramrods are incredibly heavy, so if those are what you go for please break them in slowly to avoid shoulder problems


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