# 1st time shame on them ......2nd time shame on me !!!!!!!!!!!



## ThunderEagle (May 11, 2011)

Well, if you are looking at the Micro Elite, then also look at the Hamskea Micro adjust rest. It is pricey, but gets rave reviews. I keep considering upgrading to one of these, but I'm trying really hard to stop messing/changing my equipment.


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## baller (Oct 4, 2006)

I'm shooting Pro Blades right now but am considering a change to either the AAE Pro Drop or the VT Micro Elite. The blades getting damaged is my only issue with blade rests....and i usually only screw one up really bad a couple times a year and always have replacements in the quiver....but I'm curious enough that I might start a comparative anlysis between the blade and the drop.


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## hollywood88 (Feb 9, 2009)

I've never bent a blade in about 10 years of using them. But as an answer to your question I'm using both a blade rest and a vt pro v and am very impressed with the pro v. The rest is extremely simple and very well built


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## Stash (Jun 1, 2002)

Let's see...your blade let you down. Your blade got bent. Pretty impressive activity for a thin sliver of metal.

I would suspect you were at fault more than the blade was. 

Seriously, though, blades are very, very good target rests, but need to be handled with at least a minimum of delicacy. You don't just toss your bow into a case and throw stuff on top of the rest, or drag your bow through bushes and expect the blade not to snag on something. If your tune is good and you take reasonable care with it, a blade should never wear out or become damaged. If your bow gets rough handling, then yes, a dropaway is the way to go.

Just remember, the more parts, the more chance of failure, and a dropaways can let you down, too. Check them regularly.


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## mod9 (Nov 20, 2012)

true that .thank you all for your thoughts. I always take people that have done this more than me opinions to heart.



Stash said:


> Let's see...your blade let you down. Your blade got bent. Pretty impressive activity for a thin sliver of metal.
> 
> I would suspect you were at fault more than the blade was.
> 
> ...


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## caspian (Jan 13, 2009)

I've seen one bent blade and it was the result of being biffed by a loose item in a case during transport. spares are cheap, I always have one in my case.

I can only think of two top level archers in my whole country who run dropaways. blades are simple and work. if you get a Beiter rest the blades can be changed out in seconds with no loss of centreshot either.

dropaway using archers tend to fall into two categories: people that have been let down by their dropaway malfunctioning at a critical moment, and people that haven't yet, but will.


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## bigHUN (Feb 5, 2006)

Stash said:


> ....Pretty impressive activity for a thin sliver of metal.....I would suspect you were at fault more than the blade was.


100% sure
I have not see any material fail in long time. Yes, all the blade thickness and material's can behave differently but that is a story for a different level of shooting....


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## huteson2us2 (Jun 22, 2005)

I wish I was still living in WA to help you. Have you tried talking to Rick Morgan or Larry Thurman. They are long time archers that know what they are doing and can give you good advice. On the other hand in competition archery, s**t happens and the great archer is the one that is able to repair their equipment with the least points dropped no matter what equipment they are using.


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## dmr400 (Feb 24, 2012)

Funny this story sounds familiar, oh wait, I was on that target  Mod9, food for thought. DA rests have a lot more moving parts. I've seen the actuating cable wear out and break (inside the rest), the mechanism jam, timing issues because of a connection that slipped, and limb clamps being knocked into and moved. If you were running a .008 blade you might try a 10 and see if that doesn't solve the problem without introducing a whole host of variables. But I can understand wanting to try a different rest too after the frustration you had on sunday.

Regardless, the lesson to be learned is to measure and mark your equipment so that when something goes wonky (not if) you are able to restore functionality as quickly as possible. I really benefited from reading "Proactive Archery" by Tom Dorigatti (Field14) when it came to these sorts of things...the guy is seriously anal about recording settings. If you like I can show you how I do it the next time we run into each other.

One last thing, and it applies to me as well as you. It might be in our best interests to investigate what WSAA's rules are about declaring an equipment breakdown, I think you would have qualified for one and been able to hit the flat range for a bit to sort out this issue without troubleshooting on the course and bleeding points while you figured it out. Not something I thought to suggest until just now, sorry!

-Andy C.


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## Mahly (Dec 18, 2002)

Having gone to limb driven drop away rests, I think they are the best of both worlds. 
Being limb driven, you get to set what spring tension you want...compensates for the thinker blades that come with them.
You can also put a "lizard tongue" blade on in your choice of thickness, then crank the spring tension to let the blade do the work...or any combination of the 2
Limb driven rests have a whole 3 parts that move. Barrel, spring, cable. (Add bearings for something like the VT Micro elite or Hamskea, and you could make an argument for the limb clamp if you use one). 
I have never had a spring break, or a barrel freeze. I have never had the cable break...and now that I am using a custom cable made of BCY X, it's the least likely string to break on my bow.
If a limb clamp WERE to move, it's just a matter of moving it back and snugging it down. They are not NEARLY as sensitive to timing as a cable operated drop away...move till the cable is snug, tighten down, done.
I know it has happened to some, and I won't say it can't wont happen to anyone else, but I have never once had a failure with a limb driven rest....I'm still using the first one I ever bought, and got that when they first came out. I do virtually zero maintenance on it.

It sounds as though there are more people having issues with broken/bent blades than there are with drop-aways...though that could be in large part to more target archers using blades.

I honestly do not believe a blade is any more accurate than some of the better limb driven rests, and I have always been one to play with different styles of fletchings. the guaranteed clearance is with the 1:100,000+ chance of a failure.


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## Praeger (Jan 7, 2011)

mod9 said:


> ok I have been completely let down by my blade rest twice now. this last weekend I shot at my first outdoor safari shoot. I was doing pretty well sitting in the middle of the group after the first day. at sometime between the last target and the first target the second day my blade got bent. I have been told since then that a lot of guys carry spare blades. makes sense seeing how fragile they are . but I am new to this side of the sport so I didn't have a spare. I ended up the weekend near the bottom of the group because I was having to take a guess on where to set my site. SO im going to go with a fall away rest.... the vapor trail micro elite seems to be a good fall away rest with the target shooter in mind. are there any others that are made more for target shooting rather than hunting ? going to buy one realllllllly soon .


You are taking the wrong lesson here. A couple quick points. First, any part of your bow can get bumped in transit, as it turns out it was your blade. It could very well be that whatever bent the blade would have damaged a drop away rest. Point being, the blade rest didn't fail - it was damaged. Second, the beauty of a blade rest is that a quick visual inspection will reveal any damage. The blade is either flat or it's bent. Same can't be said of a drop away. The cord or attachment point on either a limb driven or cable driven rest can creep, stretch, or fray which will affect the timing of the rest. These conditions can be difficult to detect without cycling the rest. I'm not arguing one is better than the other, but if you have been shooting well with a blade rest, then just incorporate a quick visual witness step to your pre-shooting routine. 

Mark correct cam start position, scope rod position, lens orientation, sight tape/scale pointer, rest windage/elevation, nock position - anything that can slip, mark it. Check each witness mark after the bow comes out of the case, if your bow gets knocked over or if you get a sudden shift in point of impact.

The lesson here is not which rest to use, rather find a routine that works for you to check your gear before you shoot.


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## mod9 (Nov 20, 2012)

ok cool andy ill look you up soon. im going to give the blade another try this next weekend at the safari shoot at skookum . we will see how I do with it again. like the other andy said you need to give special attention to the rest . its not a hunting bow.....lol






dmr400 said:


> Funny this story sounds familiar, oh wait, I was on that target  Mod9, food for thought. DA rests have a lot more moving parts. I've seen the actuating cable wear out and break (inside the rest), the mechanism jam, timing issues because of a connection that slipped, and limb clamps being knocked into and moved. If you were running a .008 blade you might try a 10 and see if that doesn't solve the problem without introducing a whole host of variables. But I can understand wanting to try a different rest too after the frustration you had on sunday.
> 
> Regardless, the lesson to be learned is to measure and mark your equipment so that when something goes wonky (not if) you are able to restore functionality as quickly as possible. I really benefited from reading "Proactive Archery" by Tom Dorigatti (Field14) when it came to these sorts of things...the guy is seriously anal about recording settings. If you like I can show you how I do it the next time we run into each other.
> 
> ...


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## ron w (Jan 5, 2013)

if your blade is getting bent from arrow weight, you are using the wrong thickness blade. if it is getting bent from snagging on things your not careful enough about handling your bow in the brush. in about 30 years of using a blade rest, I've had two blades break a tip off of one side of the fork, both on the inside peak of the fork....most likely a slight center shot problem produced by me inherantly torqueing the bow as an element of my shot process...otherwise no other problems. 
IOW...it's not the blade's fault it got bent. you have to exhibit some amount of care in handling, with a blade, but it's not very hard to do.....they're pretty durable, when they're set up right.


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