# Gettting a Hinge to Fire when it's and real hot and steamy outside.



## vito9999 (Jun 30, 2009)

Never had this issue when I lived in the mountains out west, but down here in Florida when its 95 deg with 100% humidity it can be down right hard to get my hinge to go.
In the morning I have not had this issue, but late afternoon early evening right after a thunderstorm it gets hard real fast to get my hinges to go (Inside Out and Black Hole3). The 1st few shoots are good. Then the release just stick and just do not want to rotate without having to apply way more pressure than I am used to applying. So i tried some duct tape in 1/2 inch strip between 1st and 2nd knuckle, guess what? It worked. The tape allows my hinge to rotate without having to "bend the riser" and staying relaxed. Still hot and humid as all but at least I can get my hinge to go off while I sweat away 5lbs.


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## Mahly (Dec 18, 2002)

Was going to suggest grip tape. Had some on my last thumb trigger release. Sounds uncomfortable, but it's not bad.


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## vito9999 (Jun 30, 2009)

Will have to see how the grip tape works. Used duct tape as a trial, it's what I had.


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## mikesmith66 (Aug 8, 2008)

I struggle with this myself, especially on a brass release. This is what I have come up with, and it works great:

Get a roll of hockey tape. You can get it at any sporting good store. Then get a roll of GAmma Gauze tape. I usually have to order it online. 

It's sort of a pain in the arse, but I cut a strip of the hockey tape wide enough to fit in each finger groove, and long enough to wrap around twice. Then I cut a strip of the gamma and wrap it over the hockey tape. The hockey tapes give a good base for the gamma to stick to. The gamma will last about a month, then you can pull it off, often leaving the hockey tape on and re-wrap with gamma. 

Clean your release before trying to apply any tape too. The tape won't stick well if there is dirt of oils from your hand on it.


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## ron w (Jan 5, 2013)

usually, if you're having trouble getting the release to fire when your hands a slippery from sweat, it's because your hand isn't really relaxed to the point that your fingers are just a J-hook that is hanging on to the release.


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## vito9999 (Jun 30, 2009)

I would agree with you Ron, except in this case we are way past the slippery sweat stage. I am talking about when you have sweat so much the body minerals/salts are causing the friction. No matter how much you wipe everything clean it just builds back up in a few shots. It is that hot and humid at times. Also I have noticed if you put the tape on to tight it makes hard hard to relax your finger. Good ideas put forth so far.


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## cbrunson (Oct 25, 2010)

I like to use grip tape on mine. Here in the winter indoors it starts out cold and slick. Then when my hand gets sweaty, it gets sticky. The change in conditions is enough to throw of the shot. Grip tape keeps it more consistent.


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

Before I started setting up my hinges with a soft hand and also a j-hook grip I had to deal with this problem all the time, to me the problem comes from your fingers being curled up just enough that when things get slippery the hinge moves in the grip and your first response is to grip even tighter and this act of tensing up your forearm and fingers slows down the hinge speed and you end up dead in the water.

Just two days ago I took a can of spray lube and sprayed down my scott back spin all over because it had gotten wet in a rain storm and had gotten sticky. I thought it would be cool to go ahead and shoot it a few times with the lube dripping off of it and see if the slippery hinge would shoot differently than a perfectly dry one just so I would know. It shot fine and to my surprise it didn't have that sensation of wanting to slip in my hand like I thought it would.

Why?

Because last winter after n7709k talked to me about shooting with a soft hand I took a step back with one of my hinges and set it up with a soft hand and good j-hook grip, the reasons for doing this were different than this one you guys have brought up but in the end it was another benefit to be taken advantage of that was positive. 

What the soft hand does is speed up your hinge to the maximum speed, the more you squeeze your hinge or death grip it with muscle tension you are slowing down the hinge a bunch and then you have to speed up the moon to compensate for that muscle tension. So by softening up your forearm and grip on the hinge you guarantee that your grip and forearm are giving you the maximum speed possible and then you set up your moon on the hinge to that setting.

What this does is gives you 100% confidence that all you have to do is be relaxed in your grip and forearm as you begin to draw and you have your perfect speed setting that is safe and reliable. If you tense up at all you are guaranteed to slow down the hinge and then suffer. Most people begin hinge shooting scared of the hinge and have a lot of tension in their grip and forearm and over the months and years they get used to that feel and from day to day depending on how much tension is in their grip their hinge speed seems to change and a slippery hinge is also a bad thing. But once you learn to set up a hinge with a soft hand and j-hook grip you eliminate all that muscle tension that creates all the issues and things then become very predictable from day to day and slippery or not.


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## vito9999 (Jun 30, 2009)

Thanks Padgett, great info as always.


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## SonnyThomas (Sep 10, 2006)

vito9999 said:


> I would agree with you Ron, except in this case we are way past the slippery sweat stage. I am talking about when you have sweat so much the *body minerals/salts are causing the friction*. No matter how much you wipe everything clean it just builds back up in a few shots. It is that hot and humid at times. Also I have noticed if you put the tape on to tight it makes hard hard to relax your finger. Good ideas put forth so far.


Just using what you have.... People complain of sweating to the point their bow slips and you point out something I have experienced, too dry or more correctly, what you have, "body minerals/salts causing friction." Yep, I've had my riser grip feel like it's got me instead of it me having it set in my hand. At these times I've actually spit to lube my hand.

Now, a tip from the older generation, a rosin bag, bag talcum powder. One of my older side kicks carried a pouch of talcum powder. Didn't take me long to figure out what it was for 

On the other side of things, I can't figure out how a bow grip can be too slippery. And as for losing a release, having it go down range or elsewhere, I've done that, but due to my stupidity, not from being slippery....


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## vito9999 (Jun 30, 2009)

Like the bag of talc, great idea.

*Now, a tip from the older generation*

I will be 60 in a few months.


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## mudd32 (Jan 4, 2014)

Pro Grip works well too.


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## md2bintn (Jul 14, 2014)

Small bottle of Gold Bond powder helped me this past weekend at the Cullman ASA with the sticky hand problem. Thanks to one of my shooting partners who saw me struggling to get my hinge to fire.


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## ron w (Jan 5, 2013)

I glue some thin leather on the finger areas of my release for the hot sweaty days. your fingers don't slip on the leather, so you don't get that feeling of the release slipping out of your grasp and you can relax your hand confidently to get the right grip.


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## jmclfrsh (Dec 23, 2014)

What about something like a Scott's Backspin, with the bearing insert? Wouldn't that ease the rotation? 

I have one, and it seems like it would do the trick.


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## vito9999 (Jun 30, 2009)

Backspin should help.


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## ron w (Jan 5, 2013)

the problem is that when it's and slippery, you tend to freeze up on grasp, because you feel like the release is going to slip out of your grasp. the leather allows you to maintain that J-hook grasp that allows your hand to relax without feeling like you're going to loose the release.
I would think that when conditions get like that, the feeling would present itself with a Backspin, as well.
it's really got nothing to do with "rotation", .......the flesh on your fingers will give enough to get the rotation you need if your hand can relax with a confident grasp the problem is you can't relax well enough, because when you do, you feel like the release will slip out of your fingers, so you tend to grasp the release more firmly than you want to, actually paying attention to what the release feels like in your hand, rather than producing a good execution.


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## jmclfrsh (Dec 23, 2014)

That makes sense, I've never shot in those conditions yet and can understand it now. Thanks!


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

My backspin got wet a couple weeks ago and rusted in the bearing, I shot with it basically locked up for a few days and then this week I saw a can of spray lube on the shop bench and I decided to work out the rust. So I sprayed it all over the release each end for about 20 minutes and kept shooting and wiping the rust off as it came out and then sprayed it some more.

This was way worse than sweat being a slippery lube and it didn't hurt anything or change anything in my shooting. That is the importance of a soft hand and j hook grip.


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## ron w (Jan 5, 2013)

actually not,.......spray lubes are mostly petroleum distillates, with a small amount of lubricant in them, their main job is to clean the surface of what's being sprayed and make a clean surface for the new lubrication to cling to. it takes very little lubrication on a clean surface to lubricate it. they break down the natural oils that your sweat leaches out of your hand. your natural oils are actually slipperier on your skin, than any petroleum lubricant, because of this. they are chemically engineered to work this way.
people who work with large amounts of spray lubes allot , usually get cracks in their skin from these distillates breaking down their own natural oils in the skin and drying it out.


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## SonnyThomas (Sep 10, 2006)

Yeah, WD40 is great for it's intended purposely, but actually dries out.


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

Leave it up to ronw to point out scientific proof that using some spray lube is not as slick as being sweaty, gotta love it.

Don't let that stop you guys from taking a extra hand held and setting it up to a soft hand with a good j-hook grip on the release. I think that taking a look at levi or jesse as they come to full draw should give you a great look at what this grip looks like.


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## ron w (Jan 5, 2013)

it is exactly the grip I use with what some here call, "true back tension".


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## Daniel.Scott (Aug 10, 2014)

I ran into the same problem in Cullman. I just bought a rosin bag to try and see if that dries out my hand.


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## carlosii (Feb 25, 2007)

I keep a couple wrist sweat bands in my kit bag and they seem to help some.

I would NOT recommend what the NFL wide receivers use, however.


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## Ned250 (Aug 10, 2009)

SonnyThomas said:


> Just using what you have.... People complain of sweating to the point their bow slips and you point out something I have experienced, too dry or more correctly, what you have, "body minerals/salts causing friction." Yep, I've had my riser grip feel like it's got me instead of it me having it set in my hand. At these times I've actually spit to lube my hand.
> 
> Now, a tip from the older generation, a rosin bag, bag talcum powder. One of my older side kicks carried a pouch of talcum powder. Didn't take me long to figure out what it was for
> 
> On the other side of things, I can't figure out how a bow grip can be too slippery. And as for losing a release, having it go down range or elsewhere, I've done that, but due to my stupidity, not from being slippery....


Funny this came up. I was shooting 3D this weekend and mentioned to a buddy that I need some climbers chalk for my hands. They get that sticky feeling, which sucks on my Prime rubber grip (love the grip, but hate it when my hand is sweaty/sticky). I'm heading to EMS tonight to get a bag and some chalk to do some practicing with the chalked up hands.


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## possum trapper (Nov 24, 2005)

IMO if your holding with your back and not your arm or fingers you wont have any problems.

I know certain pro's that say they don't use back tension but they hold while drawing and at full draw with their back,There is a difference between back tension and holding with your back


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