Back Bar/Side Bar Stabilizer

[weedwacker42]

Last year I upped my arrow weight and changed quivers and I've noticed the weight in leveling my bow. I am thinking of trying a side/back bar type stabilizer that I am seeing a lot of folks using. Anyone have any recommendations of: 1) Which brand to try (B-Stinger Sport Hunter Extreme, AAE Hot Rodz Western Hunter, Stokerized Stasis, Dead Center)? 2) How best to set it up as far as trying to balance out the bow, etc.

Thanks in advance,
Ryan

 

[bojangles808]

like everything in archery theres a myriad of choices and what suits best for one person may not work for someone else. personally what i run is a bee stinger sport extreme 10in front /8 inch back with a shrewd v bar with 2 of the 6 weights on the front stab and 4 on the back stab. Weighting wise I started 1 up front 5 back but you can play around from that ratio. i prefer 2 up front 4 back instead. As for how figuring out how far away from the bow to have sidebar cant, draw the bow with your eyes close and once at full draw in a comfortabel anchor position, open your eyes and look at your bubble. if its level then youre good but if your not level adjust the bar away from the riser until it naturally levels at full draw for you. you can play around the same way with the front and back weights. draw with eyes closed, anchor, open eyes and if bow naturally holds low add weight to back bar or if bow holds high add weight to front from back

as for shooting with a sidebar i love it. you wont know until you try it and shoot a couple times with it but i love the extra mass for windy conditions and when im shooting out to further distances. helps make me much steadier. you can add even more weight if you really want to but ive found the 6 weights is a nice balance of enough to help me shoot better with the added weight, but not too much weight where is a pita to lug up and down the mountain. the bee stinger setup is pretty popular for good reason but lots of other brands make solid products. 10in/8in or 12/10 would be my rec anything less i thing wont help you as much. good luck

 

[weedwacker42]

Thanks for responding. I went ahead and ordered the Bee Stinger 10/8 the morning after I posted this, so your experience is reassuring. And I found it for much cheaper on Eder's which was also nice. Can I ask what the V bar adds that doesn't come with the Bee stinger kit? Thanks again. It should be here mid-week and looking forward to trying it out.

 

[bojangles808]

it adds nothing. i bought the stabs individually so i needed it to connect it. looks like this. Shrewd Fully Adjustable Single Sided V-Bar (Gloss Black)

your kit comes with one so you are good to go!

 

[bojangles808]

i should have mentioned also that if you are going to run a side bar hunting that you should tune your bow with it on (along with your quiver with a couple arrows in it). basically tune your bow with the stab setup you will hunt with for optimal arrow flight

 

[mfllood3800]

I have been running the B stinger with a swivel back bar adjustment. I like it and took it off and could tell a huge difference in the stabilization of the bow when it wasn't on, while lining up the sight. But the bow was pretty heavy.

I noticed when mounting the go pro off the stabilizer (to the left to offset quiver) My bow dropped left and forward instantly, which I do not like. I totally eliminated the back bar piece with its 2 disks and saved a bunch of weight. I then played around with moving the go pro as close to the front as needed to eliminate as much weight off the front of the stabilizer.

I was able to go from the 10" bar to the 8" bar with one weight disk, mount the go pro off to the left on this bar, directly under the sight housing and my bow with a tite spot balances perfectly for me.

When I release the arrow, the bow sits there for a brief moment and then falls perfectly forward, no left or right swinging.


If I didn't have the go pro, I would reinstall the B stinger set up with the 10" bar up front with 2 weight disks , the 8" bar to the back with 2 weights on it and swung out quite a bit to the left.

I saved just shy of a half pound by playing around with the go pro and positioning it to act as counter weight both forward and to the left.

 

[Bughalli]

like everything in archery theres a myriad of choices and what suits best for one person may not work for someone else. personally what i run is a bee stinger sport extreme 10in front /8 inch back with a shrewd v bar with 2 of the 6 weights on the front stab and 4 on the back stab. Weighting wise I started 1 up front 5 back but you can play around from that ratio. i prefer 2 up front 4 back instead. As for how figuring out how far away from the bow to have sidebar cant, draw the bow with your eyes close and once at full draw in a comfortabel anchor position, open your eyes and look at your bubble. if its level then youre good but if your not level adjust the bar away from the riser until it naturally levels at full draw for you. you can play around the same way with the front and back weights. draw with eyes closed, anchor, open eyes and if bow naturally holds low add weight to back bar or if bow holds high add weight to front from back

as for shooting with a sidebar i love it. you wont know until you try it and shoot a couple times with it but i love the extra mass for windy conditions and when im shooting out to further distances. helps make me much steadier. you can add even more weight if you really want to but ive found the 6 weights is a nice balance of enough to help me shoot better with the added weight, but not too much weight where is a pita to lug up and down the mountain. the bee stinger setup is pretty popular for good reason but lots of other brands make solid products. 10in/8in or 12/10 would be my rec anything less i thing wont help you as much. good luck

What he said ^^. I switched to this setup last year and I would say it's the best improvement I've had yet with regards to tinkering with new gear. My groups from 50 yards and beyond really improved.

 

[jm1607]

So I know a "2 bar" setup has more adjustablility than a "sliding bar" setup like a Stokerized SS1, but is that adjustability needed? Can you really tune it better than a sliding bar?

 

[OR Archer]

So I know a "2 bar" setup has more adjustablility than a "sliding bar" setup like a Stokerized SS1, but is that adjustability needed? Can you really tune it better than a sliding bar?

Simple answer is yes you can with the right bracket. A back bar bracket with angle adjustment will better allow you to put the weight where you need it. You're not limited to one setting. Plus you can change the bars out for different applications.

 

[wesfromky]

I added the 10/8 bee stinger setup to my bow this weekend and it felt great. Was shooting more consistently right away. Cannot believe I waited so long to get one, so if you are on the fence, it is worth checking out for sure.