hamskea worth it?

quarbles

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looking into getting a different rest. there is a lot of mixed reviews on every make and model.... it gets a little overwhelming. i think i've narrowed to a few. the hamskea has my attention due to the lack of negative reviews and incredibly well thought out design, while i'm also interested in the smackdown (although i've read many pro -and- con reviews). anyone with a versa rest have any imput on it? cost wise is the versa worth the difference, or is the smackdown just as good? like most, i'm looking for bomb proof reliability... i don't like second guessing investment and would prefer to buy once rather than twice.....
so is the hamskea worth it?
 
I upgraded to a hamskea a couple weeks ago from a QAD, no comparison between the two. You can feel the quality in a hamskea; they are solid, smooth, super easy to tune. So far I can't find anything to complain about. I don't have any experience with the smackdown so I can't compare the two but I would guess it is a fine rest as well. As far as price goes, I would say a hamskea is worth the price. That said, you can find pretty good deals on them if you look hard enough.
 
Best rest I've had yet. I would like to see them make a less bulky lightweight one. I would recommend getting the FC model.
 
I upgraded to the Hamskea earlier this summer. It is worth the money. Very smooth operation, the double bearings make a difference. Versatile in configuration/set up. It really is built like a tank, it is not going to break. I bought the full containment model figuring I could take the top part off if I didn't like it there.

The rest, like any limb driven model, is very easy to set up. Put your bow in a vice so it is level horizontal and vertical, then bolt the rest on level. I use the limb attachment system with Halo cord and like that configuration. Some don't like this and just tie directly to the limb, yoke or axle with D loop cord. The limb attachment spring will eliminate any bounce back of the rest arm. It is quieter than both the original Limbdriver and the Limbdriver Pro V.

Mine survived my yearly backcountry elk hunt. No issues at all. It is a very solid rest construction wise and I never worried about it. Much better rest than the Limbdriver that it replaced. Not even in the same league.

Some things to consider with this rest as I did have some problems with it initially.

It will come with a little rubber arrow shelf on the back of the rest body, take this off if you use high profile vanes like Blazer's. When I first set up and shot mine it was actually stripping the fletching off of my arrows when I shot them. I posted about this on Archery Talk and several had contact issues with the rubber block. Even after the block came off I was getting vane contact. This was with a Bowtech CPXL. I emailed Hamskea and they said they would send me out a different rest arm right away, I get the feeling there have been clearance issues in the way that they handled this. It didn't help and no matter what I did with the Bowtech I had vane contact.

Ended up buying an Element this summer and have not had contact issues with it on this bow.

As was mentioned, this is a bulky rest and can cause some issues. If you use a tight spot quiver you may get contact with the rest, again with a Bowtech this seems to be an issue. It works, just barely with my Hoyt and a tight spot. It is a bulky enough rest it may limit quiver options and orientations. With the containment cage on you will not get clearance between the rubber damper on the Bowtch Flexgaurd. It didn't seem to make any noise with the rubber resting against the cage but this may bother some people. The cage is big and the full containment rest arm is wide. It will not drop very far on bows with narrow, curved shelves, both Bowtech and Hoyt. The rest needs to be mounted far enough back that the arm is completely behind the shelf when in the down position. On a Hoyt riser this will have it mm's from contacting the riser bridge.

They also need to machine more position marks on the vertical adjustment bars. Set up on the Element, dead level with arrow bisecting the Berger hole the rest is on the last lower machined mark. If you you need to lower the rest for tuning purposes there would be no point of reference for moving it. The rest arm itself is appears short, this is where the contact issues come in. When posting on AT, take it with a grain of salt, had several message me that they had contact/clearance issues they could not get resolved and ended up selling the rest because of this. I don't think they had Blazer type vanes in mind with their tolerances when they designed this thing.

I'm going to keep the rest and again, I do think it was worth the price tag, but there are some issues to consider.
 
great review jmez. i wish you wrote all of them.

i see a new bow on my horizon. it will have a limb driven rest for sure. i am leaning heavily towards the Axiom rest. i love how the number of options we have seem to have exploded.

coming from a code red..early version and now a QAD, i am finding that i dont need a true full containment. just big fingers on prongs seems to suffice for me.
 
I have a TT Smackdown Pro.....if you go that route make sure you get a rest with "the good" elevation and windage bolts. I had rest movement problems. TT was aware of the problem as they had switched to different bolts at some point. My rest must have been an older one. I called them and they sent me what I needed very quickly, problem solved. Other than that, and another issue that was my fault, I have been mostly happy with it.
 
I've got the Versa and shoot it with Blazers. I can see the issues that Jmez brought up, especially the Tight Spot quiver issue. I haven't experienced the clearance issue, but I am shooting a different brand of bow. Nothing to compare to, but darn'd nice rest. Solid. Didn't worry about it in the field when elk hunting this fall. I have FC.
 
I met Shawn and Tim in Idahos back-country this September and chatted with Shawn for a spell. I have to say super nice guys and due to that encounter my next rest will be a Versa!
 
I have a versa on my c matrix and my elite pulse. Switched from a limbdriver a few years ago. They are pricey but get if you can afford it they wont let you down. They are bullet proof. I too would like to see a slimmed down lighter version but wont complain because these things are tanks. Dial it in and they are good to go. I have a hoyt quiver on the matrix and run a tight spot on my elite and have no clearance issues on either. I don't get to run the tight spot as close as I want but it is still tighter than most quivers. At the end of the day if I had to buy a rest for another bow......It would be from hamskea. These guys aren't messing around and from what I have seen, everything they have made is legit.
 
I've got the Versa Rest on both my Hoyts. Shoot Blazers and use Tight Spot quivers on both bows. I have the rest's cord attached to the bottom limb and have zero interference problems with the quiver and no problems with fletch contact. Prior to Versa Rests I used QAD and AAE Pro Drop rests. Each of these are good rests but I prefer the Versa Rest for its quality of construction if nothing else.
 
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