i had a bear hair rest and it wore down and made a goodbit of noise while drawing and im looking for a new one thats quiet and long lasting. whats your guys choice for a shielf rest and why?
stevn
The fuzzy side of heavy duty velcro.
seal fur because it is slick as possum crap on glass and way way Quiet to Boot.
Good one Jeff :bigsmyl:
Tracy :laughing:
Velcro also
QuoteOriginally posted by Burnsie:
The fuzzy side of heavy duty velcro.
Same here. Same thing for the side-plate too.
QuoteOriginally posted by Jim Picarelli:
Velcro also
Works great.
Based on a post I saw here some time ago I have been having great results with the round carpet pads sold for furniture leg tips. They have great adhesive and are just the right size - I use the 1" and snip about 1/4" off for more flat surface at the corner. When I stick them on the shelf and riser I leave a gap for feather clearance. I then use a razorblade to trim the shelf side until I get the arrow flying to where I am looking.
For a long time I have used the Martin leather rests and, on my Bears, a bear style rug rest with leather riser pad (Three Rivers version).
I'll second the seal skin ( if a fella can find it!) tough stuff, ultra quiet and slick.
fuzzy side of velcro
Where youenz find your seal skin?
Thanx
wont velcro make alot of noise?
my finger so far...
-hov
I've tried all of the suggested rests mentioned ("fuzzy side of velcro", seal, etc.). I keep going back to bear hair. Seems to be the most forgiving for me. I shoot often and if I shoot the same bow most of the year I might have to replace it once or twice a year. You can wear it out quickly if your nocking point is not set correctly but I tend to shoot most of my bows with nocking point a little high compared to most shooters (form thing I guess).
Smooth leather.
The fuzzy side of Velcro will often grab small spears of fletching which is a pain to slip out.
i have smooth leather on my robertson,a feather rest on my grizzly.i have used seal skin and it works good too,i turned a cordavan leather tab i couldnt get used to into a rest.
feather rest for quiet & fast.
QuoteOriginally posted by $bowhunter$:
wont velcro make alot of noise?
Never had that problem with the fuzzy Velcro.
QuoteOriginally posted by $bowhunter$:
wont velcro make alot of noise?
Loop side might...nappy side don't.
Smooth leather and fuzzy side of velcro for my bows.
Calf hair for shelf. Thin leather for riser.
peel and stick velcro for me. durable,weather resistant,don't have to buy glue for it and inexpensive.
Leather, seal skin, velcro. Lots of other stuff works as well.
Leather grip wrap. I massacred the material with my scissors trying to wrap my longbow grip, made it look so easy on the video. I'm set on shelf material now.....Phil
Velcro here as well.
Today i tried a 3river calf hair type rest. It is smooth... But very thin compared to older Bear style hair rests. I may try Velcro to get the arrow raised a bit in the rest.
I noticed the feather type rests elevate the arrow some as well - is there less fletching contact with slightly raised rests? I would guess so. But then why would anyone shoot right off the shelf, like with only leather for example?
QuoteOriginally posted by Burnsie:
The fuzzy side of heavy duty velcro.
X2. Very tough,easy to use, and quiet.
leather for me, ya know those sweedish ekornos
leather chairs they sell at furniture stores,i go in there and they give you free samples of the
best and varied leather, been using those for years,just right size for rest and window!
Right now .... let's see, Hmmmm It's Beaver tail and Beaver tail and Beaver tail and oh yea I almost forgot Beaver tail :)
I've always had good results with a calf hair rest/side plate. Lasts a very long time for me with aluminum arrows.
I personally use smooth leather lasts forever and is quiet and slick...
So after thinking about this a bit more...
does it make sense that newer custom bows with a heavily radiused (sp?) shelf can get away with thin (ie leather) arrow rest.
whereas older bows with a very flat shelf needs some 'rise' (ie thicker rug style or arrow rest) to avoid friction/contact from fletchings?
i just noticed some 'red' marks from my fletching on the outer edge of shelf on a Browning Wasp with a flat shelf - just started shooting it and put a very thin calf hair rest on it.
just trying to figure out the nuances between different shelf - flat vs. radiused and the materials used for the rest.
There's two out there that I want to try.
I've sent a pm to Straitera asking if he'd post a picture of it.
The other is a feather rest made by one of our own(Trap).
I hope Trap is still making and selling these. I know at one time he was an associate sponsor here.
God bless,Mudd
you guys who still have some seal skin are lucky indeed. i bought an otter pelt and now i have a ready supply of string silencers and rests. they told me once i went otter i wouldn't go back and i think they were right.
bill
Bear hair here.
Don't like the velcro because it will grab any slight nick in your fletching.
I'm surprised the bearhair was loud for you.
There are some other places selling "bearhair like" products that are NOT the same.
I find the bear hair to be the quietest rest out there. Quite a bit quieter than velcro..and velcro is pretty darn quiet.
If I can decipher the instructions and find the right kind of feathers I fully intend to try this one on a Hill.
(http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc158/mudd57/featherrest.jpg)
God bless,Mudd
PS: Thank you Straitera
Seal skin is #uno,but now nearly impossible to get.I am trying some river otter that looks like it has great potential,we will see how it lasts.The velcro is hard to beat as well,and when you see some of the top bowyers in the nation sending their new bows out with it ,thats good enough for me.
Bear Hair is OK, but the last two times I tried it the adhesive dried out after several months and the edges started to peel up.
Personally, on most of my recurves, I like a Bear rubber Flipper style.
Beaver tail side plate and rug rest on the shelf.
I have tried sealskin, velcro, smooth leather. They all will work, at least I have not seen much differece between them.
They all work fine for me, but beaver tail is what I put on all of my bows, now. And--who doesn't like beaver? Peace!
Seal Skin
wo, thanks for all your oppinions guys. i found some adhesive velcrow in my garage and put that on so i could shoot my new bow some. it seens to work great. only problem is its so darn cold shooting with a tab in ohio your fingers start to crack. oh well i still went hunting. i missed a rabbit and coon. hey mudd id like to know a little more about that feather rest of yours if you you wouldnt mind exsplaining it to me.
thanks all,
steven
I agree with you, Ralphie. The fuzzy velcro is strong and quiet but can rip a feather off if snagged by it. I would like to try a feather rest and seal skin. Using bear hair at this time.
Lancelot
Seal skin, Shell Cordovan leather, Beaver Tail
I've been using the BW one piece cow hair rest/strike plate on my MAII for several years. It is very quiet and wears well.
$bowhunter$ That isn't mine but one I want to try.
That is one of Straiera's making.
Here are his instructions(being somewhat dyslexic) I really need help and interpreter to make one...lol
"My homemade feather rest is simply a leather arrow rest with feathers installed in regular consistent rows & columns. I use 2 columns on the shelf and 2 columns up the riser. I try to install 4 separate rows on the shelf and the same number up the riser. Keep in mind the riser may not require so many rows because of the sweep towards the flat bow limb.
As a reference the columns will look like "l l" with each "l" as a separate column of feathers laying down symetrically over the full length of the 4 rows.. Same up the riser. This will make more sense as you progress to gluing the feathers into the leather rest.
Stop & think for a minute about how this will look when it's finished. It might be easy enough to install feathers indiscriminately all over the rest; however, if we use a symetrical plan we can insure a semi-groove for the arrow to slide through once finished. Remember the "l l"? Between the 2 separate "l l"'s is the groove I'm talking about. The arrow shelf itself is pretty narrow so these columns will also result in a narrow groove. No problem as the arrow will soon locate to a perfect slot on the shelf after you shoot it a few times.
I said before these 2 colums will have 3 or 4 rows of feathers. You'll need to divide the length (or depth) of the rest into equal parts. Start at the back of the rest nearest the belly of the bow. If the installed feathers are to be as useful as you can make them, doesn't it make sense to glue these feathers in the row nearest your hand as near the edge as possible? Of course it does. With that in mind just mark your starting point with a pencil and mark off equal rows thereafter towards the front (broadhead end) of the bow. Remember we have decided upon 2 columns but only 3 or 4 rows correct? The reason is that each row (when installed) will lay down over the previous row of feathers. This just makes sure we end up with a nice bed of feathers for the arrow to use as a guide.
If you have 3 or 4 rows of feathers you'll have different lengths of feathers also. That is, no need to have an extra long feather near the front of the bow right? It will stick over the edge way to far. Conversely, it doesn't make sense to have a short length feather near the belly of the bow because it will be too short. What I want you to see is that if you stack the feathers on top of the previous row, you'll wind up with a substantial feather bed. It will be similar to a bird's wing.
Best to remove the leather rest from the bow to punch the holes and glue the feathers. Use an ice pick to punch holes through your leather rest at angles exactly like you want them to fall when glued in. I like my feathers to lay as flat as possible so I punch my holes at very flat angles. You'll punch holes into 2 separate columns of 3 or 4 rows along the arrow shelf and the same up the riser. Next is gluing the feathers into place. The pic I sent shows different colored feathers. Notice the white fluffy feathers. These are actually shorter feathers off the underside of a goose. I glue the shortest fluffiest feathers into the last row nearest the frontside of the bow. Elmer's glue works as well as anything else. You'll need to decide if you prefer 3 rows or 4 rows of feathers. I have rests both ways and can't tell much difference.
Before I start gluing the feathers into place I like to fit them into the holes I've punched to see how they may fit & line up. You can do this without glue. Immediately you'll discover these feathers will push completely through your punched holes. That means you'll need to trim off some of the quill off each feather. Once again this is just common sense. You couldn't very well glue your rest back on straight if the quills were jutting through the rest itself correct? Fit longer (& fluffy) feathers into row 2 the same way. This 2nd row will cover row 1. Trim quills likewise. Longer feathers on row 3 but the same process. They will lay across rows 1 & 2. The last row of feathers will lay across the entire length of the shelf over the shorter ones below. Make sense? Once you're satisfied your feathers are proportionate the way you prefer it's glue time. BTW, I can imagine any bird feathers will do.
Glue row 1 first with the shortest feathers first. If you've trimmed the quills back you will get glue on the feathers themselves. No problem as this helps to hold the feathers in place once the glue dries. This doesn't mean I'm sloppy with the glue. On the contrary. I prefer glue in the holes only. I'm just trying to give you an idea as to what to expect. When you finish row one glue row 2. Remember row 2 will lay down across row 1. Move to row three and glue likewise. Same with row 4. When you're finished move to the part of the rest up the riser and do the same. You're finished when you have feathers covering both the shelf & riser of your rest.
If you need help just ask. Buddy Bell aka Straitera"
Now the follow-up instructions:"I pick up feathers everywhere. For the rests, I use smaller feathers than arrow fletching. The underside of chicken, duck, or goose is good. Also you can cut the feathers in half or thirds. I always let the feather stick out over the end a good ways maybe an inch. Once you start shooting, everything will adjust & lay down perfectly (1 or 2 shots) for a very fast & quiet shot."
I know it can be done, I've seen pictures but I may need some hand holding on this one...lol
God bless,Mudd
Seal skin, it is getting harder to find, but there is still some out there.
Velcro
I use the Bear hair. I found that if my arrow spine is correct that the rest last a long, long time. If not it will wear out fairly quick.
you get what you pay for see if you can find some seal skin
Velcro
I had velcro on my longbow and I wore it down to the backing. Now I have a piece of mole skin on the shelf and a side plate from a bear hair rest. So far so good.
I used smooth leather for years on all my bows. A few years ago I made the change to velcro and haven't look back just peel the backing of the velcro and put it on.
I bought a cow hide rug to have on the floor in my home office and... well I have leather for self rest to some bows still :bigsmyl:
Margly
I got a mink rest from Jeremy (a sponsor on here) and am really liking this rest. If and when this one wears out I'll be getting another!
I really like beaver fur shaved down to about the thickness of the old bear hair rests, but I'm a little biased :) They're a light gray so they have a similar look, quieter than the bear hair (yes, that's possible) and wear like iron.
For strike plates (and rests on real narrow shelf longbows) the mink that magnus was talking about is looking real good, either left full thickness if from the legs or shaved down if from the body. A lot of the furs should be the same.
Heavy duty velcro for rest and side plate for me.
I cut mine from a wool buffing pad and trim the hairs down to about the same as bearhair. Slick and quiet and doesnt "burn" like velcro.
Leather for longbows, both rest and as a plate.
All the materials mentioned will work. One thing to think about is what thickness do you need. If what you are currently using gives you good arrow flight then try to replicate the thickness with some of the mentioned material. Sometimes I've had to build up thinner materials to get to a desired thickness. Double sided tape works well if you need a small amount.
Sealskin is my favorite shelf rest. I bought up some when I heard it was going to be hard to find and should be o.k. for many years. Lasts a long time.
Sealskin rest and calfs hair plate
Same here, seal skin rest w/ calf hair side plate. Just realized I only have one small piece of seal left, probably enough for just one more bow. Anyone care to PM info on where some might be available? Wish I'd have bought up a bunch a couple years ago.
Seal skin is the best without question. However since it has disappeared from the market I have switched to the velcro. I also like shooting off of a rest, but sensibilities vary on that product.
I use at this time one of those dime size buffing wheels that you can get with a dremel tool.
Where the he!! can you get seal skin now??? Been looking for it all over the place. hen's teeth.JG
if we search on seal skin i bet we'll find a lot. as i recall they had to stop selling it for all the current reasons - basically, "poor little seals."
if there is a place to buy it today, i sure don't know about it.
bill
I have a strike plate and arrow rest both made out of zebra hide hair on.I been shooting off the ones on my take down bow for about 6-8 years.It still looks almost as good as it did the day I installed it.Zebra hide is one of the toughest hides there is.If you can find a small amount its well worth the effert bd
I use bear hair but just remember they are not made to last forever. I can see signs of wear after a few years but no noise yet. If I get noise I will change it.
I like seal fur trimmed short, it's very tough. Also tough to find
I'm with Jeff on this one.
Zebra shin...tough as nails I been using the same one for many years.
Thick leather around home,when Moose hunting for two weeks its a bear flipper rest with vanes.
Soft, smooth leather.
Fuzzy velcro here also!
QuoteOriginally posted by Burnsie:
The fuzzy side of heavy duty velcro.
Velcro here to
use velcro/bear hair usually but on the 76 bear blue striper super k i used bear calf hair...same for side plate...
I like my neet pro-rest with leather on the arms and side plate, I have used velcro too sometimes my feathers get tore up in the velcro though
Another vote for velcro.
Cordovan or calf hair for me.