Weather rest vs off the shelf

[PeteA]

I shoot a Predator Hunter 46@28. great bow, great grip. Shoot 2016s off the shelf. Use gap style aiming. I' m in the process of llightly restoring a '70 Kodiak Hunter. Love these KH bows. The KH was my uncles and mentors that recently passed. It had sights, tape all kind of stuff attached including a weather rest. I was thinking about shooting off the shelf but it does not look all that radiused. My question is if I do attach a new weather rest, how will the rest change my aiming? My arrow will be a 1/2 inch higher then shooting off the shelf.

What do you say boy?

[BowMIke]

I think it would take a little adjustment on your part. I think I would put on a new shelf covering with a toothpick or something under it to give a slight raise to the arrow shaft. That would compensate for the lack of shelf radius and keep your aiming process similar to what you are used to using.

Good Shooting!
BowMike

[bigbadjon]

It is a small adjustment. I would just mount the rest as low as possible. Shooting off the rest is much cleaner and your accuracy will improve.

[the_real_DBCooper]

I think all the talk about off the shelf being "closer to your hand" is a bit overstated. Your brain can certainly compensate for 1/4" higher than usual. I just switched to a weatherrest on my recon, and my accuracy improved significantly. And its easier to tune.

[SlowBowinMO]

All my recurves except one have a Weather rest on them, try it, you'll like it!

[Archie]

Originally posted by the_real_DBCooper:
I think all the talk about off the shelf being "closer to your hand" is a bit overstated. Your brain can certainly compensate for 1/4" higher than usual. I just switched to a weatherrest on my recon, and my accuracy improved significantly. And its easier to tune.

I agree.  I stuck a homemade rest on my Black Widow longbow last night and fooled around with it a bit.  I got better arrow flight, and it didn't affect my aiming at all.

[kestimator]

PeteA,

I'm not sure how it will affect your aiming, but I've had good luck with Bear Weather Rests on the couple of bows that I used them on.

[joe skipp]

Install a Flipper II rest, mount it flush with the shelf. Minor adjustments in your aiming after installing new nock points.

[Ryan Rothhaar]

After about 30 years shooting off the shelf I went to an elevated rest last year.  Never had such good arrow flight.  I tried several - modified weather rest, para brush rest, T-300 stick on flipper, and for me the modified weather rest is tops (others were too noisy for my tastes).  Search "elevated rest" and you'll find some pictures SteveO posted of his - I modify mine similar.  I cut off all of the rest below the arm and cut off all of the arm under the "Bear" logo, I also cut off the ridge on the strike plate.  I pull off the tape on the back, glue the rest directly on with a little contact cement - low, maybe 1/4 inch over the shelf - and cover the whole shelf, site window, and arm with moleskin like SteveO.  Real quiet, nice setup, and the self stick moleskin does most of the work to hold on the weather rest.  This is a dandy setup.  The biggest difference for me was that my nock point is now like 1/8 inch high instead of 5/8 and the arrows impacted a bit high, took about 2 days to get used to.

Ryan

[ksbowman]

I've shot elevated rests for over 40 years and I'm sold on them. My least favorite is the Bear Weatherest. That said there is an a** for every seat. Try several and see which one you like. An elevated rest will give you alot better arrow flight and also give you the advantage of shooting vanes in wet weather. I also believe that the quote " the arrow closer to the hand gives better accuracy" is not necessary correct . On some of my bows it may be almost 3/4" above the shelf, but the brain compensates.

[Steve O]

Ditto to what Ksbowman said! Especially the "got to have the arrow SO close to your hand" part.  It does not matter one bit.  If you shoot feathers, you can have it as close as you can, but if you are going to want the option of shooting vanes, I have found it best to set the rest high enough off the shelf so the vane will clear the shelf...I know in theory because of parodox you should not have to worry about it, but in practice that is what I need to do.

I started with the Weatherest, but have continued to experiment and found I like the Hoyt Super Hunter a lot better.  That Weatherest is STIFF.  

I will try to put up the pictures Ryan was talking about later.  I am on a plane right now and it Photobucket is not cooperating.

[Steve O]

Here is a pic of a good quiet hunting setup.  A strip on the shelf too woul be helpful just in caseyour arrow got bumped.  Dave Windauer showed me this, I certainky can't take credit for it.

 

[Archie]

Interesting timing with this thread, for me.  About a week ago I started working on how to put a rest on my Black Widow LB to suit my needs.  A few chopped-up flipper rests and one calf-hair strike plate later, I had my solution.  I have shot about 100 arrows through the bow with the rest, and I'm sold on it.  A bare shaft shoots like a lazer at 30 yards.  Completely, perfecly straight alignment in flight and when stuck in the target.  I am astounded at the difference.  I have always shot rests on my recurve, but thought it just wouldn't be kosher on a LB.   My bow is as quiet as a mouse now, too; I knew beforehand that my noise issues were due to arrows nicking the shelf.  I shot some different broadheads out of it, and they all fly no different than field points.  I have been pretty frustrated with my arrow flght in this bow lately, but not anymore.

[Hoyt]

I've always shot Hoyt flipper rests. The Quinn I'm shooting now is set up with Hoyt Super Rest 1/2" up from shelf in line with the plunger hole. I put a pc. of tape over the hole to keep threads clean.

I tried the Hoyt Hunter Rest last yr. with same set-up and can't really tell any difference between the two.

Kirk is building my Sasquatch for elevated rest.

[lil red rooster]

You can get good flight from the rest or off of the shelf.  The key is the string nock.  If the string nock is in the correct position it will not matter.  If the string nock is too high or too low the elevated rest will be more forgiving.  That is why a lot of guys get better arrow flight from the elevated rest.  It is more a matter of personal preference than one being better than the other.

[Weasel]

I use a Flipper II on my recurves.  It doesn't affect my "instinctive aiming" one bit.

I know the term "instinctive aiming" is an oxymoron, but I haven't had my morning coffee yet.  So cut me some slack.        

[RLA]

You might also want to try a feather rest, they have become my favorite rest.
I use one of "Trap" a member here at TG's feather rests and shoot cock feather in, this gives me great arrow flight.
I was sceptical of there durability, but they seem to be pretty tuff, and look great on any bow old or new!


...

[Bill Carlsen]

I've got a Para Brush rest on my Tracker longbow. LIke it a lot.

[Bowwild]

My favorite is a Strickland Springy . It requires an insert in the sight window though. This rest is highly adjustable and very forgiving and super durable.

I may have this installed in a Sasquatch I'm having built. I wish I had it installed in a Silvertip I had built last summer.

[Archie]

The reason a rest tends to give better,  more predictable arrow flight is because a number of tuning factors could be wrong (constants), and a person's release creates variability from shot-to-shot (variables).  Among other things, a high elbow, bad hand pressure (grip), bow tiller, and nock height all work for and against each other.  The arrow rest improves flight by giving the arrow more clearance so it does not hit the shelf.  The fact is that even most (all?) compounds have some sort of rest that keeps the arrow away from something solid that it could flex and bang into.  And while the variabilty of human form and error is technologically bred out of the compound, it still uses an 'elevated' rest as a buffer for bad arrow flight that could creep into a shot.  (I know that it is to facilitate the use of vanes as well.)  Arrow flight with an elevated rest will always be at least as good as shooting off the shelf, usually it is better.