Basic Equipment Guide - Arrow Rests

 

 

Recurve (finger release)

There are three main types of arrow rests for the recurve archer.

Basic

 Made out of plastic and attached to the riser with double-sided adhesive tape, these rest are low cost (£1-2) and can be very effective. They usually have small piece of plastic vane to act like a pressure button and often have a hole to allow a pressure button to be used. The down side of this type of rest is wear and tear, you may end up replacing them reasonably frequently if you have any clearance problems.

Flip Rest

 These are made of steel and consist of a wire formed to make a rest that is either a spring itself or is sprung. Like the basic rest they are attached using double-sided tape. They are more robust that the plastic type of rest and cost anything between£4 - 10. The design of the rest is important, avoid the flip rests with large blocks attaching the flipper arm to the back plate as these can damage the fletchings and cause clearance problems.

Magnetic

 These are similar to the flip rest except the movement of the arm rest is controlled by magnets and not a spring.They cost around £10 - 15 and they often have a system to adjust the rest angle and height. They are very robust often clamping on the back side of the riser and should last a lifetime.

 

Whatever type of rest you have it needs to be set-up correctly so as not to foul on the arrow or fletchings to ensure good clearance. When you are setting up an adjustable rest ensure that the rest arm does not protrude beyond the arrow.

Arrow rests for compound bows

Several types of arrow rest are used for compound shooters including the rests above if the archer is shooting using fingers and not using shoot through technology.

Basic Springy

Simple spring rest standard in design and little to go wrong. These rests are cheap (typically £5) and are still extensively used.

Shoot Through

A Shoot Through rest typically has two prongs, spaced apart about 2/3 of the diameter of the arrow - creating kind-of a cradle for the arrow. The arrow sits on top, settling on the gap between the two prongs. These prongs are usually spring-loaded, allowing them to flex down and forward at the moment of the shot, permitting additional clearance for the arrow as it passes by. After the shot, the spring-loaded prongs automatically return to their original positions and you're ready to shoot again.

This type of rest is called a "Shoot-Through" because the bottom feather or vane actually passes between the two prongs when you shoot the arrow. Typically these types of rest are priced in the range £30 - £80 or more.

 

Drop Away

Drop Away Arrow Rests have been around for a while, but they have really surged in popularity and design sophistication in the last few years.  Some people refer to them as "fall-away" rests.  But as either name suggests, the Drop Away Arrow Rest is designed to drop out of the way, and eliminate concerns about fletching clearance.  At full draw, a Drop Away Arrow Rest holds the arrow firmly up into position, but when the bow fires - the Drop Away Rest moves completely down and out of the path of the arrow.  Typically these rests are around £50 - 100.

 

 

Further reading and references

 

Other equipment sections

 

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