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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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1
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11825
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9/8/2007
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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Average Rating
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100% of reviewers
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None indicated
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9.0
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Description:
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The Guardian is the new flagship bow from Bowtech, a forward thinking bow company. The Guardian is built to provide the ultimate bowhunting experience combining the values of Center Pivot and Centertrac Binary Cams to provide superior comfort and performance.
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Keywords:
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Bowtech Guardian Review Compound Bow Center Pivot |
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Administrator
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Posts: 15,731
Registered: January 2000
Location: The concrete jungle
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Author
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Steve
Administrator
Registered: January 2000
Location: The concrete jungle
Posts: 15731
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Review Date: 9/8/2007
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Speed, Forgiveness, Quiet Shooting, Low Recoil
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Cons:
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I had been a long time member of team Hoyt but this year when it was time to consider a new bow I decided to try the Bowtech Guardian. It was very difficult to ignore the revolutionary new center pivot design of the Guardian by a company who has been pushing the envelope of bow design since 1999.
What makes the Bowtech Guardian revolutionary is the center pivot design of its limbs. A conventional bow has limbs that attach at two places to the riser, namely the limb bolt and the limb pocket and the limbs flex like a diving board. The Guardian limbs on the other hand, attach like a conventional limb on the riser as well as at the center pivot point.
This picture illustrates the limb and cam at full draw
This makes the limbs bend somewhat like a rainbow with an arc over the center pivot. What is important about all of this is that the center pivot point actually allows the cams to be drawn down and behind at peak draw such that they actually move towards the rear upon release canceling out at least to some degree the forward movement of the arrow on release. That is what makes this such a recoil free bow to shoot.
The center pivot design essentially makes this bow the best of both worlds in terms of riser design. With the attachment of the limb to a riser in two positions it makes this bow a combination of a deflex riser (is bent out away from the string and is a more forgiving design), and a reflex riser (bent in towards the string placing the arrow closer to the string for more stored energy, thus more speed).
Also new for 2007 is the CenterTrac Binary Cam. This is an improvement over Bowtech’s original Binary Cam in that the harnesses attach to the axle on both sides of the string groove virtually eliminating cam lean. This is much better than having a Y or yoke in the string that anchors to each split limb. When anchoring to split limbs, any imbalance (however slight between the limbs) is going to going to cause cam lean. There is little to none on this bow.
Now for some basic specifications on the bow. It is available in draw weights adjustable from 50 to 70 lbs. The let-off is adjustable from 65% to 80%. Draw length is adjustable with different cam modules available at your local dealer from 25” to 30 ½“. The axle to axle length is 33 ¾“. The top IBO speed is 321-329 fps. The speed ratings from the factory are taken with the factory installed hush kit.
I outfitted the bow with a Limbsaver drop-away rest and HHA Sports Optimizer-Lite Plus peepless sight system (Model OL-MRS). I chose Beman ICS Hunter 340 carbon errors with 100 grain heads. I shoot 50# with a 28” draw. As is claimed in the Bowtech literature, no bow press is needed with this bow.
Back the limbs off and no bow press is needed to work on the bow.
The new Center Pivot bows from BowTech allow you to adjust draw weight, work on strings, and add peep sights without the need for a bow press. Simply back out the limb bolts 5 turns at a time for each limb until the limb bolts are showing three threads visible in the viewing hole of the riser. String tension is minimal allowing you to work on the bow as needed. Do NOT back the limb bolts out beyond the 3 visible threads of the limb bolts in the viewing hold on the riser as this could damage your bow. I used this feature to thread the arrow rest draw string into down string of the bow. A peep sight could be installed in a similar fashion.
Arrow rest being tied in with no bow press.
The “born on” tag on the bow rated the IBO speed at 290 fps. I was able to duplicate this and higher with the shorter and lighter arrows than were used for the factory standard test.
Now for the fun part…. shooting. First, this bow was extremely easy to tune out of the box. With very little effort it was shooting bullet holes through paper. The most striking features of this bow are it’s absolute silence and lack of recoil. When the shot is made there is little to no vibration in the hand and the only noise you hear is the whoosh of air in the vanes of the arrow and then the arrow hitting the target. While there is a hole for a front mounted stabilizer, this bow shoots with so little recoil I see no need for a stabilizer.
The draw is smooth throughout the draw cycle and there is a comfortable valley at the end of the draw giving you the full benefit of the 80% let off which this bow is equipped with. My biggest complaint about this bow is all the arrows I’ve busted up because my groups were so close together.
In summary my rating for this bow on a scale from 1 to 10
Draw Cycle smoothness and feel: 8.5
Noise and vibration: 9.5
Easy of tuning and customization: 9
Bow efficiency (speed out vs. draw weight in): 9.5
Bow forgiveness: 10
Bowtech dealers are numerous and many are mom and pop shops whom we need to keep around. I had mine setup at KD Outdoors in Waterford Michigan. Pro Fishing and Archery is also another nearby Bowtech dealer.
Best of all, Bowtech manufactures these bows in the USA which is something that really is getting harder to find every day. It is backed up by a lifetime warranty.
To be continued during hunting season......
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