Why every compound archer should have his own bow press

[Ceri Jones]

While shooting today i had a nock disintagrate on my on release, the arrow flies off at a right angle to the bow, but the worst was the string jumped the bottom cam ending up wrapped around the limb, cue putting bow down and walking away followed by frantic phone calls to find someone with a bow press.
After a few calls found out a member of our neighbouring club had a portable one, so place bow in boot and drive across anglesea as quick as possible.


So the moral of this is that as soon as i can afford it im getting a portable bowpress. luckily there was no damage to the bow, as we dismantled the cables, limbs and the cams to check everything so phew. but stangest of all i have 3 marks along my arm above my wrist, 3 lines but the one closest to my wrist has a triangle shaped mark which i can only assume to be the d-loop. I should have taken a photo but was more worried about getting it sorted.

[geoffretired]

I think having your own bow press is a good thing; if you are interested in doing things for yourself.
Your story is interesting and would encourage others, who may be in two minds, to invest in a bow press.
I would add that the disintegrating nock could be a one off or the first of several.
It might be worth checking the rest of your nocks. I'm thinking that maybe something has damaged the nock that disintegrated. Something like "contact in the target" type damage. It could be something else, putting strain on the nocks so all will eventually fail. I am not trying to be alarmist, but if other nocks look damaged, and all in the same way, it won't take long to find out and could save you and the bow.

[grimsby archer]

I have my own bowpress and I dont even shoot compound.

My clubmates do a 150 mile round trip to the nearest retailer to do their twiddling.

[bimble]

Could one of the nocks have been damaged in a previous ends and you'd not noticed??

I will admit it was for the very reason of having my bow being out of commision that prompted me to buy a cheap spare bow off ebay. Yesterday I had a bunch of stands of the string snap, but my first comp is next weekend (Cardiff).

So instead of trying to get a string made up and tuned in a week I just have to pick up the spare. It's a sad fact that my FITA pb is held with my spare bow and the spare bow's York pb has only been beaten by 2 points with my main bow.

[Ceri Jones]

wish i could answer the nock damage one but i would need to find the nock first, and i was clattering arrows at 30 continiously and 2315 do damage each other.

So if you are the only person at your club with a compound or your nearest bow shop is a silly distance away get one.

[archery_mum]

I've got a Sureloc X-Press and it has paid for itself many times over in the time it has saved me.

[Jerry Tee]

Don't need one, you can let an Oneida down on the limb bolts all the way.

[Thunk]

Be very careful with a so-called 'portable' bow press!

Some years ago there was a case in Scotland where a compound archer had his bow wound up with a portable press and was bending over the thing adjusting the bow when the steel cable of the press snapped. The fractured end of the cable whipped through the air and sliced his throat, killing him. Not nice at all.

We all think to check bowstrings etc., but I wonder how many people think to check their bowpress before use. It's obviously a good habit to get into...

[Marcus26]

Originally Posted by archery_mum

I've got a Sureloc X-Press and it has paid for itself many times over in the time it has saved me.

I missed mine when I was on holidays. Couldn't wait to get home and put a bow in it. Only press I have used that I felt comfortable with.

[geoffretired]

Ceri, Finding the broken nock might be less important than checking the others to see if they have any damage likely to cause similar failure. If they are OK nothing's lost. If they show signs of cracking, there may be something happening to cause it, something that you could look into and cure.