Someone please explain the purpose of the stabilizer

[bowhuntntxn]

ebh--if you dont think you need it, take it off and shoot 50 arrows without it. then put it back on and shoot 50 more. if you have never shot a bow without one on it, you never realize exactly how much it actually is doing to help you.

[150class]

Use to use one but it felt like it did nothing in my opinion so i took it off and haven't used one in over a year

[JVasquez]

Why the B-Stinger Works



To understand why the B-Stinger works, we first need to define the role of a stabilizer in archery. A stabilizer should hold your bow steady both while at full draw and at the time of release while shooting. The B-Stinger embodies the definition of stabilization. When an archer is holding at full draw, there are many forces built up in the bow string, cables, limbs, the arms, hand and back of the archer, etc. When the arrow is released, these forces change suddenly. These changing forces end up pushing and/or rotating the bow affecting the flight of the arrow. The job of the stabilizer is to minimize the movement of the bow resulting from these forces.

The way to decrease something's movement when a force is applied is to make it heavier. If rotation (i.e. torque) was not a factor, the answer would just be to increase the weight of the bow. But with rotation, weight is much more effective if it's moved away from the center of rotation. That's why tight rope walkers use a long pole instead of a short baton. The design of the B-Stinger has as much of it's weight as possible in the stainless-steel disc at the end. The B-Stinger also uses a light but rigid carbon fiber rod to connect the disc to the bow. This is also important for the following reasons. If the connecting rod was heavy it would make the bow heavier but not help much with stabilizing. Also, if the rod was flexible (or had a flexible section as some other stabilizers do) than any weight outside the flexible section would be less effective. This is because the flexible section would have to load up (i.e. finish flexing) before the outside weight fully helped to stabilize the bow. By this time the arrow is long gone.

So the B-Stinger works because the weight is concentrated at the end and the connecting rod is light and rigid. Those are the qualities you want in a stabilizer and since they're patented, they exist only in the B-Stinger.

[JBS]

Stabilizers vs. Dampeners

A Stabilizer is a device that is made of a rigid arm or boom affixed to the riser that provides a moment arm for a weight installed on the end or contained inside. This moment arm of weight provides a fixed mass to counteract the rotational and axial forces of bow movement generated from the operator or release of stored energy. Most functional stabilizers have a length of eight inches or more with some being several feet long. The longer the stabilizer the better it works and the less weight is required on it’s end due to the multiplying factor of moment arm, (moment arm = distance from bow riser rotational point to weight on the end of the arm or boom). Some stabilizers may also contain a material or medium to attenuate vibration or harmonic resonance but this is not the primary function of a stabilizer.

A Dampener is a device that is made with a material or medium that attenuates vibration or harmonic resonance in an object, i.e. the bow. These devices are normally short and in a range of seven inches or under. They provide very little if any stabilizing effect on the bow other than loading your mussels with a few more ounces of weight that you may perceive as slowing unwanted movement of the bow. As stated their primary function is to attenuate vibration and thus reduce the accompanying sound. Many of these devises work by converting vibration (harmonic energy) into heat. Some of these devices can be mounted on the end of an extension to provide stabilization of the bow by serving as a fixed weight on the end of an arm or boom, dual purpose.

A simple way to look at it is that if your device is not out past your limb pocket ends by several inches it is probably a dampener and not a stabilizer. Mount a stabilizer on the outside of the riser and put your dampener on the inside of the riser, this method can also be used to balance the bow. A devise that allows your stabilizer to move or flex defeats the purpose of a rigid arm or boom and will not properly stabilize and may even serve to magnify movement with a delayed action from the flexing movement of the arm or boom. The shaft, arm, or boom should be of the lightest most rigid material possible thus concentrating the weight as far to the end of the device as can be mounted.

Moment = Magnitude of Force × Force arm [the perpendicular distance to the pivot (Fd)]

[MDC]

they serve basically 2 main purposes. absorb vibration and noise and to balance the bow. think of a tight rope walker. he carries a very long pole to help diffuse his minute movements and remain more stable at the center point. every step he takes, the ends of the pole are wagging pretty good. and if that were being transferred into the wire he was on, it would be impossible for him to stay on it. a longer stab will move more of the hand shake and small movements away from your hand, to the end of the stab, the longer the stab, the more movement it diffuses.

sound is also diffused to the ends of the stab, and if it has or is designed to absorb the vibrations that create sound, your bow will have less noise being projected away from you.

long and light, short and heavy, mid and mid are all a matter of feel, and balance. there are a million different opinions on how to balance a bow, and what it takes to get there. and what may work for me may not work for you. the only real way to see the differences is to put several different ones on your bow and shoot them. so my suggestion is to find a shop with as much selection as possible and look at the differences in the material they are make with, the length they are and how they feel when drawing, holding and shooting. you might have just the perfect one right now, and then again you may find something you like a little better.

Great answer!!

[Mojo]

I have a Stokerized Hunter Stabilizer, it is made of acrylic material, it's 8" long, to help with torque after the arrow is released...it also has a bowjax dampner on the end of it which helps absorb SOME vibration, so it's supposed to be a little of both I guess...I like it, it makes me happy, can't wait to slay an animal with it on the bow...

[Goldeneagle]

Well typically you don't actally hunt with a stabilizer it is a dampener to to soften hand shock and keep more energy going to the arrow (those are the small rubber ones). A long metal one with changable wieghts used for target shooting is a stablilizer.

I hunt with a stabilizer.

[47]

i think i know . . . .

i think they call it a stabilizer because its supposed to stabilize . . . .i'd think if it served any other purpose they'd call it that . . . . . a dampner would be called a dampner.

would...except it's called a "damper"

[WyoHunter]

Balance... Noise... Vibration

That about covers it all!

[Sparkles]

I hunt with a stabilizer.

Yeah but you knew what I meant!

[jimmyrampagext]

vibration noise andbalance