This year, seven of our field editors looked through the thousands of new products offered by the outdoor industry, tested hundreds of them, and finally came up with a list of the 22 best. These are Field & Stream's Best of the Best.
Philip Bourjaily, Peter B. Mathiesen, Keith McCafferty, John Merwin, David E. Petzal, Bob Robb, and Dave Scroppo
[BRACKET "Compound Bow"]
MATHEWS SWITCHBACK
The first time I used a Switchback, I could not believe it. At the shot, the bow made absolutely no sound, nor did it have any appreciable recoil, and the arrows flew into the X ring time after time. Nothing changed when I turned the draw weight up to 70 pounds (FROM?) and replaced my arrows' field tips with broadheads. The 33-inch-long bow is easy to maneuver and screaming fast, with an IBO speed rating of 318 fps. It draws smooth as silk and has all of Mathews' patented bells and whistles, including its new Straightline Cobra Cam, V-Lock zero-tolerance limb cup system, new Double Damper roller guard, harmonic damping system, string suppressors, ball-bearing idler wheel, short parallel limbs, and new no-stretch Zebra Barracuda bowstring. Retail sales are so hot that stores can't keep them stocked-and authorized Mathews dealers are the only people you can buy them from. $769; 608-269-2728; mathewsinc.com -B.R.
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