A Look At Types Of Arrow Rests

Your arrow rest is very important. The rest will keep the arrow stable while you draw and release. You will have to choose between different styles. Here are a few types of arrow rests that archers can choose from.

Drop-Away

Some people refer to drop-away rests as fall-away rests. At the moment that the arrow is shot, this type of rest will drop away. Therefore, you won't have problems with fletching clearance. You can easily use helical fletchings with these rests. They're designed much like shoot-through rests in that they use prongs to cradle the arrow. They typically have large notches to keep the arrow in position.

You should know that this type of arrow rest may be very difficult to install yourself. Installation and tuning can be quite tricky. This is why these rests should usually be installed and tuned by a pro.

Containment

Containment archery arrow rests will definitely keep the arrow from falling out of position. The arrow can be completely enclosed by some containment designs. Other designs only touch the arrow at three contact points. An advantage of containment rests is that they're usually easy to install and tune. Furthermore, they work with many different types of arrows.

Potential damage to the fletchings is one concern when using a containment rest. The edges of the feathers may eventually become ragged and the vanes may wrinkle. However, this is only a problem if the rest was designed to make contact with the fletching. However, proper clearance can be tricky if the design doesn't make contact. The nock and fletching will need to be aligned correctly. Straight fletching usually works best.

Shoot-Through

There are plenty of archers who use a shoot-through rest. With this design, the arrow is placed on top of two prongs that are slightly spaced apart. At the moment of your shot, the spring-loaded prongs will flex down and forward to get out of the way of the fletching. The prongs typically spring back into position after the arrow clears so that you're ready to shoot again.

This type of rest is among the cheapest on the market. They're also easy to install. You can probably get one for $20 or so.

You will likely be limited to using arrows with straight fletching with this type of rest. Proper clearance can be a problem when using offset or helical fletchings. Also, since the arrow isn't contained, it can easily fall off of the prongs. If your drawstroke is uneven or you're exposed to a strong wind, it could easily come off.

Pressure

There are also pressure rests. They're sometimes referred to as shoot-around rests. This design is usually only used by finger shooters. Finger shooters have to deal with horizontal oscillation, so this rest will help limit that. The horizontal oscillation is limited because the rest puts pressure on one side of the arrow. You can easily adjust the amount of pressure exerted on the arrow.