QAD MX2 vs Hamskea Epsilon

[ADKsasquatch]

I’ve been shooting my Mathews V3X for a little over 2 years now with the epsilon rest. Accuracy is great, shoots when I need it to (so far…I’ll elaborate in a minute).

I have only 2 issues so far with the rest…

1) in certain hunting scenarios in a stand or moving on the ground, I need to keep a finger on the arrow since the rest does not lock into an upright position and the arrows can bounce around making noise. I lost a chance on a Tom this past spring due to the noise the rest made as I drew back. No way he saw me since I was behind a blind. I should add some moleskin to quiet it but haven’t yet.

2) about once in every two dozen shots or so the string to the limb will snap over and get caught in the quiver. I’ve unknowingly shot with the string there and only noticed after I sent an arrow into the dirt. Guys at the shop couldn’t figure out how to avoid this and we all assumed it’s just a byproduct of how tight the Mathews quiver sits.

Has anyone had this same issue? If so how did you fix it?

The new MX2 rest from QAD caught my eye since I think it might alleviate both of this concerns. Has anyone had any experience with their new rest?

 

[Wannabebowhuntr]

I’ve never had a qad, but I did use an HHA virtus which is very similar on 4 different bows. I had no problems with my cable driven drop away and enjoyed being able to lock it in position in the tree stand. On my v3x I got secondhand I went with the mathews epsilon. I put the provided felt on the launcher and the draw is silent. I have the mathews one piece low pro quiver on it and was uncomfortable with how close the cable for the epsilon was to the quiver. I decided to move the rest cable to lower plastic piece for the cable yokes and have had no issues.

 

[Bump79]

For me - the lockup functionality is 100% needed for hunting. I need the ability to let down with minimal noise. A lot of people don't like QAD but I've never had any issues with mine or had any friends had any issues. They're the most popular rest on the market by a long shot so if you hear about issues just keep that in mind. It's like googling F150 or Silverado issues vs googling Titan issues, you'll have more search results with the big 3 just because wayyyyy more are sold.

I'd also look at AAE rests.

 

[Bergy-Bowsmith]

so for the arrow flopping around get a vapor trail arrow holder for the front of your riser it will securely hold the arrow in place since the rest doesn't lock in the upward position. i have been using a epsilon for a while never had this issue.

as far as the cord getting caught in the quiver I have never experienced that even with all the bows i set up per year and my quiver is extremely tight to the riser. tighter then a Mathews one by quite a bit however since switching to a quiver that is tight to the riser most people tie their limb cord to the outside portion of the limb with the knot on the outside part of the limb i have switched to putting my knot on the inside of the limb allowing the cord to flex forward not outward toward my quiver. and its been working just fine for me and my customers.

 

[Bergy-Bowsmith]

For me - the lockup functionality is 100% needed for hunting. I need the ability to let down with minimal noise. A lot of people don't like QAD but I've never had any issues with mine or had any friends had any issues. They're the most popular rest on the market by a long shot so if you hear about issues just keep that in mind. It's like googling F150 or Silverado issues vs googling Titan issues, you'll have more search results with the big 3 just because wayyyyy more are sold.

I'd also look at AAE rests.

I don't like anything cable driven for a few reasons,

1. If that cable breaks while you are on a hunt. you need a press to get the rest back into huntable condition.

2. QAD or any cable driven rest does not support the arrow as long as a limb driven rest. I tend to find a little better forgiveness with a limb driven style.

3. for the whitetail woods the lock up feature is kinda nice for hanging in a tree stand and it sitting in one position but its about the same as my hamskea with the aftermarket arrow holder. however where the big difference comes for me is out west. the lock up feature yes contains the arrow but it still flops around inside of the fork. so i prefer holding the arrow with my finger on the hamskea over the qad out west and the ability to fix it in the field is a big plus for me since i tie d loop onto my riser for those situations.

 

[fatlander]

Definitely agree with the point that the hamskea is actually easier to stalk with because it’s not locked away from the riser. The arrow will still rattle around the Qad, and it’s more uncomfortable and awkward to get a finger around it because of the position it’s locked in.

How short are your arrows/how high are you running your quiver? Move your quiver lower so that the nocks are just below the limb when at full draw. To me, it seems like the only way the chord could get hung up the way you’re describing is having your arrows running really high in relation to the lower limb and rest chord.

You can also configure the rest to run off the top limb instead of the bottom limb. Your quiver hood should prevent the issue you’re experiencing as well.


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[nphunter]

IMO there isn't a better hunting rest made than a QAD, I've had pretty much every model that they have made on a bow with zero issues. My wife's and kids' bows also have them and they have been great, I had one fail to drop with over 10 years of use and that was due to me improperly tying it back in when I replaced my strings. I've never had one that was installed correctly cause me any issues.

I've tried a limb driven and don't care for the long extra string on the bow, I hunt on the ground and am always dragging my bow through brush and that's just one more thing to fail. Also no having the full capture is a no go for me. I tried an AAE with the little clip but that really only holds the arrow well if your not moving much, it would be great for keeping it still while sitting in a tree but not for moving around on the ground.

I don't necessarily think people should be running around with a nocked arrow but there are times when spot and stalk or ambush hunting when you have to move with a nocked arrow and in these circumstances a QAD it king.

 

[nphunter]

As far as field repair, all you need is an Allen and the ability to tie a knot to reset the timing on a cable-driven rest. Besides it's a silly argument, which is more likely to break, a 2' long piece of rope stretched like a piano wire or a 6" long loose rope?

If you can tie a not and draw your bow you can fix a QAD if it does break anyway. It's never a bad idea to have a little D-loop material in the pack either way.

 

[fatlander]

As far as field repair, all you need is an Allen and the ability to tie a knot to reset the timing on a cable-driven rest. Besides it's a silly argument, which is more likely to break, a 2' long piece of rope stretched like a piano wire or a 6" long loose rope?

If you can tie a not and draw your bow you can fix a QAD if it does break anyway. It's never a bad idea to have a little D-loop material in the pack either way.

I’ve yet to have a limb driven chord break but I’ve had the ball burnt on the end of a QAD chord break and the chord pull back through the split cable. If that happens, and you can’t tie a D-loop knot because you don’t have enough excess chord, and retime your rest, and have broadheads flying the same since you’re now putting different pressure on the cable, you’re up the creek.


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[Bergy-Bowsmith]

As far as field repair, all you need is an Allen and the ability to tie a knot to reset the timing on a cable-driven rest. Besides it's a silly argument, which is more likely to break, a 2' long piece of rope stretched like a piano wire or a 6" long loose rope?

If you can tie a not and draw your bow you can fix a QAD if it does break anyway. It's never a bad idea to have a little D-loop material in the pack either way.

fixing it by tying a knot is not a good way to "fix it" it will last maybe one shot that way before it slides over serving or slides down or up the string causing it to come out of time , ive seen it plenty of times.

ive been hunting with a limb driven rest for 8 years or so , high country mule deer, prairie mulies, midwest whitetails from a saddle, from a stand, and from the ground . spot and stalk and still hunting , never ever ever had a issue with the drop away cord going through brush or anything.

but thats the cool part of archery we dont have to agree on whats best to use. we get to use what we like .

 

[Bergy-Bowsmith]

I’ve yet to have a limb driven chord break but I’ve had the ball burnt on the end of a QAD chord break and the chord pull back through the split cable. If that happens, and you can’t tie a D-loop knot because you don’t have enough excess chord, and retime your rest, and have broadheads flying the same since you’re now putting different pressure on the cable, you’re up the creek.


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this is spot on .

 

[nphunter]

I’ve yet to have a limb driven chord break but I’ve had the ball burnt on the end of a QAD chord break and the chord pull back through the split cable. If that happens, and you can’t tie a D-loop knot because you don’t have enough excess chord, and retime your rest, and have broadheads flying the same since you’re now putting different pressure on the cable, you’re up the creek.


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It all just depends on how motivated a person is to fix their bow and how they install their rest. You can serve it back to the string as well, even without extra serving string every bow has 50+ feet of spare service you can steal. I've always installed them with a knot in the end and through the cable which will not break, trusting a burned bulb seems like a bad idea to start with.

I don't think either one failing in the field is a good reason not to purchase one or the other. I would guess 99% of archers couldn't fix their bow in the field in the first place. The ones who can most likely find a way no matter what.

In your situation, you could have easily stolen some serving material from their center serving, tied a knot, or returned a bulb at the end of the string and served it to the outside of the cable. We have pressed bows and repaired them in the field with ratchet straps and rope. Where there's a will there's a way.

 

[devinhal]

I’ve been shooting my Mathews V3X for a little over 2 years now with the epsilon rest. Accuracy is great, shoots when I need it to (so far…I’ll elaborate in a minute).

I have only 2 issues so far with the rest…

1) in certain hunting scenarios in a stand or moving on the ground, I need to keep a finger on the arrow since the rest does not lock into an upright position and the arrows can bounce around making noise. I lost a chance on a Tom this past spring due to the noise the rest made as I drew back. No way he saw me since I was behind a blind. I should add some moleskin to quiet it but haven’t yet.

2) about once in every two dozen shots or so the string to the limb will snap over and get caught in the quiver. I’ve unknowingly shot with the string there and only noticed after I sent an arrow into the dirt. Guys at the shop couldn’t figure out how to avoid this and we all assumed it’s just a byproduct of how tight the Mathews quiver sits.

Has anyone had this same issue? If so how did you fix it?

The new MX2 rest from QAD caught my eye since I think it might alleviate both of this concerns. Has anyone had any experience with their new rest?

There are some pretty easy fixes for the two concerns you have.
1. For any noise that might occur before drawing your bow back, you can put a strip of felt on the far edge of the riser shelf. The arrow will only contact the far edge, so there is no reason to put felt over the whole riser shelf.
2. If the actuation cord is getting caught in the quiver, you have the cord attached too close to the end of the limb. On the V3X, I am finding that attaching the cord about 2.5-3" from the limb tip is a great starting point. You can also follow the instructions we have on our website if you want to find the ideal location for your specific bow, draw length, and draw weight combination.

Timing of a Limb Driven Rest

Visit the post for more.

www.hamskeaarchery.com

If you have any other questions, just let me know.

 

[camelcluch]

Pros and cons to each. Both are well made and both companies take care of their customers.
The QAD is solid and they have gotten better each time they upgrade. Can the cord slip out, sure. Can it be fixed in the field without a press, absolutely. But the function in every environment I have put them in including Alaska.
The Hamskea is great. It does support the arrow a little longer. It works every time and is extremely well built. The cord stretches like crazy and is very difficult to get it to lay flat with the damper. I did have the clamp hit my quiver causing flight issues. It doesn’t lock up.
Both are good and you should pick the one the gives you the most confidence with the features you want the most. Good luck!

 

[nphunter]

fixing it by tying a knot is not a good way to "fix it" it will last maybe one shot that way before it slides over serving or slides down or up the string causing it to come out of time , ive seen it plenty of times.

ive been hunting with a limb driven rest for 8 years or so , high country mule deer, prairie mulies, midwest whitetails from a saddle, from a stand, and from the ground . spot and stalk and still hunting , never ever ever had a issue with the drop away cord going through brush or anything.

but thats the cool part of archery we dont have to agree on whats best to use. we get to use what we like .

You've seen multiple cable-driven rest cables break in half? LOL You can use a d-loop knot on the end and as long as you set it up on the bottom of the serving or serve a section above it will not move, it definitely won't slide down the cable.

I've hunted with a QAD since they came out and have dragged on well over 1K miles through every environment imaginable out hunting and have never seen one break and have never had any of my hunting friends have one break either.

I agree that there are plenty of options to make everyone happy. I also think using the field repair excuse to purchase one or the other is silly. They can both be repaired depending on how they are setup but it's a non-issue because they don't ever break on either type of rest. People should just decide what type they like and shoot them. IMO the biggest difference is the ability to lock the arm up and secure your arrow, the QAD just does a better job in this category because of how it's designed. If containment isn't important to a person then there are a ton of other options.

 

[fatlander]

It all just depends on how motivated a person is to fix their bow and how they install their rest. You can serve it back to the string as well, even without extra serving string every bow has 50+ feet of spare service you can steel. I've always installed them with a knot in the end and through the cable which will not break, trusting a burned bulb seems like a bad idea to start with.

I don't think either one failing in the field is a good reason not to purchase one or the other. I would guess 99% of archers couldn't fix their bow in the field in the first place. The ones who can most likely find a way no matter what.

In your situation, you could have easily stolen some serving material from their center serving, tied a knot, or returned a bulb at the end of the string and served it to the outside of the cable. We have pressed bows and repaired them in the field with ratchet straps and rope. Where there's a will there's a way.

We agree on the fact that most guys can’t fix their stuff in the field.

The vast majority of people are running like I’m talking about, because that’s how the shop set it up. I too install with a know the way you’re talking about, but that’s a rarity.

Most don’t have the aptitude to fix their own equipment. You’re talking about stealing serving from cables, finishing up that new tag end of serving you created, snd then using the harvested serving for a rest chord . That’s so much higher level than the average dude can accomplish. If he can do that, he’s already thought out the contingencies and won’t pay this thread any mind.

The average dude can re-tie a slip knot to the limb.


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[nphunter]

We agree on the fact that most guys can’t fix their stuff in the field.

The vast majority of people are running like I’m talking about, because that’s how the shop set it up. I too install with a know the way you’re talking about, but that’s a rarity.

Most don’t have the aptitude to fix their own equipment. You’re talking about stealing serving from cables, finishing up that new tag end of serving you created, snd then using the harvested serving for a rest chord . That’s so much higher level than the average dude can accomplish. If he can do that, he’s already thought out the contingencies and won’t pay this thread any mind.

The average dude can re-tie a slip knot to the limb.


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I agree with you there, I just don't think either will need to be done if they are set up correctly in the first place. Rest's failing in the field isn't a major issue and IMO shouldn't be a deciding factor on what kind of rest to purchase.
This is the first thing limb-driven rest guys bring up when someone asks which one to purchase and it really just seems like a sales pitch from a limb-driven company to me.