Stabilizers A.K.A. Harmonic Damper
What do they do anyways...?
Let's talk a little bit about stabilizers and what they do for you as an archer. As with any other
archery accessory there has a plethora of different types and sizes of stabilizers. It's actually a little difficult for me to talk about stabilizing or stabilizers being there so many different ways, types, weights, lengths, materials, sizes, shapes, etc. that stabilizers are made of. But on the bright side, most of the difficulty begins on the target archery side of things. In hunting archery stabilizers are quite simple.
The main purpose for a stabilizer is to add a little weight to the front your bow to help take out any movement you or the elements around you put on the bow. Like Bull barrel guns, the heavier the object you are holding the harder it is to shake. Yes, you can move easily but it makes the movements smoother and helps take out the shakiness. Also they are used to attempt to take out the harmonics created by the bow itself upon firing. When you draw the bow back you are building up an incredible amount of energy. And of course the farther you pull it back the more energy is generated. So naturally upon release there is A LOT of energy being discharged. When
that much built up energy is released, it has to go somewhere. Much of the energy gets shoved into the arrow but not all. The left over energy rattles around in the bow in the form of vibration or harmonics. Once the arrow has left the bow, whatever the bow does just doesn’t really matter… But, we don’t like the way it feels in our hand. So harmonic dampening is used to control that.
The easiest way I can come up with on harmonic dampening is when you touch a ringing bell. You notice when you touch it, it stops ringing. Maybe not instantly but pretty close, assuming it’s not a massive bell. You fingers create a resistance to the vibration, canceling it out.
Another way to explain is..... it’s a lot like noise canceling head phones. Noise canceling headphones create the same ambient noises around you BUT,… at 180 degrease out of phase. It’s like two things pulling or pushing each other at the same strength, nothing happens they cancel each other out.
So going back to the weight of the stabilizer, if you would like, shoot your bow with and without one. But make sure you test it at a greater distance like 50 yards. At a closer range you may not see much difference but at a further range it exaggerates the issue and you will see the difference.
It's like trying to tense all your muscle in your arm and not allowing your fist to shake. But do it with a brick in your hand you will notice a considerable amount less shaking. Same principles, add a little weight to the front of your bow and it will slow down the movement.
I did say this earlier but I will say again, when the wind blows it’s harder for it to move something with more mass. But don't go into it thinking you're going to add an extra 10 pounds to your bow. Try carrying and extra 10 pounds in your hand running through the woods for several hours. Trust me you will wish you didn’t.
On a side note, if you're getting into target archery some of them bows are incredibly heavy, I'm talking 15+ pounds.
But that's a whole nother subject…