The worst thing is having to wonder if everything will go according to plan when you draw your bow. Most individuals use the drop away arrow rest to be more confident about their shoot.
Any bow becomes more precise with the drop-away rest. So, the drop-away arrow rests are now the norm for the majority of bows. Especially for those who are just starting out.
But which of these arrow rest is the best pick- cable driven vs limb-driven rest?
Limb-driven rests have several advantages over cable-driven rests. It is more user-friendly, more stable, and more trustworthy with target precision. However, the cable-driven option is more cost-effective. And with a certain practice, you can overcome the initial problems you face with cable-driven rest.
So, which should be your pick? This helps the amateur hunter more and gain confidence in hunting, let’s find out in detail!
Cable Driven vs Limb Driven Rest: Quick Comparison!
Arrow rest is an important part of hunting, especially as an amateur. It helps to carry arrows without any quivering. Before you decide to buy one for yourself, here’s a table for you to check the benefits of each rest.
| Comparison Factor | Cable Driven Rest | Limb Driven Rest |
| Stability | Moves a lot | More Stable |
| Reliability | More likely to fail | More precise |
| Repair | Hard to Repair | Easy to Repair |
| Noise | Less Noise | More Noisier |
| Price | More affordable | More expensive |
| User-friendly | Less | More |
| Installment/small Adjustment | Requires professional help | Easy to install, quick adjustment is possible |
| Arrow is fully contained while the bow is at rest | Not fully contained when at rest. |
With a little more idea on these two, let’s move onto a more detailed discussion to see how these factors particularly affect your hunting.
Cable Driven vs Limb Driven Rest: Detailed Comparison
A compound bow’s cable is intended to work with cable-driven arrow rests. A cord tied to the spring-loaded launcher on your arrow rest locks your arrow in position. The installation of that cord involves passing it through your bow’s cable.
On the other hand, a limb-driven arrow is supported by the compound bow’s limb. The arrow is held in place by a launcher that has a string attached to it. When not in use, it will attach to either the top or bottom limb of the bow.
Let’s check out how each comparison factor differs for each of these arrow rests.
Stability:
The cables on your bow are a moving item. Over time, they will stretch, shift and twist which will cause the paracord connecting the other parts will move as well. This leads to a slight unsteadiness in the cable-driven rest and makes your arrow wobble in flight.
The limbs of a bow, however, do not bend or extend. They remain fixed in the same position. This implies that the cord will repeatedly return to the exact position. It is possible and typical for the paracord to slightly stretch. But, this has less of an impact on the rest of the system than cable does.
Which Rest Offers Better Stability?
Limb Driven rest offers better stability.
Reliability:
Rests driven by limbs are more accurate than rests operated by cables. They are far more likely to succeed and their action is a lot simpler.
The mechanisms of these cable-driven rest occasionally malfunction, causing them not to fall even though they should. Additionally, the excessive strain that cable-driven rests put on one of the cables can interfere with the cam rotation’s synchronization.
The timing of the cables and cams is unaffected by limb-driven rests. By their very nature, limb-driven rest attachment systems are less prone to sliding than cable-driven rest.
Some cable-driven rests don’t operate very well. You can feel them catching and resisting as you twist the launcher arm upward and downward. This is a common archery issue and can easily be fixed. But the precision is negatively impacted by the resistance in the mechanism, which can result in minute differences in the rate of fall.
In limb-driven rests, the strength of the limb overrides any internal irregularities in the rest. So, the limb pushes the launcher arm to fall smoothly.
Which Rest Offers Better Reliability?
Limb-driven rests offer better reliability.
Repair:
A bow hunter’s top priority list includes simple field repairs. The majority of the time, if something goes wrong with a limb-driven rest, it can be fixed quickly on the spot.
Consider the possibility that the limb-driven rest’s rope becomes tangled or strained around a tree branch. This would affect the timing of your rest launcher.
Simply release a screw, draw the cable taut once more, and then tighten the screw back up would be all that is required. If the rope is cut in any way, it can be quickly fixed by substituting a piece of paracord.
In the worst-case scenario, if you shattered your rest after dropping your bow on something but have a spare at the truck, you could simply install and adjust the rest. it. You won’t even have to consider canceling the hunting for that day.
If any of this happened with a cable-driven rest, you’d have to visit a shop in town.
Which Rest Offers easy repairment?
Limb driven has easy repairment.
Noise:
Because of coming down so rapidly and forcefully, limb-driven arrow rests are noisier than cable-driven. However, you can avoid this issue by utilizing a brief overdraw so that the launcher arm does not collide with anything.
If you decide to keep the rest in its standard location further forward, you can place a soft, bouncy material on the bow shelf to soften the fall.
Which Rest is less noisy?
Cable-driven has less noise than limb-driven rests.
Price:
The cable-driven rest are more affordable at only 28 dollars. Whereas, the limb-driven rest comes at a price of 120 dollars and sometimes even more. But the price makes more sense with the benefits it gives.
Which Rest has a bigger Price Tag?
Limb-driven rest comes with a bigger price tag.
User-Friendly:
Limb-driven rests are more convenient to operate. Adjustments and small repairs can be done by anyone with some basic understanding and an Allen screwdriver. So, there’s less time spent worrying in the field, fewer trips to the pro shop, and more time to concentrate on hunting.
However, this is not true of cable-driven rests, which require far more assistance during every repair procedure.
Which Rest is more user-friendly?
Limb-driven rest is more user-friendly.
Final Verdict
Both cable-driven and limb-driven rests are very effective for bowhunters. But cable-driven needs a bit more expertise.
When it comes to backpack hunting, where accuracy and dependability are crucial, limb-driven rests win hands down in our opinion. The ability to perform field repairs easily while out hunting is another plus point.
With limb-driven rests, we can relax a little knowing that our arrow rest is prepared and competent for the hunt as we are.
However, with some experience, cable-driven can be just as good and operational for you. And you can use the Nika Archery’s Cable-driven rest for ease of use.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
What kind of arrow rest do Olympic archers employ?
The majority of Olympic archers employ arrow rests which are specially made for recurve bows. This arrow rests longer. Some of the archers prefer bolt-on magnetic arrow rest as you can shoot knowing that the bolt-on rest won’t come off at any time.
Would a drop-away arrow rest be preferable?
Any bow becomes more precise with the drop-away rest. Any bow becomes more forgiving just by using this rest design. Drop-away rests enable you to fletch more fiercely and with greater accuracy.
Can accuracy be impacted by whisker biscuits?
Yes, it can be impacted by whisker biscuits. The Whisker Biscuit decreases the accuracy and speed of your arrow marginally. But the change is so negligible that most shooters won’t even notice it. Except for Olympic-level archers, their trained eyes will definitely catch the difference.
End Words
That was our take on cable driven vs limb-driven rest. Although both have their own advantages, limb driven is mostly preferred over climb driven for the reasons given above. But you might have a different preference.
We suggest checking out both of them and taking them hunting to see which one suits you the most.
Until then, happy hunting!
