[steph]

I know there are single cam, two cam and cam-and-a-half and between my husband and me we've owned all of them...I just don't know what the differences are supposed to be. I'm going to be buying a new bow after I see what Mathews and Bowtech release for '05 and, especially with the new Equalizer cam coming, I feel like I need to be a little more informed on the pros and cons of each cam system. The cams on my bows (Bowtech Ladyhawk and Mathews Mustang) are small whereas the ones on my husband's LX's are bigger but I'm not able to pull his back to see what the difference is. Educate me!

 

[sagecreek]

Single cams are 1 cam on the bottom that has an egg shape (not completely round) with a round idler (return) on the top. Two cams have two seperate egg shaped pulleys on the top and the bottom that are identical to each other. Cam and 1/2's (hybrids) are a mix of the two and has an identity crisis. They don't belong to either cam family.

Please note, that there is an inner and outer cam, the outer cam has the string that you pull connected to it and is bigger, and the inner cam has the buss cables attached and is what is used to control the wieght that you pull.

The mustand and the LX are both single cam technologies, size doesnt' matter!!!!!!

 

[steph]

C'mon people...One reply? This can't be the extent of your vast knowledge.
I know some people prefer single cam systems, which is the only kind I've ever tried, but what are the differences between single, two cam and cam-and-a-half supposed to be? Then throw in the Equalizer and I'm so confused!

 

[MindGames]

Well from my observation and what I've talked about to others...

To understand what a cam is/does all you really need to do is look at it while someone else is shooting, observe the rotation and watch how the strings are pulled.

I shoot a single cam and here's why, first off I shot a Hoyt and it felt really heavy and I didn't like that much weight. Second if you look at the way the cams are pulled when shooting, when you release the string the cams pull the strings back forward. If you think about it on a dual cam bow you then have two cams turning and pulling the string back forward. Now, I know that Hoyt and other dual cam producers spend lots of time and money to sycranize the cams so they work at the same velocity, but it doesn't happen. You can't have two independent objects traveling at exactly the same speed, but more importantly they can't travel at the same speed all the time! Things will go out of whack. (This is based on my opinions and my observations and my somewhat limited knowledge of physics) I like the single cam because all of the work is being done on one cam, you don't have to worry about syncranization. I've had my Mathews for a while and I haven't had any problems with it, the only time I've ever had to adjust my tuning is when I've done something stupid (which does happen) or I change rests. Everything stays exactly where I have, I like that kind of stability.

Remember these are my opinions and observations, I have no problem with debate so if any dual cam shooters think I'm wrong please tell me, I would like to know.

Hope this helps Steph

 

[SPECTRE]

Sage is just bitter over the Bowtie Hilton thing........ And since I was the only one shooting a TEC riser, I know what custer felt like. Apparently, Siler City is definitely MATHEWS country, LOL.

The Cam + 1/2 is a two cam system that utilizes a control cable to make both cams fire at the same rate, thus, no timing issues.

The new equalizer cam system is really a horse of a different color. It's a two cam system that self adjusts, sort of, for timing. You have to twist one cable as much as 25 times to affect the point of impact 1". That's pretty impressive The way it works is hard to explain. There's a TON of machining involved in the cam system.

pro38 shooter can explain it a lot better than me. He gives a pretty good breakdown in the Manufacturers and Press Releases Forum.

 

[Deezlin]

I think Larry Wise and others have descussed this is some detail. I am a machine designer so I will give you, a little education on what a cam is. But, I am not extremely knowledgeable about which one is better for you.

The cam is generally, a egg shaped object which varies the distance the follower or cable is from the center of rotation. As the distance increases the leverage on the cam increases causing what archers' refer to as let-off. Different cam shapes create different power curves. The speed cam, prevelent today, trys to produce as much force, as long as possible, to product the fast arrow. When you pull back a bow with a speed or hard cam, the cam is very draw sensitive, you will be pulling most of the weight the limbs are creating until just before the end of the draw then the weight reduces. Some bows are two cam bows which means that they are timed, so the cams pull together. Ocassionally, the cams would jump time and the bow would require retuning. But, this was more of an excuse than a problem with two cam bows.

Because the two cams bow have more mechanical parts, tuning problems and did not offer the let-off of the single cams, they fell out of favor with the hunters for sometime. They will probably find something wrong with the One cam so they will have another excuse.

For target shooting, double cam bow and cam and 1/2 are going to be around for a long time, yet. They do not have the let-off that the single cam bows do, but for target shooting there seems to be a limit, to the amount of let-off you can have and release the arrow on target. In other words, too much let-off is as bad as too little.

I hope I have helped a little, I am trying to give some non-technical answers to a very technical subject. If you want a couple of references to some technical manuals, I think I can find some!!!

You might check at huntersfriend.com. They have some excellent bow selectors and addition information.

 

[Fletch Helical]

My .02

Let me start by saying I'm not a super bow techie by any means but here's my best shot.Your cams are mainly responsible for controling the limbs, on a twin cam the top cam controls the bottom limb and vice versa. when you draw the bow as the cams roll over you're flexing the limbs. It's not only the cams that produce arrow velocity it's the limbs snapping back to their original position regardless if they're timed or not if you roll over both cams fully the limbs will snap back to their original position the same every time. The main reason you have to play with the cables to get them to roll at the same time plays a part in this if a cable stretches a cam will move out of place like it's starting to be drawn it affets the bow because the on cam will roll and stop before the other which is more of an uncomfortable feeling for the shooter than anything else (in fact I believe Terry Ragsdale set a record at Vegas with his cams grossly out of time) Single cams and hybrids(which I'm a little unsure about hybrids) the limbs are controlled by one cam, a single will not have a timing issuse per say but as the sting and cable stretch it will affect the position of the cam so you won't feel that double "bump" of a twin because one cam is cotroling both limbs. Twin cam bows produce a much more level nock travel than singles for whatever thats worth. Alot boils down to preference both systems are effective (obviously) and twins are usually a little easier to "tweak" the cams feeling to your liking. Singles are almost always a smoother drawing cam unless you have round wheel cams and allow more changes in letoff however twin cams are a faster configuration but not as smooth to draw. As far as the diffent sizes between your hubbys cams and yours, longer draws require bigger cams take two identical bows with different draw lengths you'll have the same cam only different sizes to compensate for the string wrap. But then again you may have the same cam size just a different mod. The way they're designed varies from co. to co. but the principle remains the same.

 

[sagecreek]

The new HP single cams have perfect nock travel.

 

[Fletch Helical]

I wasn't sure about that cam I just remembered there was a big thing about that a year or two ago with Mathews and I think Hoyt wasn't sure if all the mudslinging was done and what the outcome was. But does that apply to all single cam manufactures I thought alot still suffer from a nock high set up?

 

[elk stalker]

Different cams are different types of technology. Dual cams have normaly been faster than solo cams, and hybrids are supposed to be the "best of both worlds". Solo cams are easier to tune. When it comes to cams, size doesn't matter. You may be able to pull back your bow and not your husbands because of the limb weights of the two bows. You are drawing back somewhere around 40lbs, that's all in the limbs. If your husbands limbs were 40lb limbs, you'd be able to draw it. Limb weight determines if you'll be able to draw the bow back.

 

[steph]

Thanks everybody!

Elk Stalker: I should have clarified that...I meant that I hadn't been able to see what the difference is between my bow and his because I can't pull his back to test it because it's set at 60+lbs and I'm too weak.

 

[Brown Dog]

Steph,
Get some catalogs and look at the force draw curves that are shown. For example in a Hoyt catalog they show three F/D curves on one graph. For comparison. They show Cam and a Half, Spiral and The Wheel. By looking at this graph, you can visulize what is happening and see the stored energy under the curve.
Good Shooting