What rest are you thinking, fixed or drop away?

 

As I can't see if the arrow falls off the rest I like either the whaletail or the Hamskea Contour AccuGlide launchers; just a bit of security for me.

 

My only complaint with the Hamskea whale tail is it seems to be a soft plastic. After about 50 shots i noticed a significant groove being worn into the crotch of it. It needs to be protected with mole skin or something similar. You may think its not a big deal, but my bare shafts were beginning to hit nock high due to the wear after it had already been tuned. (No nock pinch causing excessive down pressure on it either).

 

I've shot many hundreds on my plastic tail and I am not seeing anything similar. Shooting Axis 5mm's - do you have a rough (sandpaper !?! :shade: jkjk) material on your arrow or something that might be contributing to the wear? The axis are "slick" and made for penetration. Some of my target arrows had a more "matte" finish that could be part of that.

 

I would go whale tale if its a drop away. I like the larger Y to hold the arrow and I hate the sound of metal when drawing.

My whale tale has a groove also, but thats after 3 years. Plus I just re-tuned so its not an issue.

 

I have two Hamskea HHP-micro rests. The one I purchased lightly used on the AT classifieds came without any mole skin, so I cut one I had from another brand of rest and it works just fine. Then I purchased a new version that came with a pre-cut piece of mole skin that was shaped like the whale tale. Both are doing just fine....no visible wear on the mole skin and quiet as well.

 

My understanding is that the whale tail material is meant to break in and create a mold to your shaft. I shoot mine without moleskin and there is definitely wear, but it has not affected my tune.

 

I'm using the stainless steel whale tale. I see no down side, and I won't (as a few times in the past) have to worry about letting down and then shooting a zero because I didn't notice my arrow had fallen off the rest.

 

I shot indoors, 3d, and field with the metal .032 accuglide blade. I did very well with it in all avenues.

 

I've gone through several whale tails on several different bows now. I've switched to the Accu-glide blade now on everything with medical tape. Love it!

 

It all depends on how comfortable you are as a shooter. Flexible launchers like spring steel or the G-Flex launchers are a little more forgiving in my opinion, but there is always a chance that the launcher can get caught on something and bend or break. These launchers are also smaller and are often a little harder to keep your arrow on during the draw. The contour accuracy-guide launcher and "whale tail" are rigid launchers help to hold your arrow on the launcher during the draw and on windy days. It all comes down to your preference and what is more important to you. If a little more forgiveness is worth shooting on the smaller launcher good then go with a flexible launcher. If you want a simple launcher that is easy to use by every skill of archer that you don't have to worry about, then go with the rigid launchers.