Option Archery Quivalizer: Game changer or gimmick?
First Look
I first looked at the Quivalizer at my local bow shop about a year ago. Being an analytical kind of guy, it made perfect sense and i was anxious to try it. Then I saw some negative comments on Facebook and dismissed it as a gimmick, even though the tech at my favorite bow shop was telling me that it was totally legit. I saw the Quivalizer again while visiting the Option Archery booth at the 2016 ATA show. One of the sales reps told me to forget about what I saw, or thought about it, and JUST SHOOT IT. Suddenly an image popped in my mind of being the ONLY guy in the elk woods carrying some new contraption that everyone else would laugh at. I slowly walked away with every intention of trying it, but I never did. My suspicion is that you are a lot like me: anxious to try something new, but not thrilled about the idea of people thinking you are falling for the latest gimmick. Is this Quivalizer legit? I’ll let you decide for yourself, but after having it on my bow for a couple weeks, I’m a believer. Here is why... One of the things I respect about Option Archery is that (unlike me), they are not afraid of trying something outside of the box. I asked Steve Speck what he thought about the Quivalizer and he told me to get one and try it out. So based off of the great experience we had with the Option Sight, I was excited to get one in.
What the heck is this thing?
The idea behind the Quivalizer is to lighten the overall weight of your bow hunting setup. Take the quiver off the side of your bow and move that weight to the front of your bow where it can become a well balanced stabilizer. The Quivalizer does just that. You can mount the Quivalizer to the side of your bow for moving around easily, or move it to the front in place of your stabilizer for target shooter accuracy.Build Quality
If you are familiar with other Option Archery products you will know that the product quality is tremendous. And of course the Quivalizer is no exception. Everything, including the hood, is machined aluminum. Yes, this is another well built, tough, Option Archery product. Option Archery calls their aluminum rod the tactical option, while others may want the carbon rod. There is no noticeable difference in weight or performance, so feel free to choose the one you like best.
As with the other Option Archery products, the packaging is very nice. The whole setup comes in a resealable long tube. (which makes a nice arrow holder) Everything is included that you might need including detailed instructions..with pictures! Being a guy of course I promptly tossed them aside. And then after a few minutes I wisely picked them back up.
Adjustability
This is by far the most adjustable quiver on the market! Use the instructions, they help make sense of the mounting, and the all of the possible configurations. While it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be to put on my bow, it didn't take long to get it figured out. I kept it simple and held off on making too many adjustments until after I had had it on my bow for a while.
There are so many adjustments it's INSANE! You can have your arrows as close to or as far away from your bow as you want. You can have the arrows really close together, or fanned out away from each other. It can be adjusted for right or left handed operation. It can be mounted top forward, or top back. And in shooting mode (Quivalizer out front) you can choose to run the arrows on the right side or the left side.
Make sure that you don't adjust it too close. I noticed when fine tuning some of my adjustments that it could easily get in the way of limb or cable operations.
Weight
Working with Steve Speck here at S&S Archery, I am becoming more and more aware of weight. Its very easy to say, ‘its only a few ounces”. And before you know it you are packing in 2 camp chairs because “it's only a couple pounds”... Yeah, keeping weight under control is VERY important. The most impressive thing about the Quivalizer is that it’s going to shave some serious weight off your bow. And more importantly it’s going to put that weight to work in a very functional way. My previous setup included the following: (this includes all screws and mounts. It does not include arrows)Quiver: 11 oz
12” stabilizer: 14 oz
Total weight 25 oz
This is a pretty darn good setup. And honestly I wish I would have had a longer stabilizer. The thing about a stabilizer that most people don't realize is that it's not how much weight, it’s WHERE that weight is located. Having that weight out away from your bow is what keeps your bow from moving around so much. Now let’s look at my setup with the Quivalizer: (again the weight includes all screws and mounts)Quivalizer: 12.8 oz.
With the Quivalizer my setup is 13 oz lighter AND I have a 20 inch stabilizer! Some archers say that they take their quiver off when they shoot. Well, that’s exactly what I just did. My quiver was 11 oz and I just removed 13 oz. Now all that weight is a fully functional stabilizer. AND it’s all on the opposite side of my rest and sight, helping to better balance my setup. Yet another benefit of this design is the vibration dampening effect that the arrows will have being on the Quivalizer.Real world
You can see from all the stats, and design that on paper the Quivalizer looks great. But how does it work in the real world and in real field situations? Here is my experience:
Shooting
On the shot, the Quivalizer does two things for me, the first is that it slows my bow's movement. My pin still moves, but now it moves much more SLOWLY. This in and of itself would make me more accurate, however it's more that that. It's allowing me to focus on hovering my pin over the target, making me less prone to punch the trigger. Now I can truly focus on the shot, and not try to time my shot with the pin over the target. Having the quiver on the left side of my bow was hard to get used to at first. But now I have realized that when reloading it’s actually easier to grab an arrow and nock when its on the same side of the bow.
Field Use
In the field I have been carrying my bow a few different ways. The first is with the Quivalizer mounted to the side of the bow. In this configuration i can strap my bow to my pack for the hike in, or carry it with my hand on the handle or sometimes by the string. With the Quivalizer in the shooting position, holding the bow by the string is obviously out. However i can still carry the bow by the handle, I just flip the bow so that the Quivalizer runs up the back of my arm. And I can put the bow over my shoulders with the sight on one side of my head, and the Quivalizer on the other. When on a stalk I usually keep an arrow nocked so having the Quivalizer in shooting mode is not going to change much, as it only sticks out a little ways past my arrow.