Bear Archery "The Truth" Bow Report

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I for one am delighted to see what has happened to Bear Archery since it acquired by Escalade Sports. The new owners are directing a great deal of planning and effort toward restoring Bear to the position of respect and near reverence that this historic organization has always enjoyed. The 2007 product line featuring Fred Bear’s traditional bows and the compounds led by the new “The Truth” are certainly a strong step in that direction.

This Bow Report will present data from tests of The Truth at 60 pounds peak draw force using three different modules to adjust draw length between 28 inches, 29 inches, and 30 inches. I have always found it interesting to see how well the designers manage to achieve the progression from one draw length to another using the modular approach. This type of test makes that possible by comparing the force-draw curves and other significant characteristics that contribute to the performance of the bow.

The Truth is built on a 26-inch-long handle machined from 6061-T6 aluminum alloy. The reflexed design has the low point of the grip set back about 2 1/2 inches from a line through the centers of the pivot points of the limb pockets. The axle-to-axle length of the bow is a nominal 33 inches, resulting from 12-inch length of the limbs and the limb angle necessary to establish the “past-parallel” limb action. The handle has three counter-bored and tapped holes (1/4-20) for mounting either one- or two-piece bow quivers, a stainless steel bushing tapped 5/16-24, and two drilled and tapped (5/16-24) holes for attaching an arrow rest or cushion plunger. The standard two-hole pattern for sight mounting is featured on the offside of the sight window.

The Truth’s handle grip area is primarily composed of the handle’s metal, but it is inset on both sides with a laminated wooden insert to create a slightly rounded cross-section. Some archers favor this design because it offers a more torque-free grip for the bow hand. The cable guard consists of a short filament-reinforced rod set at a slight angle in the handle just above the arrow pass. It mounts a Teflon slider to carry the cables. There are two sets of opposed LimbSaver vibration dampeners mounted in the ends of the risers—one at each end. *Read the rest of the report by downloading the PDF