Hmmmm. What might this be?

It works like a thumb tab, but it's not.

You have to curl/hook your fingers around the string as always.

The thing is, it lets you relax your fingers, yet maintain the hook.

When you decide to let it rip, it's gone !!!

I'm excited about it.

I shot 3 or 4 arrows into my bag target in the shop from about 10 ft away, then I went out to my range, and shot 3 or 4 warm up shots with it from 10 yards just to make sure I had a feel for it, then moved on back, and shot this group.



Two of the arrows are bare shaft

It works VERY well.

I'll be doing a full review of it with pictures of how it is built, and description of functionality sometime soon.

Descriotion of, and some insight to the:

Death Adder "Strike" finger tab add on.

First off, I have always believed, that you get a crisper/cleaner loose of the string "IF" the finger pressure on the string is generated mostly from the finger just below the arrow. For lack of a better term, lets call it the "Trigger Finger"

For split finger shooters, the trigger finger is the middle finger, and for 3-under shooters, the trigger finger is the top finger, as those are the ones directly below the arrow. The cam/string lock is located, and positioned to accommodate that finger.

I have (always) struggled with that third/bottom finger drag, and have to be constantly mindful to keep from doing it.

I first came up with an idea some years ago of layering a tab where it is thicker under the "trigger finger". Layering helped, but it wasn't quite what I was looking for.

Not long after I came up with that idea I came up with this one, and have been toying with it on/off ever since, but not to any real thought of it being a production item.

I did however play with it for one extended period of time, which was in an effort to help keep an old friend of mine shooting. He had horrible arthritis, and it almost had him shut down in archery due to the pain in his string hand when shooting. I didn't want to lose my hunting & shooting buddy, so I dove into it with both feet.

What I built for that friend was this style tab, but attached it to a buckle on wrist strap like used for mechanical releases. I built him two. One for 3-under, and one for split finger, because he shot both ways. This design not only relieved the finger strain from holding the curl of the fingers on the string, but also shifted most of the draw weight load off his fingers, and onto his wrist. Long story short, it kept him shooting (comfortably) right up to the day before he passed away. That was around 4 years of use of this tab.

Recently, I had a guy see pictures of those wrist strap tabs, and asked me to build one for him. I had completely forgotten about them, until he showed me the pictures, that I had posted somewhere about it.

I built the wrist strap tab for the guy, but before sending it to him I shot with it a lot in order to make sure I had it working right for him. Of course, working right for me may not work exactly right for him, so it was built to be completely adjustable.

Anyway, while doing the testing of that tab I realized some very notable relief of the finger pressure, even when the draw weight load was still on them, and not on the wrist. I don't need any draw weight relief, but my fingers are badly arthritic, so that prompted me to try the cam/string lock on a regular tab.

I played around with different sizes & shapes of the cam lock, but in the end the barrel shape, and current size of it always worked best, so that's what I am running with.

From what I can see - due to the overall more relaxed finger pressure, it greatly reduces the lateral movement of the string created by the string roll off the fingers, When you decide to let it go - It's Gone !

In addendum, what this tab does is this:

(1) It allows you to hook/hold the string with less overall finger pressure. Quite a lot less. It does not relieve any pressure generated by the draw weight itself. Only the pressure of holding the fingers curled/hooked on the string is relieved.

(2) It allows you to accurately feel, and keep your finger pressure from the string load more on the finger just below the arrow (that trigger finger).

(3) Unlike a strap/thumb tab, you still have to curl, and hold the string with your fingers using this tab, which allows you to maintain the anchor point, and all the form you have always used when shooting fingers. You don't have to learn anything new, except for getting used to the "feel" on those fingers

(4) It helps you to be more aware of your back tension, and follow through on the loose.

All four of those things produce not only a much better loose of the string, but a much more comfortable one as well.

A side note to all of this: My bow shoots really quiet, but this made it shoot quieter. Which, I guess is testament to how sloppy my loose is with a regular tab. LOL

You would think, that an item so simple in design would be easy to accomplish. It's not, but I'm getting there.

This is where I am currently at with the prototype.

The design of the STRIKE string/cam lock is ready to rock.

The tab has to have a 3-piece palm plate, where the cam lock inserts between the two top pieces of the palm plate. Those two pieces have deep lines scored into the inside faces of them that meet the belt of the cam lock. Once you tighten it down, the belt stays put.

But, I had to use some old/used fasteners I had on hand, that were of the thread size needed. They were to long, so I had to make up the slack with some washers. I've been researching sources for a suitable fastener size.

Thanks.

I just found, and ordered the fasteners I need to complete the project, so we're getting close.

I'm looking forward to doing it.

The written description, even with picture illustration, is sometime hard to grasp.

When I do the video, there will be no question as to how it works, and how well it works.

I still need to do some fine tuning on my bow using this tab, but yesterday I was shooting bare shafts from 30 yards, that flew almost as well, and accurate as my fletched arrows.

Due to the shift of the finger pressure being mostly on the top finger, and that shift being very accurate/consistent from shot to shot, I had to lower my nocking point by a little over 1/4".

That's pretty darn slick. I can see that being very useful to people.