North 40 Life Magazine | Page 51

XCENTRIC BOW REVIEWED BY DAN WATTS-MESSICK i admit it, when it comes to archery, I'm a tinkerer. Never satisfied, once I feel like I have the setup, I have to change something; sight, rest, arrows, you name it. I'm not sure how or when I developed this obnoxious and sometimes expensive habit, but there it is - Hi, my name is Dan and I'm a tinkerer. I didn't necessarily intend on switching bows anytime soon, but on a whim I sold the perfectly good bow that I was perfectly happy with (which was set up with a perfectly good sight, and a perfectly good rest, and a perfectly good... Well, you get the picture...) and, at the start of this year, found myself in the position no true archery friend likes to find themselves; bow-less. And so began this year's great adventure: Find Dan's new bow! I knew what I wanted… Sort of. I wanted what could be considered a cross over bow. Something that would work equally as well in the woods and on the 3D range. Something not terribly heavy, but not too light. Not too loud or with too much vibration. Something fast but controllable. Something long, but not too long. Modular draw length adjustment as well as adjustable let-off. It was the Goldilocks of bows. Not too hot, not too cold, but just right. It didn't take long before I zeroed in on the up and coming manufacturer, Xpedition Archery. At this point, I feel like a little background is in order. Xpedition Archery is owned by its parent company, Applied Engineering. This particular company has been manufacturing parts for the aerospace industry for nearly 50 years. To say they know a thing or two about machining precision would be an understatement. This translates into an unparalleled quality in design, engineering, and manufacturing. I placed an order for their flagship model, the Xcentric. I was able to check off almost every box on my wish list with this particular bow: 32.25" axle to axle 3.9 LBS 354 FPS IBO Modular draw length adjustment from 27 – 30-inches. 80% let-off (adjustable) When I called to place my order, I was concerned with how long it might take for the bow to actually ship. I had procrastinated long enough that I had my first 3D shoot of the year coming up in less than two weeks. While I had all of the parts and pieces to add to the bow once it arrived, I was still missing the main ingredient. What I was told by the friendly staff at Xpedition was the bow I ordered would ship in two days’ time and I would likely have it within the week. I