By Lindsey Carmichael

Since Doinker sponsored the A Shootout this year, a tournament I've shot in yearly since I was a kid, I got the chance to see and handle the components of their complete lineup of archery stabilizer gear. I was intrigued enough to follow through with them and recently had the opportunity to try out Doinker’s shiny new Quadra-Flex Stabilizer with an adjustable V-bar mount set. Having been a happy diehard Beiter Centralizer fan for years, I was skeptical but open to try something new. I was particularly interested in the Doinker setup’s ability to change the angle of the V-bars independently of each other.

I noticed from the very first shot that the Doinker setup deadened the feel and sound of the bow. Not only was the shot sensation smoother, but the sound from the bow was tighter and cleaner. I repeatedly changed back and forth from one setup to the other (new and old) to confirm my initial impressions.

I also played around with the angle on the V-bars and decided that, due to the extra length (at least in relation to my usual Beiter V-bars) it would be most comfortable to use them angled downward and slightly more inward than my previous setup. It took some time, arranging them to be at the exact same angle, and to be honest with you I’m not sure even now that they are 100 % perfectly even. Short of rigging up a laser level in some creative ways, I am not sure how to measure a perfect symmetry, but I cannot detect any adverse influence on the behavior of the bow.

However, the novelty of the adjustability makes up for the difficulty in obtaining perfection. Put another way, it’s cool enough that the Doinker setup is so adjustable that I don't mind it is more difficult to perfectly line them up.

It also helps that the clear plastic tuners look pretty sweet. And the downward sweep of the V-bars has a kind of Star Wars gadget gracefulness that’s hard not to appreciate, and it moves the center of the bow downward, I think. That, combined with the overall smooth feel of the bow, and the dampened sound, convinced me that this is the coolest and most efficient stabilizer I have ever shot. A Korean coach I worked with years ago, a friendly lady named Hyo-Jung Kim, taught me that the sound of the bow says volumes about how well—or how poorly—the bow has been tuned. Each time I release an arrow and hear that quick dense hum, I know it was a wise choice to retire my old faithful Beiter in favor of the shiny new American-made Doinker Quadra-Flex.

When I travel to Beijing to represent the United States in the Paralympics late this summer, I want to know that I have the best equipment for my bow. The Doinker Quadra-Flex has a minor drawback in my mind—the fact that it’s difficult to find perfect symmetry — but overall it is the setup I will happily trust to take with me to compete in China. Thanks, Doinker!