So you’ve decided to get a drop away arrow rest. Good choice, as it shoots arrows at a faster FPS than a whisker biscuit rest. But now the choice lies in what drop away arrow rest will be superior to its competition. Well, that’s the question that we had and that’s why we decided to review the best arrow rests to find the best drop away arrow rest.
#1. Quality Archery Products HDX Arrow Rest
While most of the time that you will see “quality” in a company’s name you will come out disappointed, quality archery products is one of the few companies that can actually back up its name. This drop away arrow rest is a fan favorite and has many people preaching its design and quality. But does it hold up to its promises or should you pass? As you guessed, it indeed does (because otherwise it wouldn’t be on the best drop away arrow rest list).
This arrow rest is made of stainless steel which is backed by a generous lifetime warranty. Lifetime warranty is always good to have in a product as that tells you about the quality of the item which was manufactured. After all, if the item made was designed with planned obsolescence in mind, they wouldn’t give any long term warranty as that would decrease their profits.
You can get both right handed and left handed versions of this arrow rest, to suit your specific needs. In addition, it also comes with the choice of 2 colors: Realtree AP and black. The rest itself weighs around 0.5 oz. The HDX model is basically Quality Archery taking their HD model and sparing no expenses to make an outstanding product. Sure, it’s not the cheapest arrow rest on the market, but quite frankly, it’s better to spend your money once and enjoy a product than save a couple of dollars and then be frustrated in the future.
The HDX arrow rest box comes with some tools, felt covers, instructions in paper and DVD format, the arrow rest itself, an extra arrow rest fork that has a groove which is a bit shallower and a cable clamp. They even threw in an extra complimentary SOG knife which was nice surprise. However you still need to supply a Philips screwdriver and a ruler to set up the centershot. However, you can skip out on the ruler if you want to just eye it by lining up the middle of the nocked arrow and your grip to the bow string itself.
Finally, the arrow rest itself is pretty quiet, especially compared to other non-dampened drop away arrow rests. A friendly word of advice is to have the rest high so that you won’t slap the arrow shelf that is on the riser.
#2. New Archery Products Apache Arrow Rest
This is an arrow rest for those who want a solidly built arrow rest that’s also budget conscious. It features tool-less adjustment knobs which are always appreciated as they make tuning available on the fly if you’re not carrying tools with you. This arrow rest also has a preinstalled felt sound deadener which is beneficial if you are looking to have a quiet drawback.
The rest is easy to install, and should only take around 10-15 minutes. A note to those who own the Genesis bow is that this arrow rest is tricky to use with that bow. That is due to the fact that the Genesis does not have a let off which means you have to have excellent for in order for the rest to go its upright position. But for other bows, there should be no issues.
However, there is a reason why this arrow rest comes at such a good price. There is no way to attach the arrow rest to the cord of the bow. If you decide to purchase this rest, get something like the Ripcord Football Cable Clamp or something similar. The drop away rest is also bulkier than many of its higher priced alternatives. But that is basically it, if you don’t mind these small hindrances then Apache is an excellent choice.
This rest is also built to survive harsh weather conditions, which makes it great if you are going to use it in those conditions. Finally the 360 degree sound dampening pad is a nice addition allowing you to shoot your arrows without making much noise. It’s a nice feature to have even though it won’t impact your shooting much unless you are hunting. Overall, this arrow rest does its job well and is a great value for its price.
#3. Quality Archery Designs Ultra W-QURH
The cheaper cousin of the HDX by Quality Archery Designs, the W-QURH is yet another great choice for a drop away arrow rest. This arrow rest, like the HDX, features a noise reducing laser-cut felt which makes shooting arrows much quieter than a non-dampened rest.
This bow comes in both left handed and the right handed versions. The W-QURH features a Velocity Drop-Away Technology that will stay cocked even during slow letdowns so that the rest itself will only drop away after the bow is fired.
We found that this arrow rest lacked a right screw and nut to enable us to fully attach it to the bow but you can always get them at a hardware store for less than a dollar so no complaints here. Like New Archery Products Apache Arrow Rest, this is a budget pick which means that the quality will not last as long as more premium arrow rests. And that is to be expected, you are after all getting what you are paying for. But we do feel the need to mention that as we want our readers to purchase products that they are not just happy with at first, but throughout the years.
That being said, this drop away arrow rest is still a fantastic value for its price. And if you don’t want a hole burned in your wallet, this rest is a great choice.
#4. Ripcord Technologies Ace Micro
There’s a reason why this arrow rest has gotten reader’s choice awards in Bowhunting World 4 times – that is because Ripcord puts quality first. Ripcord only makes arrow rests and nothing else, and that’s because that’s what they know how to make the best.
The Ace Micro is a full containment style drop away rest which is fully micro-adjustable. The launcher itself falls on the shot but it will stay up during a let down. The rest also comes in 3 different colors: black, red and pink. More customization is always nice to have even though the difference will be purely aesthetic.
The rubber on the drop away is much nicer than the moleskin that you will commonly see on different rests. The rest also has no fletching contact issues which mean that you don’t need perfect timing to clear and you have more room for error. Ripcord is also commonly praised for its customer service which is something that is worth noting. When you purchase a product, it’s always good to have good customer service in the case something is off.
Overall, the Ripcord Ace Micro can definitely be considered as the best drop away arrow rest that you can purchase today. Made from quality materials and featuring built in micro adjustments, this is truly a drop away rest for a professional shooter.