Review: Advante-x
Some of the best small-diameter stabilisers out there?
In last issue’s Ultimate Gear feature we picked out the Arizona Archery Enterprises Advante-x as the best small-diameter stabiliser system. It’s notoriously difficult to review stabilisers, for several reasons. Set-ups are essentially personal and individual archers will use the same equipment in different ways. More than that, quantifying the resultant ‘feel’ of a shot is exceptionally difficult to do in print – or, indeed, any other way that doesn’t involve actually having a bow in your hand. This is true of much archery gear – and stabilisers more than anything, where the effects of different gear are extremely subtle. Previous reviewers for this magazine have at times delivered sound spectrograms in an attempt to quantify some of the data, but these don’t really help the reader that much.
Despite there being a reasonable amount of technical data on recurve stabilisation, when you ask top coaches and archers about their stabilisation set-up and how they arrived at their current configuration, all will say that it was achieved through trial and error. It’s also particularly difficult to explain and justify the differences in cost between, say, a £25 longrod off Amazon and a £200 handmade, highmodulus carbon rod from the USA.
For me, stabiliser systems should inspire confidence, both in your shot and in their construction. They should be light (so weight can be added in the right place), easy to put together, lock effectively and confidently, be easy to adjust, be stiff, give great feedback and feel to a shot – and look good, too. Then they need to be effective in the wind.
In recurve, stabilisers are generally split between larger diameter hollow carbon rods (epitomised by the Win & Win HMC series) and small (sometime called microdiameter) rods. All the best rods are now made out of what they called ‘high-modulus’ carbon, an engineering development that promises extra stiffness, exactly where you want it.
The AAE Advante X system, using half-inch rods, has been around for a couple of years but it delivers all of the above in spades. As we were testing a recurve rig,
AAE delivered a set consisting of a 30in longrod and two 12in side rods, along with one of their double-mount ‘Gripper’ V-bars, which uses a ‘Quick Disconnect’ system, as used by Jesse Broadwater. Designed to reduce the tedium of screwing siderods in, these take a brief amount of getting used to but quickly feel like one of those things that will rapidly become essential. The disadvantage of such a system is that it requires an extra component. The Gripper also allows full adjustment of horizontal and vertical axes.
The rods come well packaged in stiff, clear plastic tubes with foam (the same system is used for delivering the company’s Hot Rods series of stabilisers), while the Gripper comes in a standard clamshell plastic pack. The Gripper is very much the heart of a system like this. AAE designed the wider ‘body’ portion to give extra clearance, with one side tapered to look good but give maximum surface area contact.
I set the rig up originally with my normal extender, but found I didn’t need it for balance and removed it to lock the Gripper directly against the riser bushing. Once tightened with a drilled V-bolt, it felt exceptionally permanent. The Gripper also features what AAE call a BLS or (rather prosaically) ‘bolt lock system’, which requires a large hex key to use and claims to be resistant to unwanted seizing or binding that can sometimes happen with anodised parts.
The Gripper’s two axes are marked with etched numbers in order to record settings or adjustments; slightly confusingly, these are not mirrored on each side, so you will be matching and recording two different numbers. This was my only criticism of the Gripper and seems like an easy fix. Once you have found the positions you need, of course, this will cease to be an issue.
Each rod comes with a rubber dampener that can be slid up and down the length as necessary. (I have found over the years using
THE SYSTEM FELT GREAT AND I CAN'T WAIT TO TAKE IT OUT ONTO A FIELD AND GET THE FULL EXPERIENCE
a range of products that this can make quite a difference to the feel and sound of the shot.) The long rod came with three black anodised 1oz weights attached; as usual, more weights are available from your usual archery dealer. The side rods come with no extra weight but I had several standard size 5/16 weights handy to add later (after the pics had been taken).
Aesthetically, I really liked what the Advante-x delivered; this is, of course, personal taste, but a critical part of the experience. The stacked rubber ends give a hint what I can only describe as an ‘art deco’ feel. The package has to look elegant as well as feel right in the hand and on the bow. If you don’t like the burnt orange standard colour of AAE’S branding, all rods also come with a set of five stickers that enable the buyer to match accessories as necessary – a nice touch to improve the user experience.
In use on the home range – outdoor ranges being closed at the time of writing – the system felt great: incredibly stiff, easy to balance and manoeuvre, with a pleasing ‘flatness’ to the shot I like; other readers may prefer more feedback. The only way is to try for yourself. I can’t wait to take it out onto a field and get the full experience over a round.
The Advante X system has plenty of competition. In the USA, Shrewd and Ramrods are just two companies using similar designs to make high-end stabiliser systems. In Europe, the larger diameter rods are still more common on shooting lines. Perhaps that might change sometime soon?