You may have heard whispers in the wind, talk around the water cooler or some hint of a special introduction coming from Bowtech. Well, the wait is over, and the 2018 Realm has burst onto the scene looking to claim its place among the best.
I was fortunate enough to get one of the pre-production rigs to run through a few tests and, if time allowed, take it to the woods for a little one-on-one time with a rutting Pennsylvania whitetail. My goal was to discover two things: first, what makes this bow special — and second, could this dog hunt?
So, what is it that sets this bow apart? It all starts with the Company’s popular Overdrive Binary Cam system, which is unique in that the axles are not your average axles; instead, the Cam Synchronization Axles (CSA) are locked into the cam’s rotation, forcing them to work together. SmartBow Technology is driven by the cam system and gives the shooter total control of string movement from full draw until the time the arrow leaves the string.
A double yoke system top and bottom attaches to each end of the CSAs, allowing fine-tuning of the cam and string positions for a perfectly centered shot — no more moving your rest left or right to account for these variances. Simply place your rest in the exact center position and tune the bow for personal perfection. You gain confidence knowing your rig is perfectly aligned with straight horizontal and vertical nock travel.
In addition to the performance enhancements, the Realm’s cams employ a simplified and more efficient version of PowerShift Technology. In this improved system, a FlipDisk is used to switch back and forth from Performance and Comfort setting, which generates about an 8 fps difference in speed and a noticeable draw cycle change.
The CSAs use a cantilever system with double bearings to accommodate the wider platform of the new limbs. These limbs, unlike past models, are a full solid core, not laminated. Bowtech brought the complete production of the limbs in-house so they have full control of the design, quality and testing processes. And every Bowtech model is required to withstand over 100,000 shot cycles.
The wider limbs coupled with the wider CSAs bring great stability to the system, and it plays out when locking onto the target. Coupling the limbs and riser is Bowtech’s CP Dual Lock pocket, which uses an elongated tab that extends down into an opening in the riser. That locks the pocket to the riser, and the limbs…
