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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of the Hunting Gear Podcast.
I'm your host Dan Johnson.
And today we are talking specifically about stabilizers with Ricky Brooley of Stoker Eye Stabilizers.
Now we get into what makes their stabilizers so special,
and then we have a really good conversation about what stabilizers actually do,
how you can benefit from them, and we break it all down.
And so that's what today's podcast is about.
If you guys are gear nuts, you're going to love this.
If you're more of an archer, less bow hunter, more archer, I don't know if those two things are mutually exclusive or not.
But if you are a tweaking nerd, this might be the episode for you.
So with that said, I'm going to get right into the commercials here today,
and there's just one we got to send a shout out to our family over at Huntstand.
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So go take care of that at huntstand.com.
Really quick intro.
Let's get into today's episode with Ricky Bruley.
Three, two, one.
All right, on the Hunting Gear podcast with me today, Mr. Ricky Bruley, Ricky, what's up, man?
How's it going, bud?
I'm doing pretty good.
You know, I'm going to be honest with you.
I think the name Ricky is awesome.
And when I close my eyes and I envision the name Ricky,
I envision a closing picture like Ricky Vaughn from the movie.
What's that movie called?
I forget it.
Major League.
Yep.
Just a badass.
So anyway, you probably are like, God, this guy's a dumbass.
No, no.
Full disclosure is actually named after Little Ricky from I Love Lucy.
Okay.
Yeah, the little son.
Yeah.
So that's where my name came from.
So I had a bit of a scare earlier this morning and last night.
Oh, yeah.
So I applied for Kansas and applied for Kansas and I applied for South Dakota.
Okay.
Okay.
Yeah.
And then I lost my wallet and I had to read like get new cards, right?
Cancel all those cards and get new cards.
Well, Kansas and South Dakota both had my old card.
And so South Dakota was trying to pull money and obviously that card doesn't exist anymore.
So I had a scare like today would have been the last possible day to do it in order to get.
So those two states get paid.
Oh, man.
So there was a moment there where I had kind of an OSHIP moment where I was just like, oh,
my God, both states are not going to happen now because of this, this clerical error,
I guess you would call it.
Have you ever had a scenario like that go down?
Not, not quite to that extent, you know, just where, you know, because I have a tendency to kind of put some things off and then all of a sudden it's like last second, last minute, you know, putting in an application.
I did that for Colorado this year.
And, you know, so that's probably about the closest thing.
I think bear hunting in Wisconsin to it.
You have to apply for those tags and every single year, like I get it in just just at the wire, you know, and thankfully they, you know, the state sends me an email.
You know, quick reminder, hey, don't forget because this area that I want to hunt bears in Wisconsin takes almost 10 years to draw.
So I started applying or started, yeah, I started applying when I was 30.
Now I'm 42.
I missed like four years because, you know, it's like all of a sudden I get the notification.
I'm like, man, I don't, I don't think I have put my application in for last year.
So I missed like four years in between. So if I hadn't done that, I would have, I would have my tag probably by now.
So just imagine, and I'm sure it happens every year.
Let's say like a Montana breaks elk, archery elk tag.
Those are, I think you have to have minimum 13 years or something like that to go or one of these sheep hunts.
And you draw the tag and then something happens and you just don't get to go.
Like that would, that would, that would just imagine how mad some of those people would get.
Right. Oh, yeah, it'd be terrible. I mean, all that time spent, you know, what's nice is that some states now are allowing you to give them back.
So that's kind of cool. I think Colorado does that. And then there's another buddy of mine that drew a tag.
I think is an elk tag and I can't remember. It was either New Mexico or Arizona.
And he's his shoulder is bad now. So he can't draw his bowbacks, but he was able to relink with this tag back into the pool.
And I think he still maintains his points and everything. It's just, they just redraw that tag for somebody else.
So that's kind of cool.
That's a good thing because there's so many things that can happen in a year, you know, with sickness and then, you know, kids and just life and funeral where, you know, hey, I got this, but I can't go, you know, I can't go do it now.
So whatever, whatever.
One thing that I don't talk about on this particular podcast or I know I've talked about it before, but not into any great detail.
And that stabilizers.
And you guys, Stokerized. Okay, so it's vapor trail and Stokerize are under the same umbrella of companies. Correct.
That's correct. Yep. Okay.
So how many years has Stokerize stabilizers been a thing?
Gosh, I couldn't tell you how long exactly, but I know.
So we acquired Stokerized in 2021. Okay.
And they had been around for, I'd say at least a decade up to that point.
Kyle Stokes is the original founder and then his partner, Sean Lutz, and they built a really good brand.
And especially, you know, they did some really innovative things for the hunting side of things.
And, you know, it just kind of got to a point where, you know, I think the market just got so saturated with stabilizers.
It got really difficult to compete, all that kind of stuff.
And Kyle owns a pro shop out in Pennsylvania called Swatara Creek.
And his focus really got kind of switched over to the pro shop and they got into doing some e-bikes and stuff like that.
And so their attention kind of went off of the stabilizers for a few years.
And we had had a relationship with them up to that point for quite some time.
I'd been shooting Stokerize stabilizers for at least five or six years, something like that.
And so it was a perfect fit because of all the customization.
You know, we thrive on that with our arrow rests and the different colors of our bowstring.
So it was just a perfect fit. Gotcha. Okay.
Almost just like that, that skew that vapor trail did not have a grasp on.
And with that accusation came everything you needed from a stabilizer.
Yep, exactly. Gotcha. Yeah.
All right. And so, so they've been around for 10 years.
What makes Stokerize stabilizer? Because here's what I see.
I see something that sticks out the end of the bow. You call it a stabilizer.
I don't know anything about it. What makes a stabilizer good?
Well, there's a it's kind of dependent upon the personal preference of the shooter.
So we try to have multiple options that can accommodate everybody. Right.
So I would say for the majority of hunters, they want, they probably just want something to put on the bow.
That's going to help reduce some of the vibration of the riser.
And so that's typically where you see, you know, just a little, you know, probably short for maybe five, six inch rubberized stabilizer out the front.
And, but for the more serious shooter, you know, you can, you can better balance your bow to help with your accuracy with, with other options.
So there's, you know, you can.
With some of our carbon stabilizers that we have, they're really lightweight and you can extend your weight out further.
And get that weight out a little bit further. That adds a little bit more stability, but you're not adding a whole lot of bulk or weight to the bow.
And stiffness is really important with the carbon shafts. That's what a lot of people want.
Because if it's not, if it's not real stiff, you get a lot of wobble out in the end and then that kind of defeats the whole purpose of the stabilizers are in and of itself.
So, so there's a lot of different things. You know, we have, we have a patent on the acrylic material for a stabilizer.
And those are the, that's the stabilizer that we have all the variety of colors in.
And that's actually the best dampening product as far as, you know, a shaft on a stabilizer on the market.
So we found that they have the best dampening by sound and vibration properties than any other material on the market.
So that's one area where we kind of stand out.
Okay. All right. So, you mentioned customization, elaborate a little bit on how stoker eyes specifically, how you're able to customize your, your setup.
So we've got, we've got just like your standard straight stabilizer that either comes out the front of the bow or if you have like an offset bracket that you can attach to come out the, you know, the rear of the bow.
So we've got that series, then we've got another series called the SS one. So there's an offset bracket.
And that offset bracket holds the shaft to the stabilizer in place and you can actually slide the stabilizer forward and back so you can shift that weight further forward or you can shift it further back.
And by having weight further back, it acts the same way as it would if you had weight way out in the front, it acts similarly, but now you don't have this big long stabilizer sticking out the front of your bow.
So if you're climbing into a tree or you're doing a spot in stock or something like that, you get the same properties as a really long stabilizer, but on a shorter platform.
And the nice thing about that offset bracket is now you would set it up on the opposite side of the bow that say your arrow rest and your site and your quiver are on.
So that offsets that weight of the bow so you can, and you can swing that out a little bit further or you know, keep it in tight depending on the weight of your accessories.
And so it helps balance that all out a little bit better.
Okay.
So, so break it break it down for me. Someone who's stupid.
What does a stabilizer actually do?
Like I said before, it has two main functions. One is to balance the bow and the other is to reduce vibration, which then in turn also reduces noise.
Yeah. Okay. So I look at something as balance as really.
Okay, so I'll take a backward step here.
I was told by someone that a stabilizer that's four inches.
I would say I respect his thoughts and I understand he's very knowledgeable about archery compound bows and whatnot.
Anything that's four inches or inside does not serve a stabilization purpose.
Is that a fault? Like, is that a accurate comment?
Well, I mean, yes, and I think, you know, it depends.
There's a lot of different factors, right? Because you could put a four inch stabilizer on the end of your bow and then you could add a ton of weight to it.
So that could effectively change the way that the bow is going to balance or especially like after you release the arrow.
It's going to change the way the bow falls away from your hand on the shot,
which is also something that you want to take into consideration with the stabilization.
You want to everybody's a little bit different. Some people like to have the bow just kind of when you shoot,
they like to just have it not really move. Some people really like to have the bow kind of fall forward,
all those kinds of things. I mean, most importantly, it's that you have a loose grip and all that kind of stuff.
But so to answer that question, for the most part, I think, yeah, if you're going to put a stabilizer on there,
you probably want to go a little longer than that. We have a five inch stabilizer and just so that we can accommodate some of those more compact setups that people want.
But typically, our best sellers are eight inch, 10 inch, and actually even longer stabilizers would be getting more popular and even in the hunting area where some guys are shooting 11, 14 even.
So, and me personally, I don't like to have it that. I don't like to have the stabilizer that long.
So I like to use an offset bracket where I can slide the stabilizer back behind the riser and you still get a similar effect that way.
You still get similar balance.
Okay. And so you mentioned in that conversation about how a bow will fall away from you, or it could potentially fall back towards you once the arrows released.
What is the difference in is that just personal preference or does it actually serve a purpose to have your weight in front of the bow or behind the bow?
Like I said, either either way, whether you have it in front of the bow or behind the bow, it can have still have a similar effect.
And every bow is a little bit different too. So I think the conventional thinking is, and when you see like, especially like professional like recurve shooters, you'll see when they shoot that they let that bow fall forward completely.
I mean, they literally aren't. There's only just like a little loop that's between their fingers that holds the bow to their hand. They let it just fall forward.
And, you know, again, like, I think that's kind of the traditional thinking how it's taught and kind of what you want.
And everybody's a little bit different. But ideally, I think that's kind of how you want your bow to react. I like minded to just kind of sit there.
I don't really want, I don't really need it to fall forward or anything like that. I found that I can, as long as I've got the right weight and I'm balanced properly.
I don't really want the bow to kick back at all. But I just either want it to be steady in my hand or maybe go forward just a little bit.
But I most certainly like, as far as left to right, I want it to just come straight out of my hand.
Yeah. That's one thing that always kind of surprises me. I've seen some guys with some setups, you know, for target archery or they're just, you know, backyard shooters.
And they have a real long, have a real long stabilizer.
Yeah. You mentioned it's getting more popular on the hunting side of things too.
When you're in a tree, let's say, not necessarily a ground blind. But I'm sure that comes with its own set of challenges. But if you're in a tree, is there, and you're shooting at an angle now.
Do you have to compensate or change your adjustment of your stabilizer for a downward shot versus a straight backyard target shot?
Well, I don't know if you necessarily have to change it. I think that it's important that you shoot that you practice both ways.
If you're going to be shooting from a tree stand and you have, you know, kind of an idea of typically how high you're going to be up in the tree. It's always good to practice that way, just so you can see, you know, how it feels.
Obviously, if your bow is tilted downwards, you're going to have less of a downward force on your bow on, you know, out on the end because, you know, that stabilizer is now kind of pointing down.
But I think that gravity is having a little less effect on it, I think. And so, I've never had to, like, really in my head go, okay, you're in a tree now, so make sure that you aim differently.
And I've never had to, like, change my sight or do anything like that. It's just, it's always important to shoot in all the different scenarios that you know you may be shooting in just to make sure that you know how that feels.
That's why a lot of guys are now going to some of the, you know, the total archery challenges and some of these mountain shoots where it really tests your skills up and down because that's really important. And in all reality, the most important thing in those types of shots is that your third axis
Leveling is set up properly on the site of the bow. Gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah. By adding in. So, so the site and the rest, they obviously play two huge roles. And if you adjust one, you have to adjust the other. Okay.
And if you throw a stabilizer on your bow, does that impact the site or the rest?
It most certainly could have an effect on your point of impact, for sure, because, you know, one thing that I've noticed is, you know, when I really started getting putting a lot of attention and stabilizers, you know, like you had said before, target shooters are using them.
Obviously, there's something to that, right? So, so when I really started to kind of dive in, and this was this was long before, you know, we had acquired Stoker Eyes, but, and I was playing around with all kinds of different stabilizers just to kind of get a different feel.
But when I found the right balance for my bow, my groups did tighten up. And so what that means to me is it may not necessarily change your point of impact, but it may mean that your bow is now not as forgiving as it could be.
So your groups might open up a little bit. You might not be as steady. Your arrow is going to maybe, you know, not hit that X that might be, you know, an inch over here or an inch over there instead of, you know, being really tight in on the X. So having the proper balance in your bow can really tighten up your groups.
Gotcha. Gotcha.
And so when a guy is at full draw, okay, and we've talked about the damp, you know, you mentioned dampening, but I'm, I'm now talking about the site window and what that what that pin is actually doing.
And, you know, for me, I struggle personally, I do not shoot a stabilizer. And it's that it's trying to get it, get it to the point where I'm at full draw, the pin is perfect.
It's, you know, not as much movement. And I found find out the more I shoot, the less movement pin movement I have. And so does is a stabilizer supposed to help with that pin movement to slow it down or to eliminate it.
It certainly could. Again, you know, and it could work against you if you don't have a balance properly. And so, so much of that comes with just playing around with stuff, trying different weights.
And you can, you know, there's all kinds of videos out there that can say, well, you know, if this is the issue that you're having, try putting more weight here or try doing this or try, you know, extend it out a little bit, that sort of thing.
But again, you know, you always want to, you know, you always want that pin to just kind of be able to float around in there, you know, and some people kind of have a different, you know, I've heard of guys say that they just, they kind of try to figure eight their pin within the, you know, the X that they're trying to shoot at things like that, which I don't, I don't focus so much on that deeply on it.
You know, I just try to get the pin on there, just let it float around in there. And then as soon as I'm floating in that circle perfectly where I want it, then I, you know, let it fly and, and, and arrow hits where I want it to.
So, gotcha.
All right. So on a site or a rest.
Each adjustment causes the arrow to do something different. Okay.
Yeah.
And how do you know how, like, yeah, there's videos out there that show that that show and all these things. But how does a guy know whether he needs to put more weight behind him or more weight in front of them, or needs a shorter stabilizer or a longer stabilizer.
Yeah, again, it's kind of a tough, tough thing to answer. Because again, and I'll just speak from my own personal experience is that if I'm, you know, if I'm shooting and I'm, and I just don't feel like my pin is settling in really good if I'm, if my groups are kind of opened up.
Because I know what I have the ability to do as far as my shooting skills. And when I have the proper setup, I know how I can shoot. And then, of course, you know, there's always other factors, you know, for shooting outside. There's all kinds of other things that could go on there.
Right. So you always got to be mindful of that. Maybe I'm just having an off day. You know, so it's not always necessarily the equipment. But again, to go back to the question that you asked, it's, it's more for me just kind of experimenting and kind of playing around.
You know, if I feel like the bow is kind of kicking back on the shot a little bit, then I want to either extend my stabilizer out or add some weight to the end to ensure that the bow stays either steady or falls a little bit forward.
And the same thing goes for the left to right to, you know, if my bow is, you know, kind of tipping to the right as I shoot, you know, because of all the weight that I have on that side of the bow with all the accessories, then I can take, if I've got an offset bracket on it, I can just swing that weight
out just a little bit. And I just do it incrementally until when I shoot the bow doesn't tilt on me when I'm on the shot. So again, like, you know, like you said, there are some videos and there are, there are some standards that you can do.
But I think it's, it's for the most part, it's, it's pretty straightforward. You know, if you want your bow to fall forward, add more weight or extend your stabilizer out. If you want it to, you know, if it's, if it's who aggressive that way, then you can, you know, do the opposite.
So, gotcha. So it has a, it has an impact throughout the entire shot process, unlike a site or arrest is really its main focus is during the shot. Right. You know, settling the pin, releasing the arrow and those two specific things have, you know, they have their own shot.
They have their own roll through throughout the, you know, just before the shot versus a stabilizer from what you just described sounds like it is before, during and after it's, it's throughout the entire process that can impact how everything works.
Absolutely. Yep. Absolutely. And so much of it is, is dependent upon, you know, your skill level and how far you're shooting to. So that's the challenging part about stabilizers is the, you know, the majority of the market, you know, their hunters that probably aren't shooting super far.
And so the necessity to have all these different, you know, weight options and playing with things. It's not, you know, it's not necessary, but there's an increasing number of people that are really trying to extend their range.
And so there's a need for all of that. And, and again, especially in the, in the area of the 3D shoots with the, you know, the long range stuff uphill downhill that's where that stabilization really can play a critical role in your accuracy.
I just had something popping into my head, more of an idea, but adding weight to a bow.
In order to help you build up muscle and muscle memory. And then removing that boat, that weight during a hunt that allows you to hold the bow steadier just just from the standpoint that it's, it's lighter.
Is that a thing at all?
Well, I mean, I get the train of thought there and that, you know, you've built up the stabilizer muscles because that's, that's really the thing.
I think the key that's kind of important, but also so much of it is your form, you know, having the proper grip, all of those things that play a role in that.
But for me personally, I feel like it would be somewhat detrimental because now you're used to shooting the bow with the balance that it has.
And now you just pulled all of that off. It's going to change. It's going to change some things. So it doesn't necessarily mean that the statement you made isn't true.
I, because I've never tried it. So, but just in, in theory, the way that I would envision it, that it is, it would have a detrimental effect on my shooting if I just took everything off.
Okay. Now talking to someone like myself, not necessarily a stokerized pitch, but just a stabilizer pitch in general to somebody who does not currently shoot a stabilizer.
Well, basically, yeah, the first few questions that I'm going to ask is what, what is your style of hunting? You know, are you, are you primarily a hunter? Are you just target shooting? Are you doing both those kinds of things?
And, you know, because what's nice about somebody who might be doing both, you know, there's options for quick disconnect. You know, so you can quick pull a stabilizer off, put another one on so you're not having to sit there and, you know, twist one on, twist one off.
Typically, if you've got somebody that's both going to both hunt and target, they'll usually have a separate bull for each. So again, it just kind of depends. What's the primary use going to be?
And what's your, what is your effective range? So if, you know, if it's a majority of archers out there who are hunters, typically they're, they're probably going to, they're not going to want to probably spend a lot of money.
So, you know, you're going to go something that, you know, we would probably recommend an acrylic stabilizer. It's a little bit on the more economical side as far as price goes.
And it's going to have the higher dampening or the greater dampening properties as far as vibration and noise. So that's going to be kind of the ideal setup for that particular individual.
Now, if I got a guy that's coming in says, Oh, I'm, you know, I want to get better at some of my long range shooting, that kind of, that kind of stuff.
So then we're going to start maybe exploring some of the more high end options. Maybe you have an offset bracket where they can, you know, they can shoot that SS one where they can shift the weight to the side forward and back.
We've even got another option called the stasis that does that same thing, but there's a pivot point on the back. So now you can pivot it.
And, and so now you have kind of an infinite adjustability in that stabilizer. And what's nice about that stasis is you can kind of move it from bow to bow to bow.
And it's, and typically, I haven't found too many people that can't find a good balance point without stabilizer because it literally has an infinite amount of adjustability.
Okay. So in that sense, it could be the last stabilizer you ever buy that you could move from this bow to that bow. Now, it's a little more on the expensive side.
But again, if you're the kind of guy that likes to buy a new bow every year, but you don't want to have to invest in a new stabilizer every time you change your setup, that's a good option for you.
So that's, that's typically the pitch that I would go with is just, you know, what are you shooting, how far are you shooting.
You know, and then we can kind of cater to them to them from there. And then in our pro shop, obviously, we've got an advantage over a lot of other pro shops because we've got every single option in house so they can literally try everything we have before they walk out the door.
Yeah, I'll tell you this, man, I like to shoot my deer, especially white tails from a tree stand or saddle or whatever, you know, 20 yards and in. I mean, that's just, that's how I, my goal is to get that close to them.
Now, out west, that's a completely different story, and I can definitely see how a stabilizer would be beneficial. I just need to go and do it, right? Yeah, longer draw times longer.
You know, because I feel like this year, my white tail, I drew back, centered it, pulled the trigger like that fast, that quick, that close. There's really, you know, there's really no need for all this, all the extra bells and whistles.
But as you start to take the longer shots, you know, 20 plus or hell in out west, you know, a 60 yard option or longer even.
Yeah, I can definitely see myself playing around with some more stabilizers as I start to progress in western types, honey.
Yeah, yeah, and there's kind of a fine line there too between, because when if you're out west here elk hunting or something like that, and you still want to make sure that you're, you're somewhat compact and you probably don't want to add too much weight because you're going to be carrying
both of the mountains, you know, so you want to try to still keep it lightweight, but then you want to have the options to be able to add some weight on the front or add some weight on the end if you want, or on the backside if you want those kinds of things.
And then the other factor that I was thinking about too is, you know, some stabilizers you're going to, you know, if you have a lot of guys like to use thinner overall diameter stabilizers, you know, smaller diameter because the wind can now have an effect on the stabilization
because that wind is pushing that stabilizer over, you know, it's almost acting like a little bit of a sale so it kind of, you know, that could affect things too and typically, I mean, of all the hunting I've ever done in the mountains, very rarely do I, are we in a situation where it's just completely calm, you know what I mean, you get gusts of wind that come up, you get all kinds of things like that so
things that you just have to take into consideration as well, so absolutely. Okay, and now I'm looking at the Stokerized website, and you've already mentioned this, you know, you kind of got anything from, like, $100 to $200 and almost $300.
How do you know, like, where would be a good starting point for someone getting into stabilizers?
We typically recommend going right to the acrylic hunter, and so like I said, the eight inches is probably the most popular, but then you've got, you know, here in the Midwest, we've got a lot of guys that really like to keep it compact so you can see there's the acrylic
hunter, G2, the six inch, and again so now you're not, you're not adding too much bulk, you're not adding too much length so now you're still kind of staying compact, but the biggest feature that you're going to get from that stabilizer is that vibration reduction, which is really nice on the shot, you know, because when you when you've got a lot of vibration running through your bow.
It just feels so much better to have a bow that's dead in your hand when you take that shot and it's, and it's, it's going to be quieter too, which is kind of a nice feature as well.
So that's typically where we start with people, and then, you know, you can work your way up if you want something that's a little bit stiffer, if you want to go a little bit longer we've got some aluminum options that are, it's fluted so that adds some stiffness to it but it's, it's
still a little bit on the lighter side and, and it's a more economical material then say when you start getting into carbon. Again, the carbon is really good because you can get it really stiff so you can add some length to it without it, you know, being too floppy.
Because that with the acrylic you'll notice that we can only go so long with those until it kind of turns into a wet noodle and now you're just defeating the purpose of you having the stabilizer on your bow so
So that's typically where we start is with the acrylic hunter. Okay. And then I take it the, the stasis, right? One of the, like the carbon stasis would be the ultimate stabilizer for someone who shoots a lot who is a backyard shooter and also a serious bow hunter.
Yes, absolutely. And, and that's again like I was talking about before that's your option that has, it's, it's more likely that you're going to be able to move that stabilizer to your next setup without having to, you know, buy a new stabilizer or change up the setup a whole lot because it's just got so many
adjustability options that it's, it's your, it's going to be your more universal option and it's, and it's still very compact.
Yeah. So, is there anything that you could tell us on a, a weight versus length? Like, do you have any studies to show that there is a, maybe a sweet spot in your testing on how much weight is the best versus how much a length out front or out back is the best?
Honestly, I know that there are some folks out there that have done some of that testing. And since we've bought the company, it's been, it's just been a whirlwind, right? So we've finally been able to start investing some time into coming up with some new advancements with the current lineup that we have.
And so we've been doing a lot of testing with that and we're still kind of doing some testing. So I can't really speak exactly to that. But I know that there is, there is some sweet spots where, you know, and again, depending on the style of hunter or the style of archer that you are, you know, we're getting to that point where we're starting to get some more empirical data to figure out what's the most effective at what length and, and, you know, so exactly like what you said before, I don't have anything that I could give you right now because we're still in the test.
We're still in the testing phases. So, gotcha. All right. So there's a lot of, you know, there's a lot of options out there as far as brands are concerned with, you know, with stabilizers.
Yeah. Why should a guy pick stokerized?
Well, just because there's a lot of different features, you know, obviously everything is USA made. That's a big, that's a big plus. It's a big one. And, you know, the other things are just the sheer number of options that we have.
And in some cases, some people like, Oh man, there's just too many options so I can't decide. But that's what we're here for. You know, again, we ask those questions. What, what is your purpose? What do you, what do you want to go do? And then we can recommend something from there.
Not only that, but we've got several patents. We've got a patent on the office on the SS one offset bracket. We've got patents on the acrylic material.
And actually, and I can't speak to it just quite yet, but we're doing some new things like I aforementioned earlier that to enhance what we currently have.
And so we're going to have some more customization options. We're also going to have some better dampening properties. So there's a lot of new things that we're doing to try to, you know, try to make our stabilizers the best they can possibly be.
And then our customer service is, you know, we're pretty well, and the vapor trail has always been pretty well known for having just phenomenal customer service and still carizes no different. So anybody has a question or anything we're more than happy to answer that question in our warranty.
You know, if anybody ever has an issue, just get ahold of us and we get them taken care of.
Yeah. The other thing I like about what you guys do is you are, you are, I talk about this with companies like Vortex Optics or let me look at the other one here. Yeah, Vortex or tethered.
Like those people who own and work in those companies are participants in the activity that they're selling products to. Not all companies can say that, right? Right. But you guys are bow hunters and you guys are archers.
And when you have people who do that in those companies, there just seems to be a better connect with the end user, thus resolving in just a better overall, I guess, company practice or success or whatever you want to say, it all correlates with each other.
And so kudos to you guys for being like that. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we, you know, we have a pretty cool environment here that we can work in. And what's great is, is a lot of our employees are people who, you know, have come in to get product from us.
And then, and it's really kind of how I came to work for vapor trail as well because I was, you know, I was a bow technician at sports and I was wrenching on bows and we were ordering stringing cables from vapor trail and I was stopping in to get some stuff for a couple of my customers and I'm like, man, you guys look really busy.
And so that's where a lot of our employees come from is just people walking in the door who are hunters. Yeah. And, and for us in some cases it's not necessarily, that doesn't necessarily have to be the case when it comes to certain positions here.
But all of our management staff, everybody has had their hand in hunting or in the outdoors in some way, shape or form, and everybody here shoots our products so they know them like the back of their hand.
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, you kind of talked me into starting to look for stabilizers and I got to figure that out. So, Ricky, man, I really appreciate you taking time out of your day to, man, no problem.
Hop on and chat with us about Stoker eyes and stabilizers in general. And, and if people find out more information about either vapor trail or stoker eyes, where should we send them?
Well, you can send me an email. It's Rick at vapor trail archery.com. If you have any questions, you can also just give the shop a call. The easiest number to remember is 888 bolstering. That's B W S T R N G.
So you can give us a buzz. That's usually a little bit quicker. We can get, we can get to you faster. You can also, you know, I do all the social media on the vapor trail and still care outside of things so you can send a message on Instagram or Facebook on either of those platforms and I can respond to you as well.
Perfect. Alright, man. Well, hey, thanks for taking time out of your day to do this and good luck this upcoming season.
Yeah, you too, brother. Thanks a lot for having me. I appreciate it.
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