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Mark Garcia is a 16-year veteran of the archery industry. Last year he decided to stop rebuilding other peoples’ companies and launch his own—Archer Xtreme, or AXT. After all, he had plenty of great ideas.
“I wanted to do something different than what has been done in the past,” Garcia said. He interested financial backers, enlisted Travis Howick to be the AXT Vice President, and quickly harnessed engineering and manufacturing teams to bring his concepts for high-end carbon-based accessories for today’s high-tech bows to life.
The perfect example of Garcia’s imagination and “out of the box” creativity is the new uni-body Carbon Vapor quiver, the world’s only all-carbon quiver. This ultralight (5 ounces!), five-arrow quiver is made from high-modulus 3K carbon fiber weave that is molded into a single piece. It has no bolts or miscellaneous parts.
“Nothing but the most silent, sound-free Xtreme quiver ever made,” said Garcia, “and because the carbon weave is 120-times stronger than steel it’s virtually indestructible.”
This quiver is a silent (as well as odorless and motionless—What’s not to like?) bowhunting partner because its molded-carbon design, stiff but lightweight, acts like a huge dampening device on the bow. Instead of an ABS mold with a rubber insert bolted onto a support beam like standard quivers, the Vapor’s thermoplastic rubber overmolded hood is actually folded over during manufacturing. This cuts weight exponentially while reducing vibration and sound. Couple this with a TPR over-molded arch gripper that secures even the smallest-diameter arrows—and a closed-cell foam insert that accommodates both mechanical and fixed-blade broadheads—and you have designed one serious quiver. Suggested retail for the Carbon Vapor is $270.
Another cool design, AXT’s Carbon Helix quiver ($110), received a lot of attention at the ATA and Mathews Trade Shows this year. Featured are two 3K carbon support rods with carbon directional fiber that provide structural support. Coupled with Helix Truss X dampeners between the support rods, this quiver, with its adjustable five-arrow gripper, is both secure and quiet.
“It’s a daunting and expensive task to bring products from idea to physical reality,” Garcia explained, “but if the ideas are good, eventually they come full circle.”
AXT’s dual-material bowsight, the Carbon Carnivore, was one of Garcia’s first successes. The unique concept for this sight is its basis in stiffly woven 3K carbon for the bracket and two-inch housing.
“We also added a carbon ridge to the mounting bracket,” Garcia said, “because this provides the critical structure strength and saves weight.” In either 5- or 7-pin configurations—and those pins offer zero pin-gap shooting—the Carnivore weighs only 7.5 ounces. It’s light, precision manufactured and vibration-free.
Serious brightness is achieved with 11 inches of .019-inch-diameter fi ber optic for each pin. The fi ber optic cord is housed in a clear plastic tube and is thus protected, but open to capture light as it runs the length of the bracket. An LED sight light is innovatively positioned at the rear of the bracket. Garcia explained that this “solves the problem of glare and any ‘halo effect’ on pins. Plus, it’s easier to use. There’s less movement for the bowhunter and consequently less chance that a game animal could spot you.”
According to Garcia, a host of conventional high-end features complement the uniqueness of this sight. You’ll find tool-less micro adjustment and a sight level with third-axis adjustability. Plus, in only moments, the sight accommodates left- or right-hand setups.
The Carbon Carnivore retails for about $300 depending upon options such as number of pins (5 or 7) and whether customers prefer black or camo. Camouflage options are Mathews Lost Camo, Realtree APG, and Gore Optifade.
Since the Carnivore’s introduction, a series of precision sights developed at lower price points are offered in black, or with camo accents that also include Mossy Oak Treestand.
It is a hallmark of innovators that their minds work on unknowable as well as highly individual schedules. Thus, even since the retailer tradeshow season that peaked in January, Garcia’s AXT team has already developed not only an additional line of competitive bowsights—think Primal, Pursuit and GTX—but a unique stabilizer as well.
AXT’s new Carbon Triad stabilizer uses flat plane 3K carbon technology to maximize the inherent strength of the carbon weave by manufacturing in a triangular profi le. At 5 ounces the Triad is lighter than other stabilizers in its class.
The Triad’s distinctive design also offers superior strength over conventional round-tube stabilizers. “It’s why you don’t see telephone poles used in high-tension bridge support,” says Garcia. The triangular shape puts the 3K carbon in flat planes and this increases the structural integrity in the same way that an I-beam is stronger than a round post. This design produces an almost indestructible blade.
This one-of-a-kind accessory has not only a unique, multi-position locking collar, but a dampening core that, Garcia notes, “virtually stops the effects of transferred energy.” AXT incorporates a thermoplastic rubber over-mold on the core and this, too, helps absorb the energy that is transferred to the tip. There the Triad’s three blades flex and contact the exterior wall, which practically eliminates vibration altogether. The blades act like a tuning fork and the rigid containment wall halts flexing on contact. The Triad stabilizer has a suggested retail price of $90.
“Our challenge,” Garcia says, “is to keep accessories up to the high level of design and the incredible features built into new bows. We have to innovate not only in functionality but in stateof- the-art materials like 3K carbon. I think we’ve surprised a lot of people with our new line, but you haven’t seen the full breadth of our ideas yet. We’re going to be here for years to come.”
For more information check the Archer Xtreme website www.archerxtreme.com, follow them on Facebook.com or call (406) 924-6113.
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