“Dan Summers, the owner and founder of Quality Archery Designs, was working as a machinist back in the early 90s. He was an avid archer and hunter and shooting a string loop like the rest of us,” said Kevin Fry, director of marketing and sales at QAD. “Eventually he just got tired of the loops stretching and breaking.”
Dan decided that as a machinist, he could make a metal loop that would solve the common string-loop problems. “Dan created the metal loop in his spare time and started shooting it. He showed it to some local dealers and they tried to get him to market it, telling him that it would be something that would sell,” recalled Frey. At the time, Summers was looking to make a career change so he started a new company—offering laser engraving, not marketing metal string loops.
It took Summers two more years to truly begin marketing the metal Ultra-Nok. According to Frey, “Dan kept shooting and hunting with the metal loop. A couple of years after starting the [laser-engraving business] LaserMark, Dan began looking for ways to increase his income and the idea of marketing the metal loop came up again. Dealers were pushing for it, and Dan decided to run with the idea.”
Then, once a few more archery dealers started selling the Ultra-Nok, the big box stores took notice and really put QAD on the map.
The business grew through the ‘90s even though Summers had only one product. “From there, [Summers] started looking to add more products to the line and came up with the Tune-A-Nock. The shorter nock was faster than competing models, and often gained the archer about four feet per second over the nock they were shooting. The shorter nock was also stiffer with less flex, making it more accurate. With features such as those, it was no real surprise when the market quickly adopted it,” Frey related.
The Ultra-Rest Emerges
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After building a reputation with the smaller items, the design of the now-legendary Ultra Rest drop-away rest proved a turning point for the company—and is the product the company is best known for today. “Looking at other rests on the market and the key features of each, Dan decided what the market really needed was a combination of the best features available—a drop-away design that also offered full containment. Of course that is the basis for several models today, but back in 2003, it was somewhat revolutionary,” Frey explained. In fact, over the years the Ultra-Rest has become so popular that Fuse Accessories now has a model leading its arrow rest line. |
Exodus Broadheads
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After three years and two full hunting seasons of design modification and testing, QAD’s Exodus broadhead with Blade Over Shaft (BOS) technology is returning numerous success stories from hunters in the field. “The Exodus came about from experiences from the employees,” Frey said. “Ultimately it was Dan who came up with the design, but he based it on what the employees felt a broadhead needed to be. The new fixed-blade design is specifically targeted at the segment of hunters who prefer fixed-blade heads. “The shorter design of the Exodus mimics a field point more accurately, which really makes sense when you think about it,” Frey continued. “However, the Exodus is truly different. Unlike other short-head designs, the Exodus maintains a generous 1.25-inch cutting diameter without sacrificing blade angle as other competing models.” |
Sneaky Leaf
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Summers has always been a strong advocate of complete camo, but felt he still risked game animals recognizing his shape, particularly when skylined. Not wishing to redesign and market every camo product on the market, Summers found a way to virtually break up the outline of any person or object with the Sneaky Leaf system. “What’s really great about the Sneaky Leaf is its ability to distort a shape when skylined,” Frey said. “The realistic appearance of the Sneaky Leaf is an inexpensive way to turn anything ‘3-D.’ Sneaky Leaf is sold in packages of 100 and can be attached using safety pins or the included ‘Sticky Patches.’ Matching your environment can be important in certain hunting situations. As a result, QAD offers the Sneaky Leaf in three different patterns: Fall, All Season and Vine.” At press time Frey could not elaborate on anything new for 2012, but hinted that Ultra Rest enthusiasts are in for a treat at the upcoming 2012 ATA Show. “One of the things we pride ourselves on at QAD is that we have always, and will always, do everything here in the USA,” Frey said. “Even when costs were higher, and we realized that we were losing some money by doing so, we felt it was important—from a quality perspective and a moral responsibility to hard-working Americans—to keep our design, manufacturing, and marketing here in the U.S. We want to give back and keep the jobs here. We started with less than 10 employees and now have about 50. Given our year-over-year growth, we hope to be adding to that number soon.” For more info on Quality Archery Designs go to www.qadinc.com; or call (434) 846-5839.
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