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The American success story begins not with a government bailout or a tax cut for the wealthy, but with a man and an idea and a willingness to work hard. In the case of Burt Coyote—an odd name but we’ll get to that in a minute—brother Curtis had the idea and brother Eric had the mechanical skills. The Price brothers have worked together for more than a dozen years, built a company from the ground up and now employ 18 people full-time.
“The Lumenok is the most popular lighted arrow nock on the market,” Curtis Price says. “It’s also very easy to use because it activates when the arrow is shot, allowing an archer to visually follow the path of an arrow. With no moving parts the ultra-lightweight design is simple and the operation is practically fool-proof.”
And “fool-proof” is a terrific claim in a sport in which Murphy’s Law—“Anything that can go wrong will….”— rules, as all veteran bowhunters know.
“Not only is the Lumenok…well, easy,” says Price, “but it adds only a few grains of weight to your arrow. There are no magnets and minimal arrow shaft end preparation and fitting are required. Plus, it will work with any aluminum or carbon arrow that uses standard ICS components: Gold Tip, PSE Radial X Weave, Carbon Tech, Victory, Carbon Impact, Carbon Express, Easton, and Beman. For small-diameter carbons, the Lumenok-X is available.”
The Lumenok is a simple arrangement of a battery, an LED and a wire in an incomplete circuit. The arrow shaft’s carbon or aluminum material is the conductor that completes the Lumenok’s circuit. “In essence,” Price says, “it’s just a simple electrical switch waiting on the shot. When the Lumenok’s base contacts the arrow shaft, it completes the circuit.”
A Lumenok turns on when the arrow is shot and stays on until turned off. The 3-volt lithium battery has a 5-year shelf life and will stay lit continuously for 40 hours. “They’re great for hunting or target shooting,” Price says.
The Lumenok is also a bow tuning aid. “You can see erratic arrow flight much better because of the light on the end of the arrow.” Price believes that using a Lumenok also lets archers practice effectively at greater distances, knowing they have a much better possibility of finding any stray arrow. “It lets you immediately associate the result with the mechanics of the shot because you can watch the arrow from release to impact at distances beyond 100 yards, even with today’s fast bows. If your bow needs tuning, or your form needs improvement, the Lumenok will help you realize it and address those issues.”
In 3-packs with an attached plastic red or green clear plastic nock, Lumenoks cost about $32 MSRP. Burt Coyote packages single Lumenoks at $12 each. (The Lumenok is also offered in pink with part of the proceeds from a sale donated to the Mary Hale “Pink Arrow Project” for breast cancer research.)
One of the few persistent problems that Curt and Eric encounter is when some arrows are built using a quantity of non-conductive fiberglass. Since arrow material, preparation, and fit are important to the Lumenok function, they decided to market a combination of a Lumenok with a carbon arrow that addresses those issues. They call it the Lumen-Arrow and claim an out of the box straightness of +/- .003.
“Lumen-Arrows are available in 3-packs fletched with Blazer vanes, with either red or green nocks and Lumenoks factory installed,” Curt says. The arrows are packaged with shafts at a full 31-inch length to be fitted to the buyer and cut after purchase. Bare shafts are also available for archers who desire to personalize their arrows.
Currently, three Lumen-Arrow spine weights are available. The 75/90 is 9.9 grains per inch with a spine rated at 0.30. The 60/75 is 8.8 grains per inch with a spine rated at 0.35. The 45/60 is a lightweight 8.1 grains per inch with a spine of 0.40. A 3-pack of carbon Lumen-Arrows with green or red Lumenoks included is about $54 MSRP fletched with Bohning Blazer vanes (2-green/1 red) or $50 (shafts only).
For crossbow shooters, the Burt Coyote bolt is a 100-percent carbon Lumen-Arrow shaft: 22 inches long, weighing 340 grains, fletched with three 4-inch vanes and including a brass insert, red plastic nock and Lumenok. Crossbow arrows may be purchased with crescent/moon-shaped or flat ends. A 3-pack is $55 MSRP.
Curt is especially proud of brother Eric’s FAS-Tool (Fletched Arrow Squaring Tool) that lets archers clean and square arrows (fletched or not) in one simple operation. “This is the tool we use to precision-square the nock end of Lumen-Arrow shafts,” says Curt. “For optimum Lumenok function we recommend you use this tool. Each unit comes with four self-adhesive abrasive discs that will true dozens of shafts.” The $33 FAS-Tool is made of hard anodized aircraft grade aluminum and will withstand years of use with carbon, aluminum, or composite arrow shafts.
And “Burt Coyote?” What’s that all about?
When Curt and Eric began tossing around names for companies, prior to attending their first Archery Trade Show in 2003, they wanted something distinctive.
In the conversation, perhaps after a few late-night libations, Curt’s high school nickname came up. At the time, they were assembling the Lumenok and a night light for catfishing on their kitchen tables. A high school track athlete, Curt’s name appeared in their local newspaper, misspelled as Burt. Curt’s buddies coupled “Burt” with a popular cartoon character, an accident-prone but nevertheless fast coyote—and in a small town nothing is ever forgotten. The Burt Coyote Company Inc. was born.
Learn more about Burt Coyote products by visiting its website at www.lumenok.net. For great video sequences, search for “Lumenok” on YouTube.com and you can contact Curtis and Eric Price at 104 N Union Street, Yates City, IL 61572 or call (309) 358-1602.
