Single cam vs Cam and a half

[dkecoleman]

I'm in the market for a bow and have a few questions about cams. Besided the obvious differences, draw cycle, speed, whats the biggest differences. It seems to me that the single cam should be alot easier to tune but then again I have no experience tuning a bow and don't really know what all goes into it. I know they both have to be pretty good, cause lots of people are buying both styles and will argue to the death on which is better.  I do plan on shooting every bow I can get my hands on, and most likely comfort and feel will dictate the purchase but I thought I would ask.

[Jellymon]

These are just my opinions but I do have lots of time tuning these cam systems. I truly believe that binaries and cam 1/2 are superior to singles, here's why. I'll try to keep it simple.

Single cam- Mathews, diamond, some pse
Good- when tuning no need to sync two cams
          USUALLY fairly smooth draw
          Usually decent valley
Bad- slower, ratings usually are inflated quite a bit
        Faster singles will usually have a harsher draw than cam1/2 of the same speed.
        long string stretching can change nock point location.
       

Cam 1/2- Hoyt, pse
Good- cams stay in sync once set
          Meet or exceed speed ratings
          Cam orientation can vary without changing performance
          Extremely tunable, you can completely change the feel of a cam 1/2 just by
          Tweaking string, cables.
          Hoyt's cam 1/2 sets grip in CENTER of the bow, making them very balanced.
Bad- little more complicated when making string, cable adjustments.
        valley usually smaller
        Sorry, all I could think of, but I like a smaller valley, keeps you from creeping
        And making a bad shot, maybe not so bad?

Binary- not bowtechs overdrive binary but binaries without a yoke in the cables. Elite, bowtech assassin, older bowtechs.
Good-cams stay in sync once set
         Can be slightly faster
Bad- can have cam lean issues that can't be tuned out without shimming limbs.
       
Overdrive binary- only on higher end bowtechs.
Good- most tunable system, yokes on both cables so you can tune cam lean.
          Cams stay in sync once set
          Fast speeds
Bad- not a fan of the way the cams are attached to the limbs, seems to put a lot of stress on limb tips. Seen a two failures of limb tips breaking.

Recommendations
Smooth draw, ease of setup- single cam
Best all around with lots of adjustability, good speed and balance-cam 1/2
Speed- overdrive binary

I didn't mention noise in this because that varies by bow, not cam system.
Hope this helps. 
       
         
         

[dkecoleman]

Thanks man, Like I said, I plan on shooting all I can get my hands on. That validates  most of the things I have read, So with Cam1/2, once tuning is complete, is there much worry about as far as it getting out of tune, I would assume that cable stretch is probably the thing that would cause it loose tune. How often do you have to change cables and is that something thats going to happen about the same with all set-ups? Thanks again man.

[Jellymon]

Changing out strings and cables will be about the same with all cam systems, maybe a little sooner in singles since they tend to get more wear on the cable. On a cam 1/2 once timing and tuning is complete (with initial break in) you usually don't have to touch it, and if you do it will be very small adjustments . Both cams are slaved together, which means if one moves due to string stretch, the other will move equal amounts, which makes cam 1/2 a very stable system. On every Hoyt I've owned I haven't had to adjust cam sync(both stops hitting same time) once after the break in period. Because of marketing Mathews has gotten people to believe that a single cam can't go out of time, which isn't true, singles go out just like any other system, and when they do it affects arrow flight more because it changes your nock point. On a cam 1/2 or binary everything stretches equally which has less of an effect. Sorry, I tend to ramble on about this stuff.

Don't let me push you from single cams though, if you feel most comfortable with one, buy it! They are a great system.
I would recommend a 2013 Hoyt charger, TON of bow for the money, $499. Lots of people are choosing this over the $899 spyders. Great northwest archery on south hill can help you out there, great shop!

[dkecoleman]

I really appreciate you taking the time to throw in you , I was planning on taking a trip up there, I have been in the shop a few times and Doug seems to be a pretty nice guy, I do really like the looks of the Hoyt bows and shot the Element the last time I was there, I have not seen the new line for this year yet but, from what I have read they seem to be pretty good, I haven't shot any other brands yet though. I have always loved bow hunting and as a kid thats all I did back in Kentucky, I had a Jennings Speed Star that I bought from a friend, but truth be told, back then I didn't know anything about it, It hit were I shot it, and thats about as far as I got. This time I'm going to try and really learn about each bow and make an educated decision. When I moved out here I thought I would increase my chances by going modern, but that hasn't worked out, so to heck with it, I'm going back to what I like. Yeah I guess I can be alittle long winded too. 

[DBHAWTHORNE]

Those speedstars were great bows! That was one of my first bows too.

[Jellymon]

Have fun! I've always thought that testing and buying a new bow is the funnest part!

[dkecoleman]

DB, I thought it was a great bow too, I know it was a doe thumper, a few bucks too. Like I said, past that I didn't know alot about it, but I was only 15 and 16. Young and dumb. I went and looked at a bunch of different bows today. I didn't get to shoot any of them but tested the draw cycles. I think the helim and the new spyder 30 are at the top of my list, I'm going to have to wait unit Northwest gets in some spyders with a shorter draw, and the guy at sportco didn't seem to on top of his game, if you ask me, they didn't have any helims set up, Truth be told just from inital feeling I like the helim alot. I wasn't to impressed with the bowtechs, the draw cycle was pretty rough in my opinion. I stll have alot of testing left to do though.

[Jellymon]

Whats your draw length? I have a brand new helium at 28" 60-70lb limbs with only about 50 shots through it. I'm asking $650, and if the draw is wrong I'm willing to go to $600 to help pay for the right cam (about $70). I can set it up for you to shoot if you want to try it out. Perfect condition in box with manuals. And you will get the warranty because i didnt register it at the dealer. I live in Spanaway. I'm selling because Im not as comfortable with it as I am my Hoyt.