Octane Deadlock Pro

Octane Deadlock pro

Being primarily an eastern treestand whitetail hunter, a Quiver is just something to hold arrows safely and conveniently that attaches to the bow. When I get settled in the treestand the quiver comes off the bow, into my open daypack with the fletching up, which is hanging neatly and consisently on my right hand side from my treestand seat.

Now that I am addicted to western mountain elk hunting, the quiver is an integral part of the weapon, no longer just something to hold arrows.While the purpose of the quiver hasn't changed, the function has been redesigned. Browse the elk hunting forums and it doesn't take long to find the unanimous choice of western hunters is the Tightspot quiver. Tightspot has taken the utilitarian quiver and redesigned it to become an integrated part of your weapon, enhancing its capabilities not detracting from it.

The only issue with the Tightspot quiver is the price. at $130 it is an expensive investment. In my search for a less expensive alternative, I found the Octane Deadlock Pro quiver. Octane is the accessory brand of Bowtech archery.


The Deadlock pro is a 5-arrow quiver. The structure of the quiver is 2 carbon rods, the hood is molded plastic, (octane calls it carbon) with a dense foam insert, the arrow grippers are a unique rubber about 2" long. The arrow grippers are hard to get arrows into at first, but after the initial time they work great.

Octane Deadlock pro under the hood

Octane Deadlock pro arrow grippers

The Deadlock pro has an attachment system that allows the quiver to be  flexible in  3-axis directions. front/back of the bow and some rotation within that axis, height up and down, and in and out from the bow. the weight of the quiver is 6.4oz per Octane.  The mounting block is molded plastic, (octane calls it carbon) and the mounting screws are stainless steel.

While the  Deadlock pro is removable, it requires quite a bit of force to slide it off. There is a quick release type skewer that clamps onto the dovetail, putting the quiver on is a non-event. removing it is another story. I ended up with a bloody forehead once, but since I have learned where to apply the force needed to remove it.

Octane Deadlock pro mounting block

I got the Deadlock pro for $58 plus shipping, over half from the Tightspot, and about $30 less than MSRP from Ocatne, and it is American made.

I have shot my bow with the loaded quiver, and it is very shootable and well balanced, there is no additional noise or vibration. While I still prefer to shoot without a quiver on, the Deadlock pro does not detract from shooting.

Trufire edge 4-finger release

Trufire Edge 4-finger

I have used a wrist caliper type release since the mid to late 80's when I was shooting a PSE Mach flite-4. I switched to fingers and when I got my Hoyt Superslam-supreme. it was a longer axle-axle bow. but after I got married and had a house and yard to take care of, I didn't have as much time to shoot, and it showed, so I went back to a caliper wrist release.

When I was updating my setup, I really needed to update my release also. I was interested in some of the hook type releases like the Scott Silverhorn and Trufire Hardcore. But in all my years of using a wrist release, the biggest frustrations I've had is climbing trees with a release on. No matter how careful I am when climbing, the release all to frequently tings on something metal.

I was interested in the handheld thumb type release, but my fear is in loosing or dropping it somewhere, and the price. I did some online research and found the Trufire Edge4-finger. it is a small head caliper, with a rotating head. and is activated with your thumb. The edge also has a small hole near the pinky location for a rope. I used a length of d-loop material to make a wrist loop to attach the release to my bow when it isnt on my wrist, The loop is big enough to slip the release on and off without unbuckling or undoing velcro, but also secure enough to wear while walking or stalking.

The release calipers are closed until the trigger is depressed, so while sitting in a treestand the release can be attached to the d-loop of my bow.

The quality and feel of this release are great, the trigger is smooth, and the head rotates freely under load.

This release is not a shooting miracle; bad form, torquing the bow, and punching the trigger are all still possible. Tthe trigger is activated with the thumb and therefore not as prone to punching the trigger.

the learning curve is pretty easy to get used to, it feels natural after only a month of shooting with it, and it is an American made product.

Copper John Dead Nuts 3, Mark 1 sight

My Copper John Dead Nuts 3, Mark 1 sight was mounted on my Magnatec for almost 2-years, and it is the only component to migrate onto my Charger. this sight is built like a Tank, but doesn't feel like one. The model I have has 5 bright .019 fiber optic pins, the fiber wraps around the pin guard and gathers light thru a clear protector. The pins a very bright, and extend shooting light past what my eyes can shoot. When it is too dark to see the target, I can still see the pins.


There is a bright orange ring inside the pin guard that makes centering the sight window within the peep a happen naturally. The bubble level is very useful and glows in the dark too, so this sight is never the weak link in low light shooting.

I also have the optional micro-adjust kit (that can be added later to any Dead nuts sight) the micro adjust is such a nice feature, I will probably always have a sight with micro adjust.

I highly recommend this sight to anyone looking for a quality American made sight that while not cheap has high value.

NAP quicktune 4000 drop away rest review

When I chose to upgrade my bow, I had the opportunity to pick whatever components I wanted to put on my bow. however, I was still limited by my budget.
I wanted to put American made stuff on my bow and support the companies that give us our jobs and support American workers and families. What I found was that a lot of archery products are made in USA, and most of the better ones are proud of the fact that they are American Made.

I had a NAP quicktune 2000 drop away arrow rest on my last bow. it performed flawlessly for 10 years, it tuned well, and stayed tuned. but it went with my old bow. When I needed a new rest, I looked at several brands NAP, Trophy taker,  Ripcord and QAD. one thing I noticed was the basic drop-away rest was either too basic, or totally enclosed in a big heavy awkward cage. (I am still kind of perplexed by the "full-containment" concept) The others like the Ripcord and QAD were like a hybrid drop-away rest that was cocked up and stayed up until release of the arrow. but even those were broke down: one goes down on a slow let-down and one doesn't. The ripcord and QAD have loyal followers, but the concept doesn't seem foolproof, what happens if it fails once on a critical shot?

The NAP quicktune 2000 was discontinued but I found an online store that had some discontinued NAP quicktune rest, after comparing the specs I decided on the NAP quicktune 4000 rest.  it had additional features of the 2000 with micro adjust (a nice feature)

When I got the rest, I was somewhat surprised by the launcher arms compared to the images form the store and NAP website. it looked like they tried to use up excess inventory of TM hunter launcher arms. they were a lot longer and curved not bent like the 2000 I had before. I should have sent it back, but I wanted to shoot my new bow. I took the rest apart and bent them closer to the configuration I remembered. but they were still too long, so I ground them shorter and got something closer to the arrangement I remembered.

The store website said the 4000 had adjustbale spring tension, but it doesnt.
The bottom line is that I am kind of disappointed in this rest. The launcher looked nothing like any image from the store or NAP, it has been difficult to tune, and I don't think it is dropping fast enough, I am getting fletch contact that shouldn't be if it was dropping fast enough.