Best Arrow Rest

Your arrow rest is one of the most important parts of your bow setup.

It's the main thing that's in contact with your arrow when you release the bow…

Which means it can make or break your shot.

A great arrow rest can improve your accuracy…

A bad arrow rest can make you miss the shot of a lifetime.

In this article we’ll run through the different types of arrow rests, which arrow rests work best, and the best arrow rest for you.

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Types of Arrow Rests

​Arrow rest can fall into a few different categories the two main categories are: whisker biscuits and drop weight rest.

Whisker Biscuit

Whisker biscuits are the most basic type of arrow rest.

If you buy a bow in like a ready to shoot package, generally this is going to be the rest that they put on there.

Every company does theirs a little bit differently, but basically a bunch of bristles that support your era and hold it in place.

They are the cheapest and easiest to set up arrow rests and just get the job done.

Drop away rest

Drop away rests are basically the standard now for intermediate to Advanced archers.

They can all function a little bit differently but they have the same result.

What they do is when you draw your bow back it lifts the rest up and holds your arrow.

Then when you release your bow the rest falls back down.

The whole goal of a drop away rest is to minimize the amount of time that your arrow is in contact with the rest after you release the bow.

So why is that important?

Having as little time as possible with your arrow in contact with the rest minimizes how much the rest can throw your arrow off course…

Which increases accuracy.

It also reduces the resistance and friction of the rest on the Arrow which helps your arrow maintain higher speeds.

What type of arrow rest is best?

The short answer is a drop away rest.

Whisker biscuits are great to get you up and running.

I'm always for getting people out and using their bows as quickly as possible so if that's where you are and a whisker biscuit gets you out there faster…

I'm all in, let's do it!

Once you're a little bit more comfortable with your bow and have been shooting it for a while this is one of the places you can upgrade it to get a little bit of a boost in performance from your bow.

Best Drop Away Arrow Rest

QAD UltraRest HDX

The QAD UltraRest HDX hits the sweet spot for most archers.

It's not the most expensive arrow rest out there, but it's also not the cheapest.

As far as performance it’s right up there with some of the more expensive arrows rests you can find.

Compared to most other drop away rests, the HDX has more clearance for arrow fletchings, so you can shoot larger fletchings without any problems.

The HDX is a step up from the ultra rest Hunter. Performance wise they are similar, but the HDX has more parts that are machined aluminum so it’s a little sturdier and compact.

It’s available in more color options than just black

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Best Budget Arrow Rest under $100

QAD UltraRest Hunter

This is the best Budget drop away arrow rest!

If you're looking for something simple that you can use to upgrade a basic arrow rest, this is it

It's the little brother to the UltraRest HDX,

It performs well, but doesn't come with ALL the bells and whistles

As far as price point, it's affordable, so it can be a good starting point for someone getting their first drop away rest.

This is actually the first drop away rest that I used when I was getting into archery.

There's other rest that you know have a few extra things on them and ultimately perform better but they are two and three times the cost of this.

In my opinion this is the best entry point to a drop away rest

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Best Arrow Rest For Hunting

Ripcord Ratchet Micro

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Best Arrow Rest For The Money

Trophy Ridge Sync MD

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Best Arrow Rest For Target Shooting

Hamskea Everest

​What really sets the Everest apart is all of its adjustability and fine-tuning

It has extra micro adjustments so you can get it shooting exactly where you want it. It has extra dampeners to minimize launcher flutter and noise.

There’s even adjustable launcher tension so you can fine tune the launcher to match your arrow weight

On top of all of that, the Everest has an all metal Construction making it extremely durable.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Are drop away arrow rests better?

Yes.

They're usually more expensive, than simpler types of rests but there's plenty of budget friendly drop away rests out there now, like the QAD UltraRest Hunter

Which is better, whisker biscuit or drop away?

Drop away rests are more efficient than whisker biscuits because they have less friction with the arrow.

This helps the arrow maintain a higher launch speed and avoids inconsistencies…

Which means better accuracy.

Do drop away arrow rests affect arrow speed?

​No, not really.

In fact if you're switching over to a do away test from a whiskey biscuit style rest, you'll usually get an increase in arrow speed because there's less friction.

Are drop away arrow rests worth it?

Yes!

They can take a little bit more effort to get tuned, but the improvement in accuracy is worth it.

Who makes the best drop away rest?

QAD and Hamseka are probably the 2 biggest names these days when it comes to drop away rests.

QAD has more affordable options for the everyday archer and bowhunter.

Hamseka is mostly high quality high performance rests for target archers.

Not that you can’t use them for bowhunting, but they are probably a bit overkill for the average bowhunter.