I am a big Bear archery fan. Been shooting for the better part of 50 years and have many Bear bows and some custom bows. Here is my question. I have been looking at the remake of the Bear Kodiak 59er, however, I have no experience with the feather rest on them. Because of this I have held back on purchasing one. Those of you with experience on the feather rest, what is your thoughts of them and do they hold up to extensive shooting?

Rick, I just traded a 59 Kodiak Special to a gentleman and the rest on it was 59 years old and still looks good. If you purchase one from Big Jim or Three Rivers those are made by a fella that go's by the handle name "Trap" and a very close fit to the original ones Bear used to have and I would bet he makes them for the new bear 59. They have a slight tilt towards the shelf plate so arrow will stay on during the draw. I doubt you will wear one out if your bow is tuned properly. I shoot better with them on myself and have put them on 7 bows and 5 Howatt recurves shown here.

I use them on most of my recurves as well. Have used them for decades. They hold up well over time. I've never worn one out.

I have damaged had the outer feather on feather rests get damaged as well as having them show wear. Even dyed one of Trap's natrual colored rests to match the glass color of my '62 Kodiak Special. The rest did not take dye well, so Trap may use water repellent on them, but maybe Trap will be on here, as he is sometimes and could say for sure.

Have two red ones when Trap made colored rests and they vary slightly in size. The oldest one, on a '59 Kodiak Special, is slightly larger than the newer one, which matches the size of the natural colored Trap Rests sold by 3-Rivers.

Had a red Bear factory feather rest, which came on my 1963 Tamerlane (before they had side plates) when it was new, and it became worn as have many other original Bear factory ones of that era.

Saxon used to make the vertial rests like Traps or Bears, only larger. They also made horizonal feather rests, which wore out rapidly. I have a large yellow Saxon feather rest on a '60 Kodiak Special and it is great, but it is starting to show some wear. That indicates to me that Trap's rests are better quality and last longner than either the old Saxon or the original Bear factory rests. The rests are affordable enough that I keep a spare in the tackle box, so I don't have to worry about them wearing out.

Older red Trap rest, yellow Saxon rest, and new Trap rest.

I use them on other bows that are not Bears too. I use one on BPH-70 and on my Super Diablo. It may look weird, but SD is now a tack driver. One single thing about them: sometimes they don't stick that good, I had to glue them.

I love the feather rest on my 2014 Bear Kodiak.I have put them on a couple of older recurves with a flat self,works great and looks more traditional then a plastic stick-on rest!

I use them on every one of my recurves. I make my own. I find them to hold up extremely well. If your bow is tuned, they wear very little.

I found it difficult to walk around with my finger wrapped over the arrow. The feather rest would get smashed.

Tedd

You realize the rest will peel off and can be replaced right? It's not an integral part of the bow.

Feather rests work fine. They aren't the do all end all, nor are they inherently bad. If they were the perfect rest, they would never hav fallen out of favor.

Thet really aren't any more or less "traditional" than most other stick on rests (and that's all they are) since most models came on the scene about the same time.

All about what you like and what you believe.

I make my own rests the way Jack Howard recommended - six feathers, 3 right wing and 3 left wing. Trim the quills so they get as close as possible. Made like that they will last a long, long, time.

I glue them to a piece of light cardboard or thin leather. I prefer thin leather. I use contact cement and they can easily be removed and put on other bows or changed positions if needed.

The original feather rest is still on my 59 Kodiak...that was MADE in 1959! Durable enough?...I THINK SO!

I agree with fdp. If you don't like it, or it doesn't hold up, very easy to replace with another type rest.

I really do appreciate all the responses. I knew they have been around for decades, I just was not familiar with them. I knew they were not an integral part of the bow and could be replaced. I would not want to replace on on a 59er since they come that way. After seeing your responses, I will now have to look at the 59er much more seriously. I wonder how much my wife still loves me. By the way, loved the pictures of the Super Diablo. My brother loves his. He has a SD from the early to mid 70's with only about a dozen arrows launched from it. Good looking bow.

Hmmm, I would never think of buying or not buying a bow due to the rest that came on it. If you like the bow and not the rest, change it--takes maybe 5 minutes.

Put one on my 1962 Polar great rest arrows shoot real nice off of it.

I recall buying the "Bear hair" rug rests in the 70's that wore out frequently. I have had a feather on my K4 for about 5 months no discernable wear. Made mine with a feather chopper and double sided tape

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