Today we're looking at a release. Or rather: Two at once. Iam having a look at the Abyss and the Fulkrum Flex from TRU Ball. These two releases are not new on the market. They have been in the TRU Ball range for a while.
But, we haven't made a video about them yet. That's why I would like to take the opportunity now. They are generally very popular releases.
And not without reason. We have two releases here that are kind of "brothers". So we have a backtension release. That is this one, the Fulkrum. And the Abyss, that's a classic trigger release.
So they quite similar. The same geometry, the same shape. They can be adjuste very similarly. You can shoot one with a trigger and the other has a sear, so you can use it as a back tension release. And that's the cool thing about this system. We have the option to shoot a release and adjust it on the archer so that he or she is comfortable with it. The anchor point and so on.
And than the archery can switch between both. There are shooters who say: "I want to shoot a backtension release in competition." I want to have this "surprise" when it releases for me, but I practice more with a trigger. Or the other way around. There are shooters who shoot with a backtension release, but when it gets very windy in summer and you are blown over the target, you have a disadvantage with a backtension release. That means, if the weather conditions are bad , you use this here.
And if you are shaken back and forth, well, you just punsh the trigger the moment you are in the center. It's not nice, but it's better than being blown over the target and the release then releases at some moment that you can't influence that well. There are many more reasons to shoot these two releases alternately, but TRU Ball gives you the opportunity here and that's why it's very nice and is also quite popular. They can both be adjusted in a lot of ways. We have the addition "Flex" on these releases. This is always the
case with TRU Ball: If there is a "Flex" on the back, it refers to the settings for the third or fourth finger. So we have this extension here and we have a differnt part that comes with both releases. You can remove this, attach this and then you can shoot the release with four fingers instead of three. First of all, that's very nice, TRU Ball is using that system for more and more products. So, for example, we had the "Blade" from TRU Ball, which was available in two different versions. TRU Ball also changed that.
So TRU Ball is pretty commited to this "Flex" technology. It says "Flex" on the back here. You don't need to have two different releases on the market for people who prefer three or four fingers. You can just change it quickly.
This part is made of aluminum. That's pretty stable and we have fine lines on the back here. We have a small screw here on the side that you can loosen and then you can adjust it that way and adjust the angle. The same thing with the four fingers, we even have two settings here. With these markings on the back,
I always find the setting again. So I can see where this line sits on the edge and can count the lines. And so I know where I set that. When I have two releases, I can put it in the same place. There is really nothing more to say. It's a simple and a good solution.
You can fix it properly, and then it doesn’t move at all. So a good invention and is becoming more and more popular. The next thing that can be adjusted in these two releases is the position of the head. So it doesn't matter whether
it's the head from the trigger release, the Abyss, or from the sear release, the Flukrum. Both have what TRU Ball calls "Lever Alignment System" or "LAS". We have 6 screws on the side that you can loosen and then you can move the head. I'll show that on the trigger release. It's a bit more complicated than on the other. So let's do this on the more complicated one of the two.
As I said, we have these six screws here. This screw and this one are both there to hold the head in place. We have two more up here and one more down here. They keep these black caps in place. These are dust caps. If I have now unscrewed that, then we will also see why and what they are protecting. It takes quite a while. The screws are long.
Now I've got both of them out and now I can take that head out in front. And now you can see the secret behind it. We have several teeths. That should be five of them. Because we can mount the head in five positions.
If I push the trigger ... No, I have to cock it first. When I cock the release, they move down a little. When I push the trigger, they snap up again. And the head that has the counterpart built in here can now be positioned on each of these individual teeth. This triggers the hook at the front to open.
If I want to move this head now, I have to remove one of these dust caps. That is also the reason why they are on it, to protect the teeth underneath. You don't want dirt to get in there. With the backtension release, which I have here, there are no teeth underneath here.
We have all the functionality in the head itself. So there is nothing that needs to be protected and therefore there are no dust caps included. Makes repositioning of this head a little easier. So I am going to remove the cap.
Then I can mount this one position below and then I can put the cap back in here. So we have one cap that is fastened with one screw and the other with two screws. So we have six positions, three of which are occupied by the head and we have these caps for the other three positions.
And so you can cover any position of the head with these two caps. In the lowest position, both caps come up. Now that's a little difficult to show. If I move it up by one, I take the small cap down, if I put it up one more, then I switch both caps. The larger one has to go down. And if I put my head up even further, at some point I'll have both dust caps on the bottom. I like that you don't have any additional parts that can get lost.
When you change something, you know where all the parts are. First I put this cap back on and then the head. I realized it's easier either when its either cocked or uncocked. Yes. So, cocking the release by pressing
the button in the back, makes it easier to position the head and screw it down. So if I go into the anchor position here, if I just put my index finger in. you can see how far it has now tilted forward.
And if I put my other fingers on now, then I have a lot more pressure on finger 2 and 3. And this only because it actually wants to tip further forward. So that's one of the effects. You have more pressure on your two fingers here.
And it still works :-). Relatively simple thing actually. You just have to remove a few screws. No reason to be afraid of that. There are no parts falling out of something.
Very nice solution. If you've just changed it that way and thinks it's so good, then you would have to go and adjust the Fulkrum the same way. You just unscrew these twoscrews, put it down and then you can bring it into the same position. That is what you want.
You want both releases to work in the same geometry. Now I've said a lot about the TRU Ball trigger release. Now I would like to come to the Fulkrum, the backtension release of the two. It has a very interesting option to change the point at which it releases. So you can adjut the head position with the LAS, of course, but also the sensibility of the release. "Hot", as is always written on the releases. It's a nice system.
There is a screw here that is in the actual release. I can take it out. Then I can open this screw here. That is the lock screw. And then I can use the tool here below.
And when I turn the release again, you can see that the pointer moves from "Hot" to less "Hot". And that is a super nice thing. Now I remove the tool. Lock it again. Screw it tightly. You can stow the tool in the release. There's a little o-ring on it so I don't lose it. So. Great, great thing.
You don't need any additional tools. The tool is built into the release. So you can now, if the release is new and you want to find the setting in training. You can shoot and say, "Okay, how did that feel?". Maybe it's a little too hot for me? I can turn a quarter turn or half a turn here.
That makes a lot of difference already, half a turn. And then I can try again and find my setting. And you can even do that in a competition. If you got up on the wrong side of the bed, and on that day it just doesn't work out the way you like. It opens too later or too early.
Then you can adjust it on the spot. So you are very flexible and you don't need any additional tools. If you have found the setting, I would still recommend that you tighten this screw with a normal tool.
You still have to be a little careful not to overtighten it. That way you trust it to not change on it's own. So that are the two options: Changing the head position and changing the sensitivity. We also have two positions for the thumb barrel.
You can move this to the other thread. You just have to take the tool out and put it in the other hole so that the threads don't get in the way. We have a second sear with the release. It looks like this. This is a sear that has no "click".
The one that is installed as standard has this "warning" click. It's really nice that you know you've found your anchor position. There are archers who get frightened by this click. That's why there is also one without it.
Well, that's all there is to it. Now I'm going back to the Abyss again. Because here you can still adjust the trigger and the force that you need to trigger. We have two "lock" screws on the front. You have to open both of them.
Now we have two screws on the top, on the front we can adjust the trigger distance and here we can adjust the force. I will demonstrate the distance first. If I cock the release, it goes up.
And then you see here: I'm pushing down the gap. Here you have the opportunity for fine-tuning your release. What you can't see now is the required force. You can't see how much strength it takes. But if I loosen the screw there, then I just need less force. You can really tweak your settings until it works exactly as you want it to. With exactly the strength that you would like.
And then of course you can still adjust the trigger here, so you can loosen this screw here, you can rotate this. You can mount the barrel right here if you don't want this extension. So you really have a lot of options in addition to the settings for the third and fourth fingers and in addition to the LAS.
Both releases have the addition of "Flex" in their names and that is really more than justified, because they are so flexible. A little note about what comes with the Abyss Flex. There is a second thumb barrel, this one. That has a significantly smaller diameter.
It has the same diameter as the thumb barrel that comes with the Fulkrum. So the idea is: These triggers on the releases, they usually have a larger diameter. But if you shoot these two releases alternately and also want the small diameter, as is usual with such a backtension release, then you can also mount this one and have this as a trigger.
The release body of both is made of brass with a coating TRU Ball calls "Quicksilver". It's a nickel plating. Unfortunately, I couldn't find out more about it because TRU Ball doesn't say anything more . It has the advantage that the brass cannot corrode.
The people who, for example, shoot brass tabs with recurve know that this forms a kind of "verdigris". So this, is an inert coating, it's a bit like chrome. However with a slight yellow tinge. It is totally weatherproof and will not change in contact with sweat.
The only thing to watch out for when people are allergic to nickel. Then you may have to be careful. Now I want to weigh it, because this brass items are usually a bit heavier. I brought a scale of course.
The Fulkrum weighs 127 g and the Abyss weighs a few grams more. Here we are at 134 g. Is that heavy? How heavy is that in comparison? I have two other releases from TRU Ball with me. This is the "GO 2". A very popular release lately.
This is a pure aluminum release. Although there are a lot of parts, it weighs 107 g so 20-30 g less. That really is a difference. And it's not the lightest.
There are some that weigh less than 100 g. Pure aluminum releases. Another TRU Ball release is the "Goat". Half the body is made of aluminum and half the body is made of brass. With the same "Flex" extensions. You can see immediately, it has a massive body.
It weighs 150 g, although it is not yet made entirely of brass. That just means that these two are somewhere in the middle in terms of weight. In the TRU Ball family, in between the really heavy brass releases. The "Blade Pro" with the brass body is also heavier. For being comparatively slim, they are relatively heavy.
Not in absolute terms, but given the shape they are. Enough screwing around, let's try them! For that, let's go to the shooting range together. Let’s start with the Abyss, the trigger release.
I haven't done much tweaking with it yet. The settings it should be on, that would have to be the most sensitive. I'm curious.
I've now approached with a little caution. But it's not as sensitive as I thought. So the required strength is still rather high. And I think that it is on the most sensitive setting.
For some, that may not be enough. But it is definitely so that you can put your finger on the trigger and continue working it. You don't have to be afraid that as soon as you have your finger there, the release will open.
That is not the case. People who have no contact with the trigger and simply "punch" will not have the problem anyway. So my impression is: It is definitely too big for me. I thought so before.
The Abyss is only available in size M and L. And the Fulkrum also in size S. And if you want to do this, if you want to switch between trigger and back tension, then you have to use the same size.
And that's why I got the size M here. But I would actually prefer the size S. Which is amazing, because I usually shoot an Arc Système L'Attendeux back tension and it's size M. And it fits pretty well, if you can maybe see it. There are my fingers, there is no room here. I still have space for the index finger, but finger 2 and 3 really sit tight.
So these spaces here are deep and small. But that's great. It's fits like a glove. I'm an absolute fan. With this one, size M, the middle finger has a lot of space here, just like the third one. So this space here is large.
For the index finger, that's probably comparable. It's similar. Yeah, definitely feels good. Makes a solid impression. Safe feeling when shooting.
It's also pretty heavy because it has the brass body so that adds to it. I may have to play around with the position of the head, and the position of the trigger I moved it all the way up because I wanted to get it further into my hand. So now it's at the very back and as far up as possible. It’s okay, for now. But there is definitely still a bit of tweaking necessary to get it to fit me better.
So now, Fulkrum Flex. The first thing that strikes me is: The hook and the whole mechanism are very loose. So when I move it back and forth like that, it keeps fyling around.
As you know, you have to lift this up to get it ready to fire. And I find that unusually flimsy. Again, it depends on where I'm coming from. The Arc Système has a comparable technology.
But there's a little magnet under here. And that holds this flap tight. So I can lift it now, very carefully. Then it's in the shooting position and now I can wiggle back and forth here, whatever I want, it won't move. And you really get used to that. Especially for people who are new to using such a release, that is a great thing.
The hook stays in position. You can be always sure that it will stay where it is. Wit the TRU Ball, I have to set the release and then I have to be careful when reaching for the D-Loop.
Depending on how far I have to turn it when my D-Loop is twisted a bit. It could move without me noticing. So it could be on the position of the "click" already. So this simple solution with the magnet from Arc Système is really something. You get used to it. I think it would be cool if this was done a little differently.
On the other hand, it is of course nice that it runs smoothly. You don't get the feeling that this would ever get jammed or something. I am convinced it will always work as it should. The second thing I notice is again the size.
So here I definitely have a lot more space, a lot more than I would actually like. The release is available in size S, but I have one in size M with me today. I have to say that size S would probably be OK. At Arc Système it's size M for me and fits like a glove. It's interesting that you have there is such a range. That TRU Ball is a completely different size for me. It seems like they are designed for hands of US hunters.
So it's one size smaller for me. You always have to try that yourself, but with TRU Ball, maybe try a size smaller than you would normally use. Good. But long story short.
Let's shoot! The release took a while there. I didn't know exactly how long the way was. What I noticed: A very loud click. This can of course also be due to the fact that the release is new.
That will maybe wear out a bit over time. There are shooters who get startled when it clicks. That turns out to be very strong here. But well, that's actually not a shortcoming.
It may also be desired that way. So if you get used to where the point is it will come a little faster of course. Very nice release. So generally a great piece. Super nice.
I can now do another shot with the Arc Système Attendeux. So that I have a direct comparison. To tell you the differnces I notice. First of all, it fits my hand so much better.
That's a huge thing and that's absolutely important. The click is much quieter. That is the volume I am used to and so I naturally like that better. I don't shoot it for no reason, but because I like it.
And what I also notice is that I have gotten used to this thick thumb barrel. Here it is such a thin barrel. There's another thumb barrel. It is available in our shop. So you can swap it so that it has the same diameter as the Abyss, the trigger release. That's what I would do too.
You don't really need anything thicker, because you don't push a trigger here, it's just for safety. But I still like it when it is a bit bigger. But you are free to change all these things, if you like. That was all about the two brothers from TRU Ball, Abyss and Fulkrum Flex. These are very nice releases. There is almost nothing to complain about.
Especially the trigger release, the Abyss, is one of the best trigger releases I know. It has a great shape and has all these possibilities to adjust it. I love to shoot it, even if this is not exactly my size. Size is actually an interesting topic. They are not both available in size S. I don't really get it, because if you want to do exactly this trick, alternating between backtension and trigger, you can't if you need size S.
I actually need a size S with my medium-sized men's hands. So that doesn't work for me, it's a pity. TRU Ball also recently posted a picture of the two of them on Instagram. Somebody commented exactly that. "Why aren't both releases available in size S?" Since TRU Ball didn't respond, I can only speculate. But, I think it's a shame.
If someone from TRU Ball is listening: Build both releases in size S! Pretty please! That would be cool. Technically they are well made. They are adjustable. They are flexible.
They have a certain weight. I like that. Very nice. Again a sincere recommendation from me.
But, buying both is not cheap! If you want to have both releases and want to do this trick with switching between releases, you have to put over 500 euros on the counter. And that's a lot of money. You have to think twice about it.
That is why it is of course not aimed at beginners, but rather at people who have been shooting for a long time, who know what they want and who are interested in this technique and this option. So that's it from me on these two releases. It's gotten a bit of a longer today, but there is a lot to say about these brothers here. As always, if you have any questions: Just write in the comments! And otherwise we are still happy about thumbs up and subscriptions! And then I say: Thank you very much and see you next time!
2021-02-21