BOWSMITH from Apple Archery.

Chako · **on:** June 15, 2011, 01:10:27 AM

I can't tell you how excited I got when I finally found an archery centric multi-tool. Now for a little back story. My late father and I did a lot of things together, and one of the best times we had together was at the archery range. Ever since I got into archery, I have hunted for an archery specific multi-tool. I never could find one. Yes, I even looked at the various bow maker catalogs to no avail. We both ended up buying back in the early 90s a pair of American Camper multi-tools which oddly enough did the job admirably. However, it would have been great to have something more specialized.

Roll to last week when I spied on eBay the BOWSMITH from Apple Archery. I bought it on the spot, and right quick. The BOWSMITH is listed at having 28 functions.

- needle nose pliers & cutters.
- 1/4" magnetic hex driver
- string loop setter.
- tree step starter.
- nock spreader.
- nock crimp.
- knife.
- peep sight string spreader.
- broadhead sharpener.
- broadhead wrench.
- fletching stripper.
- threaded receiver.
- insert extractor.

With this tool, you can:
Install a string nock, adjust poundage, set a string loop, tune arrow rests, change draw length, install quivers, adjust/install sights, change cams, clean/prep shafts, strip fletching and glue, remove/tighten/sharpen/install broadheads, de-burring, and remove/install inserts.

As you can see, this is quite the handy little archery tool to have at your belt. I just wished I had this back in the 90s.

Onto the photos...

The sheath is a rather nice blue with yellow/gold piping. There are two pouches and a plastic canister that fits into the larger main compartment with the tool, and a smaller front compartment for the bit holder. Interestingly enough, a magnetic clasp is given for those hunting situations.

The tool has Apple archery emblazoned on the handle. Here you see the plastic container that contains the extractor and brass wire brush stripper.

There is some room for you to carry a few smaller items such as nock sets, Allen keys, screws, etc, inside that plastic container. Here you can see the extractor and wire brush stripper removed from their storage container. Now, the tool is not designed to fold closed with any of these two tools...a pity. The extractor is too wide, and the brush too long.

Here, you can see the various tools along with the two removable tools...

The plier head is rather interesting. This would be a great tool to put and remove nocks on bow strings.

The driver bits are double sided. Looks like you get a good assortment of useful bits for archery.

Overall, if you are into archery, I can heartily recommend this tool. I am sure Bob knows of a few more archery centric multi-tools. I know they must exist out there. This being my first, and a long search at that, I can't say too much bad about this one. My biggest complaint would be the inability to store one of those 2 additional tools in the handle. That would have freed up some much needed room in that small plastic container for even more goodies. As it stands, you can have yourself a nice small field servicing tool for all of your archery needs on your belt. To me, that is a great thing.

Heinz Doofenshmirtz · **Reply #1 on:** June 17, 2011, 07:39:17 PM

Nice review of what looks like a very cool tool.

I haven't done any archery in a good 20 years, but still interesting and informative none the less. Thanks for sharing.

Chako · **Reply #2 on:** June 18, 2011, 12:47:10 AM

You are welcome.

MultiMat · **Reply #3 on:** June 18, 2011, 03:55:08 AM

That is a interesting looking specialized MT Chako

.

What is the quality like on it mate

Suspension like or better

.
Do you still have a bow Chako

. I would be interested to hear how the MT performs at the specialized functions

I wonder if there is a Geocaching MT

.

Chako · **Reply #4 on:** June 18, 2011, 05:12:04 AM

The quality is not that bad for what it does. No locking mechanism however. I still have plenty of bows...but I haven't shot any in about a year and a half now.

J-sews · **Reply #5 on:** June 18, 2011, 11:12:13 PM

Very interesting Dan.

I had not seen that one before. Looks like the designer definitely put some thought into that plier head.

As regards other "archery" multitools, there have been a few that come to mind. Back in the late 1990's, you could pick up a lot of oddball multitools at a place called Cutlery To Go. CLICKY. One of them was this OUT-IN tool, which had a nock-setting notch in the plier head, as well as a cutout in the one blade for installing hunting tips (broadheads) onto arrow shafts. The tool was made in Taiwan, and was pretty decent quality.

Not so good was this one by Mountain Quest. It was made in China and featured a nocking notch, a broadhead wrench, and a guthook among other things. Despite the HEAVY DUTY claim made on the package, it was most certainly anything but.

Mountain Quest is the "economy" brand of New York-based Kutmaster, and I can't help but be disappointed that they never produced a better quality version of it here in the states. $:-\$

Speaking of tools that never reached production, here is a prototype Archery tool commisioned by the folks at Browning. They reportedly had ten of these made for evaluation, but never went forward with the deal. I'm not sure why not...?

It has a sturdy enough build, and plenty of features. (nock pliers, broadhead wrench, knife, hex wrenches, etc)

Marketed as an archer's tool, but without much in the way of archery-specific features, was this BuckWing hunters multitool. It has somewhat of a "Schrade Tough Tool" configuration, but with shears instead of pliers. Only hex wrenches and a saw blade though, no knife.

This one here pops up on eBay regularly. Called the Game Trackers Archery Multitool, I've also seen it in packaging labeled Trek Tool. It has a nice big set of blunt-nose pliers, with a nock notch, saw, guthook, etc. It also has a set of 1/4" hex bits that fit in the folding bit driver, but I forgot to include them in the photo.

Other than the Browning prototype, all of these tools were built rather crudely. $:-\$ It makes me think that if a company such as Leatherman or Multitasker were to direct their attention towards this niche market of archery multitools, they could easily capture enough sales to make the effort worthwhile.

Singh · **Reply #6 on:** June 19, 2011, 12:49:27 AM

Interesting tools. I'm sure they do the job for compound bows.

I make & shoot selfbows, so no multitools are needed for that. I've used my SAK scissors for making bowstrings, and the blade for trimming cane grips, and that's about it.