Has anyone ever had an arrow 'snap-back'?

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My point is you're implying it's less safe when in fact actually more safe to tied to the back
 
What gets me is why anyone would advocate not using something that can contribute to safety. I have never met anyone, in life or in a forum, that says it is safer to tie to the back of an arrow than it is to use a safety slide...until now. The people I have met that do tie to the back of the arrow concede that it is more dangerous than using a slide but admit it is a risk they are willing to take.

Hey kids....don't worry about your seat belt either while you're at it. You car has airbags, right? That's good enough, son. :roll:
 
There is no risk of SnapBack when using 200lb fast flight or similar line, it is designed to break if the line gets hung up. Therefore it renders the slide useless!!!

The slides are only necessary on retrievers, which suck anyways. The slide itself causes all kinds of accuracy problems, and also dramatically effects how deep you can shoot vs a spinner/no slide set up. The slide itself being bigger than the arrow creates a lot of drag traveling through the water. The line is also heavier which can be a problem when shooting at depths below 3-4 feet.

I'm not making this up, I used to shoot retrievers. Still have 2 sitting in a box. Once I went to a spinner there was no turning back!
 
I did just the opposite....started with a muzzy real, went to a AMS and never looked back.

Zero drag on the line, no button to push.

To each his own when it comes to reel or retriever, but there is no debating that using a safety slide is safer than not using one. Your setup may be safe in your eyes, but it can be made even safer with a safety slide. You owe it to the people on your boat to be as safe as possible.
 
When I first began bowfishing, I used a recurve bow, and I would tie the line to the TIP of the arrow, not the back end, by threading the line through the small hole where the roll pin holds the tip, and tying a knot in it. Even with my limited knowledge at that time, I knew not to tie it to the tail of the arrow, due to the possibility of getting caught in the bowstring.

Then I bought a crossbow, and ordered some bowfishing bolts from AMS. When they arrived, they already had saf-t-slides installed, and instructions on how to use, along with a warning about not using a saf-t-side. So at that point, I started using them on my arrows as well.

As I said before, I think in my haste to load up and shoot at the flounder, I fumbled the line somehow and got it caught on something, and didn't notice it. That had to be what happened, nothing else is going to cause a snap-back. And yeah, the saf-t-slide reduced the snapback power to a level that it was only a flesh wound, but what if it had been a few inches higher and hit my eye? I don't even want to think about it.

I'm not going to argue the semantics of which bow or reel, etc is better....all I'm saying is that I hope my little mishap serves as a wake-up call that bad things can happen, even when you are using the right equipment.

My experimentation with the shock leader (as the video shows) proves that it is a fail-safe method that reduces ALL snap-back, period. You might lose an arrow, but you can buy more. You only have 2 eyes. I won't ever shoot again without one, saf-t-slide or not, you can bet your a$$ on that! I would hate to hear of someone else experiencing a snap-back and being blinded for life, so, whether or not you use a saf-t-slide, I would strongly recommend using a shock leader.
 
The video does not show a shock leader, it shows a Spinner Reel loaded full of 200# fast flight bowfishing line. I personally use a similar line called Monkey Wire.

Won't see to many, if any, tournament winners using saftey slides!
 

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