Firenock 2010

[xdamagexx]

Firenock Challange 2010.

http://www.arkansashunting.net/showthread.php?t=73195

Im contestant #10 this year. i thought it would be fun to do. i started Monday evening shooting and i did videos and pics. on shot 33 atm. im gonna type up my findings and submit them in and post them on this site to complete the task, and also thought ya'll might like to see whats happing. i will try to keep it up dated. im testing Firenock, Lumenok, and Tracer. 100 shots. 50th soaked in water, 75th salt water. my lil twist is if they are workn at 80-85 lets start bird hunting in the yard with them. see if they last too 100 bouncing off the ground and threw wings!!

I am in no way sponsered by any company!!!! i signed up for it. just wanted to put that out there before anyone started throwing SPAM.. Enjoy...

[rackmasterlgw]

I am not using lighted nocks anymore x, but I will watch for the results to see who makes the toughest one.

[xdamagexx]

i won;'t post my boring detailed report till im done. but atm im at 40 shots and Lumenok and Tracers are working great.. the only grip i have about these atm is the Tracers battery having to install on my bow is kinda bogus and its a bit dimmer than the other two. the Lumenok works great but im afraid it will wear out the contact by the 100th shot.. also if u bump it around there is a chance that it will come back on, if u barely turned it off. The Firenock on the other hand has not functioned properly since the first shot. i have a homemade target stuffed with clothes. upon impact into this target the nock will turn itself off. i think the clothes stoppes it too fast. Mr Firenock sent me out a new battery thinking i have a bad one.. i can shoot this Firenock into a store bought Yellow Buckmaster target and it works fine at any yardage,. heck i also shot into the ground and it worked. All i know is i got a issue with my big target. got the batterys in today and hopefully it will correct the problems.. Firenock has been easy and great to talk to. Customer Service ATM is an A+. i will keeps ya up dated.
here is a few vidoes i have took so far.
http://sharing.theflip.com/session/9...video/13494401

http://sharing.theflip.com/session/e...video/13517035

[xdamagexx]

above correction. about the Tracers, u have to install a Magnet on your bow to make them function.
the new battery for the Firenock worked great! it was the battery. i didn't plan on shooting tonight cause the wind but i had too. it was eatn at me. i shot just a couple hours ago. first 2 were perfect shots in the dark with the firenock functioning properly into my homemade target, next i wanted to aim for the hardest spot in that target to really test the nock, not factoring in the wind and darkness, i was off. Into my 2x4 target frame, arrow about 2"+ in the wood with the Firenock not lit. i thought great i just fixed it and then broke it, the arrow surived but the frame held on to the insert and field point. when i got inside i figured just switch out the nocks on another arrow. pulled the firenock and the Plastic nock was broke. circuit and battery stayed in the arrow. figured the Firenock and my review had bitten the dust.
After a straighten coat hanger, i got the circuit and battery out of the shaft. i took 1 of the 2 extra plastic nocks that are included in the package and reinstalled the battery and presto. tuff lil bastard worked. went out and shot into the hardest spot of my target and it worked... no wonder Mr Firenock has confidence in his product. they are tough. its been an emotional day here testn lighted nocks. lol

[rackmasterlgw]

X,You got a pretty good review going on.Thanks

[xdamagexx]

just got done shooting shot number 75. Firenock and Tracers are still workin... Lumenok broke on shot 52.... i soaked all three in water over night at shot 50. shot 51 they all worked but had an issue with the firenock.. it worked fine until i started to turn it off. i would drop it on every surface, and very hard. and it wouldn't turn off. wrote Mr Firenock, "Firenock has a ground fault built-in. If the inside of the arrow is totally soaked, and/or the mosfet circuit is compromise, the ground fault subsystem will kick in to prevent shut off the nock. THink about it, if something happen to the system, what is the worst that is if the nock itself cannot be shut off?" so this is what happened to me.. i took the nock out(condensation was still in it.) and blew it dry and let it dry out of the arrow over night and it worked.. shot 52 thru 75 no problems. im gonna soak them in salt water tonight and hopefully finish this by the weekend. i think i have almost had every issue that can happen without hunting, happen.. gheesh.

[rackmasterlgw]

So for overall ease of use and durability the Firenock is winning the shootoff?

[xdamagexx]

well kinda.. Tracer has been hassle free. there is just a few issues with it. (brightness and magnet). but ya i guess firenocks are good for someone that wants to play with thier nocks. if u want to buy a nock just for your hunting arrows and maybe shoot it a couple times. i think Lumenok would be a cheap and easy choice, just don't expect to play with them much or they will wear out. Firenock so far i guess will be the one i would chose outta the bunch to shoot at targets and hunt with.. im kinda crabbie with them cause i have had so many issues arise but i guess i just been having bad luck, and on the other hand. every issue i have had with them has been fixed and im still shooting with the Firenock i purchased so thats gotta say something! in the future if a get a wild hair i would like to try out G5 and Nockturnal's.

[rackmasterlgw]

Be interesting to see if the g5 and nockturnals are 2nd generation and are improved designs.

[xdamagexx]

to make this offical im going to post my full evaluation thats sent into Firenock. here goes.

FIRENOCK CHALLANGE 2010. by xdamagexx

Pictures are in this Album.
http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x...Challange2010/

1 single pack - Firenock hunting circuit red “S” = $20.95
1 single pack - Lumenok “S” green = $10.99
1 double pack – Easton Tracer “S” Orange = $19.99


I purchased the Firenock straight from http://shop.firenock.com
I got the other two from www.Cabelas.com

All were ordered the same night and delivered 3 days later. Firenock and Tracer packaging was a bit more informative than the Lumenok. The Firenock and Tracers both came with practice/extra nocks and weights. Which is nice if you need to adjust your sights and practice, or break a nock.

First Impressions
The Firenock needed to be assembled and the instructions were easy to follow. I like the fact that u can disconnect the battery and or replace it if it gets low. Just a minute and I was ready to shoot. It activates upon shooting and to turn it off u have to drop it straight down 6+ inches onto a firm surface on the nock once. Hopefully u can find something firm to use, I will be using concrete and hopefully this won’t bugger it up to much. This nock has a Steady solid light when shoot. Very Bright.

The Tracer was already installed with the battery shrink wrapped onto the nock. All that needed to be done was insert into the arrow and activated with the Magnet that was included. I like the fact that the Tracers can be put into sleep mode/deactivated when not in use. But it could be a hassle/time consuming if you have several nocks that need to be activated. And or u forgets to deactivate. Once the Tracers’ battery dies its either junk or u could I guess try to rig up another battery for it, if possible. When you shoot this nock it passes by the Magnet and activates (the magnet has to be installed on your bow. I’m not a fan of adding things to my bow but this lil magnet isn’t a big deal; when I stop using these nocks I will have a useless magnet on my bow!), once u retrieve the arrow u have to pass it back by the magnet to deactivate it. This nock shoots a solid light then about 8 seconds after shoot it starts blinking. (I like the idea of the blinking it might help draw my attention). Little dimmer than the other two! In this test im going to leave the Tracer activated the whole time. (to test the battery and im just lazy.)

The Lumenok was already installed with the battery and ready to shoot. This nock was the easiest to learn and use. It uses contact to active the light, when the nock is tightly installed it lights, u turn it off by loosing the nock from the arrow shaft. (a couple draw backs I see up front are; bumping the nock and turning it on; twisting the nock and misaligning the Vanes). It also has the option of replacing the battery if needed. When shoot it is a steady solid light. Very Bright.

Info and Gear.

All Nocks were installed into Beman 300 ICS hunters. 2” Fusion Vanes, 100 g. field point. Shooting 20yards(fixed) into Homemade Target (HT)(its filler is old clothes). I’m shooting all three in a row for #1, so by the time I shoot #100 I will have shot all 3 - 100 times. I also have a Yellow Buckmaster(YB) Block that I move around.

It Begins.
#1. All nocks light upon firing and make a nice trail to follow to the target. They hit, Lumenok (L) worked well; Tracer (T) started blinking as promised; Firenock (F) turned off on impact. The nock worked well through the flight but the impact into my target shut it off. It hit a hard spot but we will try again. I tested the (F) on the concrete turning it on and off. Seemed to work. Lets shoot again.

#2. Same results!

#3. I choose to shoot the (F) into the center worn out area of my (HT). Hopping that the softer center would be less of an impact. Tada it worked, the (F) hit and stayed lit. i must have a sensitive circuit or flawed nock. The other two worked fine.

#4. (F) shot into harder area and failed again. (L) & (T) working well.

#5. lets try the (YB) at 40 yards. Success. All 3 worked flawlessly.

#6. - 10. into (YB) at 40; No problems. The Foam target being softer must be the reason the (F) is working now.

#11. back to (HT). (T) & (L) fine, (F) not function properly again.

#12 – 13. same results.

#14. (F) into center of (HT) worked along with others.

#15. into (HT) (F) failed, others work.

Emailed (Mr. (F)) about my problems; he promptly replyed with FAQ and concerns.

#16. (F) shot into the ground at 10yards worked well. Along with (L) & (T).

#17. into (HT) (F) fail. (L) & (T) fine.

#18 – 25. only two times could I get the (F) to work properly shooting into my (HT).

#25 – 30. shooting 50 yards into (YB) all three worked perfectly. Very nice trails, late at night is uber cool. (L) & (F) are both equally bright. (T) is nice with the blinking but next to the others .its dim. (still on the fence whether I care for the blinking or not.)

#31. into (HT) (F) worked!!!! Wtf? It was into a hard spot even.

#32 – 33. (HT) (F) fail. (L) & (T) holding up great and working well.

Several emails later a couple videos and pictures; He seems to think my wire was bent and there is some wear on my battery; (F) is sending me a replacement battery. So far, great communication and responses from (F). No problems out of the other 2.

I’m going to continue the test mainly at long distance into (YB) until I get the new battery. I will wait for the #50th water test on a properly working (F).

#34 – 39. into (YB) at 40yards, all three worked well.

#40. shot over (YB) all 3 hit ground and went about 40 more yards and stayed lit.

Received the Battery in and exchanged it and worked great! it was the battery.

#41 – 42. all three worked great into my (HT)

#43. (L)& (T) shot fine into (HT), but I goofed up and tried to shoot the (F) into the hardest spot on my (HT) and I didn’t factor in the wind and the darkness and I stuck the arrow into the wooden frame about 2"+ in the wood with the (F) not lit. i thought great i just fixed it and then broke it, the arrow surived but the frame held on to the insert and field point. when i got inside i figured I could just put the nock on another arrow, i pulled the (F) and the Plastic nock was broke. circuit and battery stayed in the arrow. figured the (F) and my review had bitten the dust.
After a straighten coat hanger, i got the circuit and battery out of the shaft. i took 1 of the 2 extra plastic nocks that are included in the package and reinstalled the battery and presto. It worked; went out and shot into the hardest spot of my target and it worked..

#44 - 50. All three shot and worked perfectly into (HT)

Soaked arrow and all in my bath tub over night. The Arrows were trying to float so I put them under the tub mat. Next morning I shook off the water and shot all three.

#51. All worked. But had another issue with the (F) it wouldn’t shut off. I disconnected the battery and reattached it and seemed to be fine till I lit it again and same thing. It wouldn’t turn off. Emailed Mr (F). His response, the (F) has a "Firenock has a ground fault built-in. If the inside of the arrow is totally soaked, and/or the mosfet circuit is compromise, the ground fault subsystem will kick in to prevent shut off the nock.” And he instructed me to take the nock our of the arrow and let it dry out and that should fix the issue. So if you do get ur (F) soaked it will still work! After a day of drying out I tried it again that evening and he was right. Back to the test.

#52. (F) & (T) worked fine. (L) didn’t. I twisted it to see if the connection was bad and nothing happened. I pulled the nock out of the arrow and nock came out but battery stayed in. the battery worked itself loose and upon impact slammed into my insert damaging the battery. (L) was broke and outta the challenge.

#53 – 75. (T) and (F) shot fine into (HT) and (YB) at 20, 40 and 50 yards.

[xdamagexx]

Salt water test; I started at 10AM soaking and at 1PM; I came home and noticed that the (F) was lit in the water. I took it out and disconnected the battery, reconnected it and it lit again. I couldn’t get it to shut off. So I took it apart again and let it dry out the rest of the day. 11PM that night I took (T) out of the water and straight into my case to set over night. I reinstalled the (F) and tested it on the table and it seemed to work properly again. So I put it back into the water. 30 minutes later I noticed the nock was lit again. So I took it out and going to let it dry. I noticed some rust like residue inside the nock was beginning to form.

The next morning I tried the (F) and it was working, so i placed it back into the saltwater for the 12hrs as requested. (it lit again within a minute of placing it in the water, but i left it to complete the task. That evening the nock had turned itself off.) I knew that it wouldn’t work properly till I let it dry out of the arrow so I didn’t put it in the case over night. I took the nock out of the arrow and disconnected the battery to let it dry. After it dryed the nock started to work properly again.

I took the (T) out of the case and tested it and it would only flash. It put itself into sleep mode. No matter what I did it would only flash, I couldn’t get it to activate. So I took it out of the arrow and it was still wet. I let it dry out all day and tested it that evening to find that it works.

#76 – 82. both (F) & (T) worked fine into my (HT).

#83. (T) turned itself off upon impact. When I retrieved it the nock was in sleep mode. I activated it and It was noticably dimmer. Then it shut off again.. Battery was dying quickly. (F) was noticably dimmer but I still figured I would shoot it more.

#84 – 87. (F) worked fine but still dimmer than it normally had been. Figured either its battery was going out also or poor connection. Do I took it apart and notice that it was just the connection. So I twisted the wire holding the battery to tighten it and It broke. Either it was wore out from all my tinking or I was to rough with it. Either way my testing is over. I know for a fact that the (F) woulda shot past 100 shots if It hadn’t of broke.

I contacted Lumenok to ask about my nock breaking so early. They were very informative and helpful. They suspected that the battery was bad and that the nock itself would still function if I had a new battery installed properly. So they sent me out a new battery package and led me to informational and instructional videos on their website for me to trouble shoot. After I got It in, my original (L) worked with the new battery installed properly. So im going to shoot it for the rest of the challenge to see how long it will last, till it breaks or wears out, just to be fair to (F) & (T). So back to shot #53 (L) is back in the challenge.

#53 - #100. (L) was shot at various distances into my targets and preformed flawlessly. After my conversation with Mr. (L) I learned that it’s the nocks design to let the battery disconnect to help prevent damage to the nock itself. To protect the battery a bit more (L) recommends to put some kind of padding(foam ear plugs, trimmed to fit your shaft.) into the arrow to cusion the impact of the battery releasing(this helps prolong your batterys life).



Summery of Nocks
Tracers are a good solid product. They come handy ready to go into a arrow. They say you can get 90 hours out of the battery. I left my (T) activated the whole 2 ½ weeks I tested it. And I shot it 83 times without a fail or trouble. I bet if you used the sleep mode the nock probably would last easily 100 + shots. Only things I don’t prefer about this product is its noticably dimmer when shot next to the (F) & (L), and having to install a magnet on the bow is not to my liking, also you have to have the bow/magnet near by to deactivate the nock. So no leaving your bow in the tree stand if you want your nock turned off quickly. Also once the battery dies your nock is done. But tipically they way they last and function buy the time they die you should have shot your moneys worth. 2 for $20 ain’t bad for a lighted nock. I like the idea of the sleep mode, same thing as disconnecting the battery but without the hassle. I choose not to use that function to test the life span of the battery. It came very close to the estimated 90hrs, figure a minute a shot. The flash mode that the nock goes into after being shot is kinda nice. It would probably be helpful in the woods getting your attention if you went looking for the arrow. And when i removed the Magnet there was no harm to my bows finish! I rate the (T) a B+. Customer Service = Never had an issue to need to contact them.

Firenocks are a great hightech lighted nock. Everything they say and promise has been true. These nocks are great and tough. I like the replaceable battery, choice of circuit and color choices you get of LED and nocks. It’s a bit pricey compaired to the other nocks but once you consider all your options and choices and if you are like me and take care of your investment than this nock is worth it. I have had issues and problems with (F) but after some communication and new batteries my issues were resolved. The only thing I dislike about the (F) is how you turn it off. I used concrete behind my house to drop the nock onto, and after 25+ shots the nock was getting noticeably narled up. Its not that big of a deal but maybe hard to find a hard spot in some areas of the woods. The (F) was extremely bright and with the extra nocks in the package, having a backup nock is very handy. Can’t wait to get my hands on the (F) target circuits. In the future i will only shoot these with the Extreme Shock End Caps. I think that will solve most of my set backs. I rate the (F) an A. Customer service by email and phone were excellent. Prompt replys and answers. Company went out of its way to fix the issues and sent free products. Customer Service is A+.

Lumenok are the original lighted nocks and the simplist of them all. Four componts,(nock, LED, wire, and a battery) Easy to use, right out of the package. Extremely bright and tough. Replaceable battery. Only issues I have had with this nock is that at times if you don’t twist the nock enough it will light when you don’t want it to. Bump it around and it could activate on limb. Also when u are disconnecting it, the flecthing gets mislined with the nock and you need to check that before u shoot and hit your rest or string with your fletches. Other than that (L) is priced right at $10 each and a great product. I rate the (L) an A.

Customer service by email and phone was also excellent. Prompt replys, answers and instructions. Company went out if its way to address my question and sent out free products. Customer service is A+.



My Opinions and Thoughts

I had a blast taking this challenge. I learned a lot about lighted nocks and my arrow flight. Lighted nocks brought some fun back into shooting. Just shooting at night makes these nocks worth the purchase.

I would like to try a couple other 2nd generation lighted nocks but for now I have more than enough to hunt and play with. My final choice of a favorite, falls into these factors/main concerns; Price, Function and Brightness.

3. Tracer

2. Firenock

1. Lumenok

I probably won’t ever buy Tracers again; the magnet and lack of brightness was its downfall. Im a big fan of the Firenock and Lumenok; both have exceeded my expectations. Firenock is a great investment and great nock to shoot, but its just a little bit more than I need for hunting. Im pretty plain and simple and Lumenok fits me perfectly.

[Pred8er]

Wow, that's alot of reading. Thanks for the info!

[xdamagexx]

ya its alot.. this site only lets u post like 10000 words at once so i had to break it up. i was trying to be Fair and detailed as possible. i kinda went extra long but ohwell, at least Firenock got a good evoluation out of my testing. the Owner called me this morning and sounded very pleased. thanx Dorge!!

hopefully this info can help some of yall out if u were thinkn of purchasing a lighted nock.

[firenock]

Well, it is indeed a true and detail review. I cannot possibly imagine a worst time to do the test for Firenock. Guess it had to be sometime and ugly, it might as well be now. The fact is that I just got the shipment of the NEW long shelf life battery and out goes the pack for the Firenock challenge. What do not know and later discover was that some of the long shelf life battery's pin is 1 to 1.2 mm shorter than our current regular battery. So, when the arrow hit anything at all, the battery move forward and the battery pin disconnect from the circuit. The moment the regular battery was used, everything becomes OK.

I am just glad that everything bad and good is shown. Now, educated consumer can have real information to decide what is the best for them.

[rackmasterlgw]

firenock,
thanks for the heads up on an issue that has been corrected.

[rackmasterlgw]

x
Very good and in depth review.Looks like an honest evaluation.Can't ask for more.

[xdamagexx]

thanx Rack. doubt anyone would wanna read more.. lol