My review of the Dr Stirrup Kit

[Trigger1212]

Oooh Man, this is hard to write! I just read the gas attack post by doemaster, my eyes are still watering and sides hurt from laughing! Showed it to the Mrs. and my daughter, they almost wet their pants!

But here goes:

If you’re like me (and I think the majority of you are) we all like “stuff”, and if the “stuff” is for our Excals so much the better! I had heard about this Dr. Stirrup “stuff” and just HAD to try it. Unfortunately I was not able to attend Boo Fest but I called Gaston anyway and introduced myself. I must say he is a true Gentleman and we hit it right off. I think some of this is because we had a common past as Farm Boys. I really admire a man who can make a living inventing and selling machinery to move manure!

Gaston was kind enough to send me a complete kit for my Matrix 355 and just asked for my honest review which I promised to do. A bit late but here it is, this is just my opinion so take it for what it’s worth.

A little background, my first bow was an Equinox, loved the bow, smooth, shot great but it was a little big and heavy for snooping and pooping in the woods and corn fields. Decided to try something a little smaller, really struggled with that decision. Matrix 355 or Micro 335? Tried them both and finally decided I did not want to give up the speed and voted for durability with all the posts swirling around on the potential limb issues. So went with the 355, great bow! Got it from Dave at Wyvern, asked him what arrow he suggested and went with the 20” with brass inserts (shooting 100 gr spitfires). He knows a lot more about what works with these than I did so I went with his suggestion and do not regret it, shoots great! Without Dave’s input I also felt that the short 16” arrows were just toothpicks, felt more comfortable with a longer arra. I may be completely wrong about arra length but I’m happy with my decision.

In my review below I am going to assume that if you’re reading this you have already seen the Dr. Stirrup set up and know what it looks like.

So package arrived and I was as excited as a kid Christmas morning! Tore it open and my first thoughts were:
1. Well made
2. Cool
3. BULKY looking, hmmmn…
But as Forrest Gump’s mom would say; Pretty is as Pretty does!

Bolted it all on and it went together with no problems, a well made kit, nice! After it was all on I set it on the freezer and just looked at it. First thought; Damn, that is bulky, don’t know if I’m going to like that, the reason I GOT the bow is I wanted something smaller… Second thought was; look at that, it’s setting there level without the tips dragging in the dirt, cool, nice as a matter of fact.. So I did not necessarily like the looks but how will it function?

First issue, as stated above the arras I use are 20”, so the broadhead sticks out of the safety tunnel that is one of the primary features of this set-up. That is NOT the fault of the Dr. Stirrup but rather due to a decision I made setting the bow up. It would be nice to see this tunnel extended OR be made so an extension could be added, a snap on piece? One of the nice features with the way it is currently made is that the front of the tunnel is flush with the foot rest so you can use this “flat area” to stand the bow on its nose which can be very handy. Since my arras are too long this tunnel does not provide much benefit to me.

With my long arras I never worried about putting an arra through a foot as you could not get your foot in the factory stirrup with an arra on the rail as the arra was in the way.

Foot rest; works as advertised! I never had an issue with the original, actually kind of liked it, made the bow LOOK like a cross bow! But the DS foot rest makes it easy to cock the bow in odd positions/locations, feels very secure and as mentioned before it does a great job when you set you bow on the ground. The bow will set level instead of tipping over a dragging your tips in the dirt/grass. It also does a very nice job when you want to stand your bow on its nose (ground blind).

The main concern I had with the foot rest is “How am I going to hang this in my tree stand?!” The factory loop stirrup was great for this, I actually was quite concerned about it and was wondering if I should drill a hole in it, add a wire loop etc. If I hung it by a limb it would just slide sideways, hmmmn, what to do?....

Well that was all a bunch of worrying for nothing. I was looking at the bow in the uncocked mode and it did not look like it would hang by the limb very well. I took off the string and added the 3 limb silencers to each limb, restrung it and then cocked it. The answer was now obvious, with the bow cocked the limbs have a great curve to them so it was very secure to hang the bow off my bow-hanger by the limb. Hung it by the area between the rail and where the new limb dampners were located. Even in a wind the hanger could not slide past the dampners, worked like a charm, a great relief.

Dampners; thought I was smarter than the average bear when I bought the bow as I had Dave set it up with Danny’s small bumpers. Got the kit and to make them work you needed the factory bumper bases… Out smarted myself there. Called Dave and luckily he had a set of factory take off bumpers (probably mine!) that he sold to me for a minimal fee. Installed the factory bumper bases and then with a good bit of spit (literally) and elbow grease slipped on the new rubber string bumpers from the kit. Overall impression is that the limb and string dampners work very well. Noticeably less vibration at the shot and quieter. Quieter means just that, quieter, not silent. These bows will never be silent no matter what you do to them. The string dampners are VERY durable, considering that the string actually rests ON the dampners I expected them to be torn up in short order. After hundreds of shots there isn’t much wear on them, they look like they will last for a loooong time.

If there were just ONE part of this kit that I was able to get, it would be the limb and string dampners. Very effective and durable. In looking at the set-up and engineering, I believe the molded foot stirrup and tunnel design and material also provide some form/amount of dampening.

Making the factory quiver work; This is one part of the kit I just did not care for. All you do is add an extension to the quiver mount that will move the quiver back closer to the butt end of the bow. This is done so that when you cock the bow the quiver does not jam into the ground. The factory mount is ok, I only use if to and from the stand and take it off in the tree. Don’t like the idea of the quiver mounted on top of the bow (will admit I have not tried it). With the addition of the extension I like the quiver location even less, it is now quite wobbly (due to the extension) and with it moved back (and my longer arras) the end of the arrows hit my hand while holding the grip. Just purchased a Kwikiee Kwiver Sidewinder hip mount for my quiver and going to give that a try. Hoping that without the quiver on the bow at all it will make it feel a lot more manageable while snooping and pooping even with the DS kit on it…

Cocking; I never had any problem with the original loop stirrup, liked it and it worked well for me. I used my left foot and slightly tilted my body to left when cocking. After a long practice session I could feel the leaning having an effect on the lower back. With the DS foot stirrup this is for the most part eliminated and is very comfortable to use. Will have to mention one thing that is good to know the first time you use it. With the new DS foot rest you will now be standing with your bow centered on your body just in front of your legs. You will (meaning I did) grab the cocking handles and aggressively pull up as per normal. Well, I was not very far into my “pull” before things came to an abrupt halt! Due to my height and length of my legs when I pulled up on the rope the toe of the stock kicked back and caught “The Boys” a good clip! THAT will get your undivided attention! With the original stirrup using one leg the stock would naturally rest against your leg while cocking, not so with the new foot rest… Was an easy fix, I just pivoted the bow ever so slightly so that when cocking the tow of the stock would come to rest on the inside of my left leg, “problem” solved…

Cocking rope; reading the reviews this sounded like the cat’s meow, couldn’t wait to try it.. Does it make it easier to cock? A bit but not an OMG amount, I’m a bit over 6 foot and 220 lbs and in decent shape so had not issue with cocking using the factory rope. Initially I did not like the feel of the handles, long and rough feeling due to the mould structure but I got used to them. The thing that bothered me the most is that the hooks would not easily slide on the rope. If you use the factory cocking rope you know what I mean, they just zip up and down the rope. These hooks stay right where you put them. In a hunting situation this is of no matter as you cock your bow once and you’re done. But when practicing and doing a lot of shooting it can be a little irritating as you need to slide them around to hook on to your string for every shot.

Now that I’m used to it I like the cocker as it DOES help with the pull but it did take a little getting used to. I may try it with my factory handles, may be the best of both worlds.

So there is my review, would be nice if it could be made a bit lighter, a little less bulky (I think getting the quiver off the bow will really help with this), add on extension that could be snapped on to the tunnel for longer arrows. The tunnel is a great feature even if you are not concerned about the foot. I wanted it so the broad head would not snag when going through brush, tall weeds and corn fields.

Final recommendation: While there are a few tweaks I would like to see it’s staying on my bow and I would buy it for my next bow (cauz I just know there will be another one!) even if no changes were made. Repeat use is the best recommendation a person can give.

Wade
Semper Fi!

[ihunt]

Very good review! Thanks

One question I tried googling Dr Stirrup and couldn't find any videos only photos.
Is it possible you can post a video of it in use? please, pretty please lol's

[Hillcountry]

Good review...thanks! My worry is same as yours was as to the new "growth" hanging off the bottom of the crossbow. I wish I could see and touch one in real life to calm my fears about spending money on one then hating it.

[SEW]

I think your review is well done. I, too, appreciate Gadton so I'd like to add my thoughts from a little different perspective. Not high jacking ; rather, adding.
My two Xbows are a M380 & M405. I'm 5'10" 190# and less than 1 month shy of 69.
I am unapolegetically a long range hunter. Also, I like quietness and no hand shock and will make significant compromise for them. The string bumpers are a great improvement. The DS cocking rope/stirrup reduces the felt cocking effort about 1 model down on my two bows: i.e., the M405 is cocks about as easy as the M380 did with the original stirrup/factory rope ; and the M380 about as easy as the M355. A huge advantage with the DS stirrup/rope is the ability to cock while remaining seated.
The stirrup is also quieter than the bare, factory stirrup.
The limb silencers , I believe, help some.
Overall, I really like the Dr Stirrup set up.

[Roadrunnr72]

Another "not a high Jack" but a good place to add my .02. I was interested in the DR. Stirrup set-up. Ordered the Bumpers and limb silencers, then checked the trading post, I found all of it, except the cocking rope, at a very good price, so I bought it as well. The silences from DS arrived first, so I installed them on my M380. The other silences will go on my Phoenix. Shot it a few times, and like it. The Stirrup arrived and I put it on my M380. I'll go with the dislikes first. The hardware, wow, really could have been better, at least black and not all shiney. The quiver relocation bolts were too short and I couldn't mount my quiver. Not a deal breaker.
I do really like the DS over the factory one. I have always felt that when cocking my bows, that I was having to pull it off to one side a little and not straight up, not so with the DS. I don't really notice that pulling the string back is any easier or harder. I have not shot with the DS, yet. I do like the looks, and the fact that I can lay my bow down, and the limbs are off the ground. So far, no regrets.

Thanks, RR

[W.Miguire]

I to have a DR.Stirrup set up on my 355&380 but I shoot 18" arrows . for me there is no difference in flight than the 20's like them better. all my B/H's are enclosed . the BH I chose to shoot is the Slick Trick Grizzly 1 1/4 " wide with no problem with clearance. the thing I really like is the foot stirrup . can wear my heavy boots and still can cock the bow. like your review . give the !8" a try you may be surprised .
W.M.

[SEW]

A note on cocking rope length. I have my length such that the xbow string is 4-5" pulled back with the cocking rope hooks on the string. This effectively reduces the draw length significantly.