Sponsored by: Marc Anthony Outdoors

Lumenok, famously known for their lighted arrow nocks, have developed a new carbon arrow to work in concert with their lighted nocks. This new arrow, the Lumen-Arrow, is available now, so Eric Price the V.P of the Burt Coyote Company, (who manufactures the Lumenok), contacted Non Typical Hunter, Inc. to test these arrows and to give him our perspective.

Lumenok is no stranger to the archery world, in fact, they’re world renown for their lighted arrow nocks. If you were to merrily mention the word “Lumenok” to any hunter/archer, they would immediately know what product you were talking about. An ingenious yet practical idea, the Lumenok hit the market with great success. The notoriety of the product was well deserved because it delivered an innovative solution to both the bow hunter and the target archer alike.

Because a manufacturer has a successful product on the market doesn’t exactly mean their next product will be equally accepted. With the saturation and duplication of nearly each and every hunting product on the market, competition is stiff and performance is paramount if a company wants to impress the retail sector. Today, it’s survival of only the fittest.

When Non Typical Hunter, Inc. tests a product as you may know by now, we do static testing (stationary), load testing (strength) and field testing (how it performs in actual use) to say the very least. We also give points for aesthetic appearance and other personal preferences but for the most part, overall performance is what we look for. We hate failures in the field, products that don’t live up to their claims and products that are over-priced. With all of this being said, where does the Lumen Arrow stand?

To the battle fields  

Tested – 6 carbon Lumen-Arrows.

Size – cut to 28 ¾”

Bow poundage 70#, 65#, 60#, 50#.

Field tips – 100 & 125 grain.

Broadheads – 100 & 125 grain.

Distance – 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 yards.

Target – deer carcass, foam box, layered box.

Shot quantity – 150 shots per arrow, 50 to each target.

New arrow rest was installed on test bow and laser aligned.
Out of the box, the manufacturer claims a + or – .003 straightness variation. With the 6 (half of a dozen) arrows we tested, they had .002 variations out of the box. After shooting them 150 times into different materials, we re-measured for a variation of .003.

Lumenok claims a + or – .5-grain weight per dozen. We didn’t have a dozen to compare to but found their original statement to be satisfactory, as we didn’t have more than .2-grain weight differences.

The actual Lumenok (nock) never failed on any of these carbon arrows, which was a concern with other manufactured arrows. To explain why, lets first look at how the Lumenok actually works. The Lumenok is a very simple arrangement of a battery, an LED and a wire in an incomplete circuit. The carbon or aluminum material in the arrow shaft plays an important role in the function of the Lumenok. Those materials are electrically conductive and provide the conductor to complete the Lumenok’s circuit. So in essence, it’s just a simple electrical switch. When the Lumenok’s base contacts the arrow shaft, it now becomes a complete circuit. A problem can arise when some arrows are built using a quantity of non-conductive fiberglass. Since arrow material, preparation and fit are important to the Lumenok function, the Burt Coyote Company was compelled to bringing to the market a combination of a Lumenok and an arrow that addresses all of those issues. The Lumen-Arrow is a solid solution that addresses those past issues.

Our Take

We at bowhunting.net like it when companies are always finding solutions to improve upon their products. Sometimes the best way to improve your product is to improve someone else’s product and that’s just what the Burt Coyote Co. did. They eliminated an issue not related to the direct manufacturing of their Lumenok but rather the arrow manufacturer’s. Some say: “If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself”. The Lumen-Arrow flew straight, flew true, remained within acceptable tolerances and held up to repeated testing and better yet, performed flawlessly in completing the circuit allowing the Lumenok to illuminate. The Non Typical Hunter staff all gives the Lumen-Arrow a “Thumbs-Up”! Nice job Lumenok.

The manufacturer states, “The Lumen-Arrows will be available in 3 packs fletched with Blazer vanes, with either red or green Lumenoks, factory installed. The arrows are packaged with shafts at a full 31” in length to be fitted to the buyer after purchase”.

Your local Lumenok retailer will also have access to bare shafts for the archer who desires to personalize his Lumen-Arrows.

There are 3 spine weights available:

Arrow Size             Lumen-Arrow 75/90   Lumen-Arrow 60/75   Lumen-Arrow 45/60

GPI                               9.9                   8.8                   8.1
Spine                           0.3                   0.35                 0.4
Length                         31”                  31”                  31”

For more information, please visithttp://www.lumenok.net/index.html

Lumenok also provides some very informative “how to” videos that will aid the archer with any installation or performance issues. Visit these videos at: http://www.lumenok.net/howto.htm

For more from Marc please go to:

www.marcanthonyoutdoors.com 
www.nontypicalhunter.net 
www.heartlandoutdoors.com