REVIEW – Next to electronic and photography gadgets, weapons are one of my favorite gadgets. I’ve seen the Pocket Shot slingshot products in the past but just never got around to buying one. When the Pocket Shot Pro Arrow Kit Combo review offer came along, I thought it would be a great time to test it out.
What is it?
The Pocket Shot Pro Arrow Kit Combo is a slingshot-like device intended to shoot arrows as a projectile.
What’s in the box?
- Pocket Hammer with brace
- Whisker Biscuit
- 2 PRO Arrow Pouches
- Archery Release
- (3) 30″ Take Down Arrows with practice tips
- 1 Razor Tip
- 1 Hammer Tip
- Pro Arrow Kit Zipper Case
- Spare Pouch
Design and features
The Pocket Shot Pro Arrow Kit was one of my most anticipated products this year. It arrived quickly and well packaged. I couldn’t wait to take photos and get shooting.
I have a lot of experience with archery equipment, including the Whisker Biscuits that the Pocket Shot Pro uses to guide the arrows and the included type of release. I thought this would be an easy and fun review because I have used recurve bows, compound bows, and crossbows for most of my life.
As I unpackaged the items, I found my first disappointment. The arrows use a natural feather for the fletching. These are known to take quite a bit of abuse and damage from Whisker Biscuits. The nature of the pouch prevents the arrow from being inserted from the rear of the Whisker Biscuit as you would with a standard bow. Although you could unscrew the Whisker Biscuit, nock the arrow, and then screw the Whisker Biscuit back on, it makes an already lengthy process even longer.
After analyzing the design and function, I determined that this design choice was because when the pouch stretches and the diameter becomes smaller, it contacts the fletching. Plastic fletching would not lay down with pressure and would cause the arrow to pull out of the nock point, whereas natural feathers lay down.
The arrows were much longer than I thought they would be. At 30″, they are pretty much the same length as a standard arrow for a bow. After thinking about the method of shooting and draw length/anchor point, it makes sense. The arrows are still very heavy for the amount of energy the pouch provides. I did find that the carbon fiber arrows seemed to be of excellent quality.
The case that the rest of the gear came in was very nice. Although the semi-hard case is labeled as the “Pro Arrow Kit Zipper Case,” the arrows don’t fit in it while inside their storage tube. Placing the arrows in the case without the storage tube results in the fletching getting squished. The case needs to be redesigned, as it appears to be just the standard Pocket Shot case repurposed for this kit.
The kit comes with a spare pouch, broadhead arrow tip, hammer head arrow tip, pouch cap, three arrows, trigger release, and the semi-hard case. The Pocket Hammer is the handle portion that holds the Pocket Shot ring. It seems very well constructed and even includes a light rail mount on the bottom.
Upon my first test firing, I discovered yet another disappointment of the Pocket Shot Pro Arrow kit. The pouch and its heavy nock point have so much energy that it shoots right through the Whisker Biscuit when firing. After each shot, you have to stuff the pouch back through the Whisker Biscuit and turn it right side out again. I can’t think of any design change that would improve this deficiency.
As for accuracy, you can become pretty accurate with a bit of practice. I was able to hit a paper plate-sized area after just a few practice shots from a distance of about 25 feet. After a while, I was able to hit a fist-sized spot pretty consistently. Penetration was about 4″ into my very dense crossbow target. This penetration would be plenty for small game or during a survival situation.
Aiming is quite a bit more complicated than a standard archery bow, as the Pocket Hammer is much harder to hold consistently. Any deviation in holding the handle perpendicular to the arrow results in extreme arrow porpoising.
The Pocket Shot Pro handle folds neatly when not in use. You could easily fit this in your pants pocket.
Here’s a short video showing the use of the Pocket Shot Arrow Kit:
What I like
- I liked the included hammer tip
- The Pocket Hammer was constructed well
- The carry case was excellent, although not large enough
What I’d change
- The carry case should be large enough to carry the arrows
- There needs to be a better aiming system
- The pocket shoots through the Whisker Biscuit
- The arrow fletching is not very durable
- The release wrist strap was almost child-sized
Final thoughts
The Pocket Shot Pro Arrow kit is one of those things that sounds great in concept, but when put into actual practice, it has too many shortcomings. The original Pocket Shot slingshot would be sufficient for hunting small game and would not have the drawback of the cost and risk of losing arrows. I don’t believe that the Pocket Shot Pro Arrow kit has enough power to take larger game like a deer ethically.
Check out our other Pocket Shot reviews.
Price: $139.00
Where to buy: Pocket Shot and you can also find their products on Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Pocket Shot.
Filed in categories: Reviews
Pocket Shot Pro Arrow kit combo review – a slingshot for arrows! originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 11, 2021 at 8:13 am.
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