Honest in-depth crossbow brand reviews: TenPoint, Ravin, CenterPoint, Barnett, Killer Instinct and more, model by model.
The Best Compound Bows for the Money Let me say this plainly before anything else. This article is about vertical compound bows, not crossbows. A compound bow is drawn by hand, held at full draw by the archer, and shot with a release aid. A crossbow is cocked, locked at full draw, and shot with…
Best Hunting Backpack I have carried cheap packs that dug into my shoulders by 9 a.m., and I have carried good packs that disappeared on my back until I needed something out of them. The difference is never the logo on the lid. It is the frame, the fit, and whether the pack was built…
Barnett Whitetail Pro STR Review The Barnett Whitetail Pro STR is a 2018 era crossbow that still deserves a straight answer in 2026. It promises 400 fps, a genuinely good TriggerTech trigger, and a ready to hunt package for about $600 at list price. The honest story is value with caveats. The tested speed is…
Barnett Whitetail Hunter Review Before you spend a dollar on a Barnett Whitetail Hunter, you need to know which bow you are actually looking at, because four different Barnett bows share this name and search results mix them up constantly. The bow at this slug is the original Whitetail Hunter STR, part number BAR78263, a…
Excalibur Assassin 400 TD Review I have hunted with recurve crossbows for years, and the Assassin 400 TD is the one I keep coming back to when a traveling hunter asks me about a bow that packs down small and still shoots straight after you put it back together. It is a 2020 takedown recurve…
Killer Instinct SWAT XP Review The Killer Instinct SWAT XP is the most interesting crossbow I have reviewed in this series, and it is also the hardest one to recommend. It packs 415 fps of advertised speed into a 27 inch bullpup bow with a fully enclosed barrel, a caged broadhead, and a crank in…
Killer Instinct Hero 380 Review The Hero 380 is a light, narrow, simple 380 fps package bow that was good value when it sold new, and it is gone now. The maker no longer lists it, the last known retailer price is about $230, and the only bows left are remaining stock and marketplace listings….
Barnett HyperTac 420 Review I have shot a lot of crossbows that promised 400 fps and delivered a mushy trigger, a dim scope, and groups that opened up past 30 yards. The HyperTac 420 is not one of those bows, and that is why it is still worth a serious look in 2026. It is…
TenPoint Vengent S440 Review The Short Answer The TenPoint Vengent S440 is discontinued. There is no current new bow price, no live product page on the TenPoint site, and no new bow to order from the manufacturer. You can only buy one used or as leftover stock, and that fact should shape every decision that…
TenPoint Vapor RS470 Review I have shot and handled a lot of TenPoint bows over the years, and the Vapor RS470 is the one I keep coming back to in conversation, because it was the bow that changed what a crank cocking system could do. It was TenPoint’s reverse draw flagship when it launched in…
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