Then I took notice of how truely un attractive the limb dampers were on my bow (I wont mention any names) and I thought to myself "would'nt it be the coolest thing to have a skull and crossbones instead of this....whatever you wanna call it on there?) Of corse the answer to that was " Oh hell Yes!!!" So i started looking around to see just what creating something like that would entail and what I found out was that I could'nt afford it. lol. Also to make matters worse, I could'nt find a company that could even reproduce the artwork! Not to be detered, I dug in, hunkered down, and refused to be defeated. Rather than relying on expensive machining and injection molding I decided to take it into my own hands...litterally. Relying on my 20+ years experience as a professional artist I did some preliminary sketches to figure out dimensions and the look I was after. Then I went to the art store and got some modelling clay. Boy was that a disaster. Although I could sculpt things, they just were'nt the quality and precision I was looking for. So began my quest in the 3d modeling realm. After countless hours and a year with my face stuck in a computer screen I had the "Jolly roger rib back" split limb damper... Well at least in the digital world any way. Which unfortunately didnt do my bow any good at all. So now it was to the 3d printer to make my creation into something I could hold in my hand, and while that was happening, reasearch on what the best material I could get my hands on for vibration dampening along with all the other requirements necessarry like not getting stiffer in the cold and things like that. After all hunters were going to be using these and I couldnt have them not performing at there best at the moment when they are needed the most now could I? After much research I had gathered all the necessarry materials and tools and began the mold making process, then the casting process, and when the testing process began and I loosed that first arrow, I knew that I had just created a ground breaking product. I could actually hear and feel the difference between my dampers and the ones that were on there before. A big difference! And they looked so cool on there. Next was to actually test them against the other dampers on the market head to head and find out for real where I stood in the world of archery silencing. The results were astounding! The Jolly roger model (skull & crossbones) dampened vibration at more than twice the effectiveness of the leading dampers. I made videos of the head to head comparisons and they are a part of this presentation.
I posted photos of my creation on social media and it was only a few hours and I had requests from archers asking "Do you make them to sell?" "How do I order some?" "can you make some for my crossbow?" "do you make solid limb models?" and I said yes to everyone. What insued was a flood of orders that I could not keep up with especially after they recieved their sets and the word got around. I had more return customers than ever expected and the new customers kept flowing in. Good problem to have one would think. But there is a problem... Making them by hand is slow and I couldnt keep up with all the orders. I would be backed up a month or more and that was causing me to ruin the reputation of an amazing product because of slow shipping times. So I stopped advertizing in the hopes of stemming the flow untill I could catch up. That only worked a litle bit. Another problem is the hours to profit ratio. it takes so many hours to make a set that there just isnt any profit to be made. I have gone on like this for well over a year trying to keep the brand alive while trying to save enough money to have them machine made, but at about 4 bucks an hour I realize that I am never goin to get there and I have a 3 year old son who need his daddy around. So I am now coming to my fellow archers and all others who are willing to help me get this product launched by standing together and becoming a member of the Buzzkill Army.
All funds from this campaign will go directly to the funding of the machine work needed to make the molds and the injection molding to make the actual dampers and the packaging and inital distribution to as many stores as I can get on board as well as all the individuals who have been supporting this project from the start. From that point I will reinvest and bring forth other models that have been requested by folks who have been loyal customers of my hand made models. And the design possibilities are endless. I would like to have future models that are police and fireman badges, Sport teams, Flowers, Boar heads, aligators, olympic rings, bear heads, Elk heads, Moose heads, Childrens styles, The list goes on and on, and expand into other damping equipment like stabilizers and full kits, and I have some very cool ideas for string silencers as well, and as always Buzzkill Silencers will accept feedback from the community and that feedback is what will dictate the new products we make. So now people have the ability to actually take part in the personalization of their archery equipment while supporting the best performing product to date. With your support I will bring the world of archery silencing into a new era and together we can put some art i the art of archery. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I truely look forward to seeing you in the ranks of the Buzzkill army.
