Bear Outbreak Review

Editors' review

The 2013 Bear Outbreak is a great youth or beginning archer bow. The range of draw lengths and draw weights on this bow is amazing. A very young archer to a fully mature adult could be fit perfectly for this bow. It is more than what is needed to harvest big game when at it's maximum capacity or even well beneath when a child is mature enough physically and mentally to do so. Bear is improving every year with their workmanship and quality with great customer service so mentors or parents can feel secure in their decision if they choose the Outbreak. It is comfortable to shoot with a solid back wall and simple to adjust without many tools as the shooter grows or progresses.

Finish

The Outbreak is only available in Realtree ATP finish. It is somewhat unfortunate for those youths, or others, who like to have options to choose from to personalize their bow. The finish, however, is strong and doesn't seem to flake or chip from normal to heavy use of the bow.

Riser/Limbs

With an axel to axel length of 29.25" it is nice and compact. This is great for some of the smaller youth archers. It is pretty light at 3.5lbs. and is a good weight to hold steady for many youths. The Outbreak is not the lightest of youth bows, however, and could be a little heavy for some beginners. It has a very short riser and doesn't look like anything fancy, but does its job well. This bow has a string stop integrated into the bottom of the riser and has a stabilizer bushing as most bows do now days. The Max Pre-Load Quad Limbs are a set of split limbs. Along with the riser they form a 7.25" brace height. The draw cycle is nice a comfortable especially for the speed it packs for the lighter and shorter settings that it has. It is pretty much shock free at the shot and is fairly forgiving for the most part.

Grip

The Outbreak has a full rubber molded grip. It feels good on the hand and is nothing special, but does everything it should do. It doesn't seem to encourage any torque. The grip is thicker than some, but it should still fit the majority of small hands. These full rubber grips help to keep hands warm on cold hunting days. It has a sturdy feel to it and it doesn't make the bow feel like it wants to rock or twist.

String Suppressers

A string stop comes standard with this bow. It does not have any other string suppressers, however, with it set at lighter draw weights it doesn't seem to need them. It does seem to get a little louder especially at the heavier draw weights.

Eccentric System

The dual cams have rotating modules on the Outbreak. By rotating these cams this bow can be adjusted from a 16" to a 30" draw length. With this huge range of adjustment it could fit pretty much any child and even the large majority of adults. It is adjustable in 1" increments. With 80% let off if feels great at full draw especially for a highly adjustable youth bow. It doesn't even require a bow press to rotate the modules for draw length adjustment. The convenience of this is great for the bow owner or owner's parent with frequent adjustments for growing children. The draw weight has a range of 15lbs. to 70lbs. With 55lbs. of weight adjustment almost anyone could find their comfort zone. The weight range has a higher max per 1" increase in draw length. It makes perfect sense for larger or smaller kids. The IBO is 308 fps.

Draw Cycle/Shoot Ability

The draw cycle is smooth on the Outbreak, but it does have a pretty noticeable hump. It feels nice and locked in at full draw with just a little hand shock at the shot. Beginners will love the long valley the gives plenty of room to creep forward without it jerking back up when trying to learn the basics of archery. It has a solid back wall and there is a cable stop that is flat that plays a large role in this. For many of the younger shooters a stabilizer would add unwanted weight to this bow. For the shooters that can handle the extra weight a stabilizer would have some benefit in balance and some vibration. The cable guard is the slide type and it is on a carbon rod. It does great at keeping th cable separated and out of the way.

Silencing Package

Although this bow is not boisterously loud it is not whisper quiet either. The string stop helps some with silencing, however, there are not any other silencers that come on the Outbreak. A stabilizer would help a little with noise, but if much weight is added to the string for silencing it will start to slow it down.

Comparisons

Bow	Bear Outbreak	Bear Apprentice 2
Version	2014	2013
Picture
Brace Height	7.25 "	6.125 "
AtA Length	29.25 "	27.5 "
Draw Length	16 " - 30 "	15 " - 27 "
Draw Weight	15 lbs - 70 lbs	15 lbs - 60 lbs
IBO Speed	308 fps	265 fps
Weight	3.5 lbs	2.9 lbs
Let-Off	80%	70%
Where to buy Best prices online	$130 to $500 Compare prices	$72 to $300 Compare prices
	compare more bows

The Bear Outbreak is the next bow above the Bear Apprentice 2 in Bear's line up. It has quite a bit more speed with it's IBO being 43 fps faster, however, the Apprentice 2 has a maximum draw weight of 60lbs. and draw length of 27". With the Outbreaks maximum draw weight being 70lbs. and draw length 30" it would actually be slightly slower than the Apprentice 2 when doing the math pound for pound and draw length inch for inch. The Apprentice 2 may actually be a better choice for the young beginning archer than the Outbreak. If a beginner can draw closer to 60lbs. of weight and already has close to a 27" draw length then the Outbreak may be more suitable for them.

Perfect Usage

This is a great youth bow that could grow with a child throughout their entire childhood if they prefer to keep the same bow for this long. It is completely sufficient for hunting when it is set up at close 40lbs. in draw weight and higher. It would also work good for learning how to shoot 3D recreationally. The Outbreak can be set up to fit almost any youth that can shoot a bow and could be used until they either prefer to upgrade or possibly outgrow it. There are also some adults or women that this bow may work great for.

Value

The Outbreak is a good value if one looks at how long a child can use this bow or at least how long they are willing to. With its huge range of adjustment it is well worth its price and especially for a bow that will go up to 70lbs. in draw weight. If a child is serious about learning how to shoot a bow and they aren't too small to handle the weight of this bow then you really can't loose with this purchase.

Summary

This bow can be used by any beginning archer from young youth to adult. It is fairly smooth and comfortable to shoot. It is a step above the Apprentice 2 in Bear's line up and seems to better for older youths with the Apprentice 2 more ideal for younger or smaller youths. It has good speed with the dual cams at all weights and draw lengths. The quality of Bear products keeps getting better. Although it lacks any color options there are many kids that still want a camo bow like Dad's. The Outbreak's gigantic range of adjustability makes it appropriate for a larger variance of archers than nearly any other bow. With an MSRP of $299.99 one can't really go wrong and it is a great price for a bow that will go up to 70lbs. in draw weight.