Bear Outbreak Review

Bear Outbreak

Average user rating

out of 5 user reviews
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  from $250

Pros

  • Solid backwall
  • Great youth/beginner bow
  • Easy to adjust draw length and weight
  • Huge range of adjustment

Cons

  • Slide type cable guard
  • Heavy for some youths
  • Lack of color options

Video

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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

BowBear OutbreakBear Apprentice 2
Version 20142013
PictureBear OutbreakBear Apprentice 2
Brace Height7.25 "6.125 "
AtA Length29.25 "27.5 "
Draw Length16 " - 30 "15 " - 27 "
Draw Weight15 lbs - 70 lbs15 lbs - 60 lbs
IBO Speed308 fps265 fps
Weight3.5 lbs2.9 lbs
Let-Off80% 70%
Where to buy
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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.

User Reviews

  • 5 reviews
  • ( out of 5 reviews for all versions)
Versitility

Version: 2013 Bear Outbreak

Rating:

Pros: Adjustability, accurate, quiet.

Cons: We had some cam lean which was easily fixed.

Full review:

I bought this bow for my oldest son when he was 11. This fit him as a tall kid better than the Apprentice his younger brother had. He was immediately getting decent grouping at 23" draw and 30lbs. He is now 17, at 27" and 55lbs and has taken two very nice bucks with it (one was 210lbs field dressed) over the past two years. The ability to quickly (within seconds) adjust the draw length has been a huge advantage and money saver for the family vs buying different components and/or taking it to a shop every 6 months as he has grown. It's a quiet, solid bow. I would recommend for anyone who still has growing to do, or anyone looking for a simple and accurate bow for hunting, bow fishing, or target shooting. Personally I have always had Matthews, but would absolutely hunt with this bow.

Aswome bow great price and shoots well and build good.

Version: 2014 Bear Outbreak

Rating:

Pros: The draw weight from 40 to 70 lbs and lenght from 16 to 30 inches and the quality and looks of the bow the camo goes with about anything from hunting to Target practice or for a girl or woman.

Cons: The wisker biscuit that came with it I unlike them "personal preff" and the sights seem cheep also a"personal preff".

Full review:

This bow will be awesome for me to start back out with it has enough umph to shoot with my friends and well above the ability to kill anything I would shoot at with it and for free I can upgrade the heck out of it with a overdraw for speed and a nice set of trophy ridge sights and some carbon arrows n qwiver.

Have had this now for many years now and it's work perfect.

Version: 2012 Bear Outbreak

Rating:

Pros: Loved the adjustable size, got to grow with it and perfect my shooting.

Cons: As much as it doesn't have any colors to choose from besides camo, the bow had no cons that I ever ran into.

Full review:

I have had this now from when I was 13 and it was amazing to shoot then, perfect size and fit me well. As I grew up and changed I could adjust the settings and still be able to use my bow well. I am now 19 and a lot bigger than I was when I got the bow and yet it still fits perfect, I personally would like to go up in the power a bit more, but I really can't complain about 70 lbs. It does the job well and I don't think I'd ever get rid of it.

very smooth shooting and very ajustible.

Version: 2012 Bear Outbreak

Rating:

Pros: it was pretty fast. that it goes up to 70 pounds and has a big range of draw lengths.

Cons: it is not as fast as i would like it to be.

Full review:

i have shot 2 deer with it and it worked perfect. it is a very smooth draw back. and is very smooth shooting. it is a great beginner bow. the only thing i dislike s that it is only 308 fps i would like it to be a little faster but it still goes threw deer with a 2 inch rage a 60 pounds.

Great adjustability very soft backwall.

Version: 2014 Bear Outbreak

Rating:

Pros: Instantly adjustable, smooth draw cycle, very quiet, very comfortable to shoot.

Cons: soft back wall, minor technical issues.

Full review:

This is a very easy to shoot bow. One of the smoothest draw cycles I've ever felt. This thing is extremely Quiet! I junked the factory sight (my preference) for a trueglo 3/16 tube peep. Backwall has roughly an inch to an inch and a half of play which makes it tough to be extremely accurate. Bow is built extremely vertical, meaning the gullet for the arrow rest isn't very deep, I had to purchase a saunders cable slide to keep my fletchings from striking the cable on the way through. Overall a rock solid bow with adjustability that ranges from my ten year old through my wife all the way to myself. I will move on next year but my son will shoot this bow for years to come. For no more money than I have in this bow I'd do it again, the only real hang up is the back wall.

Setup:
QAD ultrarest
Trophy Ridge Punisher 3 pin sight (I added a pin and a light)
Trueglo 3/16 tube peep
Limbsaver quad limb savers

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