Hoyt Kobalt Compound Bow

The Hoyt Kobalt is the rare youth bow that treats a beginner as a future lifelong archer rather than a temporary customer. At a $449 launch MSRP it carries flagship-derived engineering, the Tech Riser, the standard Hoyt grip and the 1,500-cycle dry-fire durability bar, into a 2.8-pound package a child can actually hold steady. Its defining strength is range: 18 to 28 inches of draw and 7 to 45 pounds of weight, both owner-adjustable without a press, so one bow legitimately follows an archer from first lessons to first hunt. Hoyt publishes no speed or let-off number for it, which is fitting, because velocity was never the assignment; forgiveness and growth were. In my experience the bows that turn kids into archers are the ones that build confidence early, and the Kobalt is engineered end to end to do exactly that. It is an excellent bow for the household investing in a young archer's first several years and particularly strong as a form-builder for beginners who torque the grip. Buyers who want a single bow to eventually reach full adult 70-pound hunting weight at the lowest cost should also look at the Diamond Infinite Edge Pro... read full review