# Diamond Iceman Bow Beware!!!



## clu__82 (Jun 27, 2006)

Hi all...well I had a very unfortunate event happen to me last weekend. I had shot about 10 or so arrows through my brand new Iceman bow when this happened:

As I drew my brand new Iceman bow back to full draw as I always do, I heard a small crack, a small piece of plastic fell to the ground and the string kept pulling way past my anchor point. I was a little bit dumbfounded as all of the slack came out of the bow. I looked at the bow and noticed that the string had un-looped off of both cams on each end. I put the bow down and noticed that the cable was stuck on the draw length adjustment screw. I lightly touched the screw to see if the broken plastic piece came from it when CRACK! The cable released from the screw. It ended up smacking my thumb. I spent 4 hours in the ER yesterday. The cable ended up breaking my thumb, cutting it for numerous stitches and ripping half of my nail off. I honestly didn't wrench on it or try to un-lodge anything. I just gently touched the screw to see what was going on.

The force that was released onto my thumb and onto the bow ended up blowing off the bottom limbs and breaking off the two black plastic pieces. Clearly, there was a lot of force that was released when the cable dislodged from that screw. Now, I truly don't know if this was a once in a million freak accident, or if it is something that may happen again to someone else under the very same specific circumstances. So please, if this happens to you, DO NOT TOUCH THE BOW!! Put it in its case very carefully and bring it in to a shop.

Needless to say, my thumb is pretty messed up because of the malfunction in the bow. I am going to see a plastic surgeon next week to see if they need to operate and repair it.

I have contacted Diamond just in case that if in very specific conditions this may happen to someone else. My draw length is 28" and that may be a perfect condition to have this happen again, who knows. It was so bizarre and happen so fast.

So please listen to this because you do not want what happened to me.

Sincerely,

Clu

PS The bow was awesome and I am in no way bashing the bow. I am excited to get my thumb healed up and am excited to get my replacement Iceman bow. I think that Diamond bows are fantastic and that this may have been a freak accident. I love my Diamond Rock and my wife loves her Razors Edge.

Here are some pics:

1) Bow aftermath










2) This is the reverse side of the draw adjustment screw/stopper....you can see how the rubber bit was cut and where you can see the red that is where the plastic piece broke off from




























3) This was the small piece of plastic that fell after I heard the cracking sound










4) This is what the pressure did to my bow after the cable snapped off










5) You can see the reverse side of the draw adjustment screw/stopper and how bent it is










6) That is where the cable got stuck










I do want to say that I purchased this bow from a store and it was set up for me. I did not adjust anything my self other than putting on the stabilizer, rest and wrist sling. I guess this is a lesson learned.

Basically I think the cable wrapped around my thumb when it released...it ripped the front top left part of my thumb off....it tore the left base part of my thumb nail out and it was hanging over the skin....a large flap of skin was ripped out of the left side of the thumb and a deep cut was on the right side....all in all ...a couple stitches.......my nail had to be cut off and then the rest of it put back under the skin......and to boot ...my thumb was snapped in half between the base of the nail and my first knuckle....apparently there are some chunks floating..... But hey it could have been my face or cut my thumb off...so all in all...a lesson learned and in a couple of weeks.....it should be holding a bow and flinging an arrow.


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

Yeeeeouch! Best of luck to you in your recovery!


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## Kelly Hannan (Jan 9, 2007)

Ooouch, hope everything works out ok.

Don't think I would chance another Bow like that


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## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

Can happen to any compound bow at any time. They are after all, mechanical devices, and sooner or later all machines break...

I've had a good number of cracked limbs over the years, but fortunately caught & replaced them before they ended up in bow failure upon release.

Your pictures perfectly illustrate the devastation of a dry fire. Compound bows store a lot of energy and if it's released & isn't absorbed by the arrow, it goes back into the limbs/bow. The result often is what you experienced.

I've seen a number of bow failures at 3D tournaments over the years, most often the result of an arrow blowing up on release. This is why I've never been a fan of light arrows & spines. For compounds I won't shoot any less than 7GPP, and with my recurves, no less than 10GPP.

I had this happen to me with a first gen carbon arrow (early Browning 
Graphlex) in the early 80's. The result was about the same as your pictures, but my ER trip was for my bow arm being ripped to shreds by the cables & peppered with shards of carbon from the exploding arrow...

The other biggie is string and/or cable failure. On compounds, I change strings ever Winter during the off season, even if they look fine. I put on new cables every couple years. I keep at least two new & broken in strings for each of my recurves on hand at all times.

The ability to change strings instantly is a huge advantage for recurves as a hunting weapon. Even into the mid 90's, most compound bows were designed so that the string could easily be swapped out in a minute or two without tools.

Most compounds made now require a shop press to do it...

Nowadays I primarily shoot Traditional. They can still fail, but it generally isn't like having a grenade go off in your hand...


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## Bernie P. (Sep 25, 2008)

That really sucks!Hope the recovery goes well.


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## Colt (Oct 25, 2007)

I know two guys that had something like that happen to them with a Mathew's. LOL. I'm always hearing how Mathew's are the best.


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## MDV89 (Sep 8, 2008)

Sorry to hear about that - hope you recover quickly!


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