Chronographs

Sparrow doesn't have a chronograph to sell you yet. Garmin approves retailers for its archery line individually, and our application is in. Until it clears we won't take money for something we can't ship, so this shelf is empty on purpose rather than padded with a unit we don't believe in just to have something here.

A chronograph is the one tool that ends arguments. Your bow's IBO number was measured on a 30-inch draw at 70 pounds with a 350-grain arrow, and almost nobody shoots that. Real speed is what your actual arrow does out of your actual bow, and it is routinely 25 to 40 feet per second off the sticker. Every sight tape, every gap, every long-range hold downstream of that number inherits the error. We wrote up how far off IBO usually lands if you want the math.

The unit we want to carry is the Garmin Xero C2 — it sits behind the shooting line, needs no light gates to fuss with, and logs every shot to your phone. Its page is live here so you can read the specs and our take on it, but it is not purchasable through Sparrow and we're not going to pretend otherwise.

In the meantime, you can get very close without one. The Forge will estimate your arrow's real speed from your draw length, draw weight, and finished arrow weight, and our sight tape guide shows you how to true that estimate against two known distances — which is, in practice, how most people build a tape that actually holds. A chronograph gets you there faster; it isn't the only road.

When Garmin clears us, chronographs turn on here first. If you want a note the day that happens, tell us and we'll send one.