At the age of 14, I was trounced upon by a large but friendly mammal. The mammal was a large 19 year-old friend, who often expressed his comradery by, I suppose, toughening me up. After that particular occasion, I was unable to lift left my arm overhead for 6 months. In my later youth and onward, I managed to mostly overcome it, but as I traverse a certain proverbial hill, old injuries revisit me.
Rotator-cuff injuries don’t go well with archery and mine has finally decided it will not cooperate anymore. I nearly became depressed. Archery is a big deal to me, and the thought of losing it isn’t a jolly one.
My archery club has an eclectic group of folks, a few of them being truly notable. There’s a fellow in his 70s who, although a compound shooter, is 100% ambidextrous. He can shoot equally well with both orientations and the same poundage, at the same distance.
I remembered this and realized that the fat lady wasn’t singing, she was merely warning me. There was hope. Behold the Nika ET-2 17 inch ambidextrous riser – a $70 temporary solution:
To the right is my own self-made cumaru riser, which doesn’t have a shelf. I’d grind the shelves off the Nika, but it’s magnesium pot metal and it would weaken it too much.
I’ll write more on this Nika riser as I gain experience with it, For now, I am please with it, but I do not trust it for either its maximum tolerance of 55Lb limbs nor even 50. The accuracy is indistinguishable, to me, from any other shelf’d riser. It shoots well with my Samick Discovery 45Lb limbs and it’s quiet. For yet another crappy review, see video below:
I hope to finish my cumaru riser soon, but the ILF fittings, eg dovetail and final angles have me befuddled. I haven’t yet figured out a way to proceed with precision, but I will. And if my riser works, I’ll use it as the template for the aluminum version.