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Writer's pictureChris Accardo

Gear Review: Kinetic Vygo

Updated: Sep 25, 2022

When you want to shoot, but don't know what to shoot



There was a period of time where I wanted to try barebow while still shooting olympic. Knowing that the tune and rest would need to be different, I decided to get a new riser so I could leave my olympic one as is.


I picked a great time to look for an entry level riser, because the Kinetic Vygo happened to come out right around then. A simple riser in array of low-key colors, one thing to immediately note about the Vygo is its grip, which is surprisingly nice. Both aesthetically and in feel I found it useable, which is more than you can say for some stock grips (more than I can say for my Hoyt honestly). Even with most higher end risers the grip seems to be basically be a placeholder, something they know you'll want to customize or get rid of later if not immediately, but I think some extra effort went into the Vygo that you normally don't see.

However, the real beauty of the Vygo is that it comes with internal weights, letting you experiment with the black magic that is barebow weight distribution without having to spend a fortune off the bat. The weights are simple: three sets of paired weights that thread together inside the riser. The nice thing with these weights is they use a standard 5/16 threading, so if you upgrade later you can use half of each weight on your future risers bushings should you want.


And, honestly, you’ll likely upgrade if you stick with archery for a while. That’s not to say the Vygo will ever hold you back–I’ve shot 280 indoors on mine multiple times–but if you stay in archery long enough, you’ll likely find you want more specific features and geometry. Some folks will tell you to “buy once cry once,” but the reason to buy a Vygo is because you know you want to shoot barebow, you just don't know what you want to shoot it with. After shooting on the Vygo for a season, I was able to confidently buy my next riser (Hoyt Xceed) knowing exactly what I wanted, but didn’t feel like I wasted any money. Dollar-per-arrow shot that season, I paid pennies for the Vygo. Even after upgrading, the Vygo still has its place: for a while it was my backup bow for tournaments, then a training bow to put my higher weight limbs on. Nowadays, it mostly lives at home, but when I get the occasional left-handed friend who wants to try shooting, I have the perfect thing for them to try.


After buying mine, the Vygo became a popular bow at our range for folks stepping into barebow, with multiple folks owning them. I’ve yet to hear any problems, and have first hand people shoot amazingly on theirs, even placing top ten in the country on one (Way to go Melissa!).


In conclusion, the Vygo might not be your forever-bow, but it will undeniably be an amazing choice for any archer looking to explore the sport with a solid, simple riser. Also, the bronze colored one looks friggin' sweet.

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