Black Gold Dual Indicator System: Gimmick or Great?

A few months ago Black Gold released their new Dual Indicator System. First featured on their Mountain Lite sight, it is now an available option on all their Ascent models. Though not the first sight to use more than one pointer on a sliding sight (Spot Hogg has had double pin/double pointer models for years) this new system from Black Gold is both different and better.

WHAT IS THE DUAL INDICATOR SYSTEM?

Black gold ingeniously included a second mounting hole on their 45* sight tape allowing you to add another pointer and gain a second yardage indicator. Gone are the times when all but one of your pins become useless the second you move your slider. If set up properly, you will now have 2, or possibly 3 (more on this later), known yardages even after dialing your sight.

HOW IS IT DIFFERENT?

As mentioned above, Spot Hogg has had double pin/double pointer sights for some time but with this new Dual Indicator System from Black Gold you gain the freedom to choose which pins are tied to the indicators. This gives you all kinds of options and possibilities to maximize the benefits of the system depending on your needs. You can build a sight with both .019 and .010 sliding pins, select 2 different colored pins to be your sliders or set up a 3 pin sight with the top and bottom pins tied to the indicators making the middle pin a defacto 3rd known yardage. The difference is choice and you can get as complicated or as simple with as you want.

BEST REASONS TO USE THE SYSTEM

• Two Different Sized Sliding PinsWith our custom sight builder you can design a sight with both .019 and .010 pins. Combine this with the Dual Indicator System and now you have both a .019 pin for indoor shooting or early morning low light hunting scenarios, and a .010 pin for mid-day or longer range shots where the smaller pin allows for a much greater degree of accuracy. In short, you get the best of both worlds!
• Two Different Color Sliding PinsMost archers find they see certain colored pins better in different lighting conditions. For instance, I have a tough time seeing red pins in any light so I do not use them on my sights. If you see Green best in early mornings but prefer Yellow in bright mid-day sun, then the Dual Indicator System lets you take advantage of this by having an indicator for both colored pins. (This feature is also available on Spot Hogg sights)
• Three Known YardagesThis is likely the most useful feature for hunters and elk hunters in particular. If you tie the dual indicators to pins with a pin between them, you gain a third known yardage. This is more of an estimation than a true known yardage but for instance if your top pin is at 45 yards and your bottom is at 65, your middle pin will be pretty close to 55 yards. You can think of this like pin gapping with a fixed pin sight but instead of a space between pins there is an actual pin to aim with. It is not hard to imagine a scenario where you range a tree you expect an elk to stop at and dial for that distance but the elk doesn’t cooperate and comes in 15 yards closer. With the Dual Indicator System and the 45* angled sight tape, even at full draw you would be able to adjust and effectively take that shot. The beauty of this system is that it provides so much information, even after you’ve drawn your bow.

THE DOWNSIDES

Though I really like the Dual Indicator System and currently have it set up on my bow, there are a few determining factors that may steer you away from using it on yours.

• Information OverloadThis system provides significantly more information than a regular sliding sight, but that may not be a benefit for everyone. If you are looking for an extremely simple, impossible to mess up system, then this is not for you. You could certainly look at the wrong indicator when dialing, use the wrong pin when shooting or completely forget how the system works in the heat of the moment. However, that is also true of virtually all adjustable sights.
• Pin SpreadIf you want a sight with more than three pins you are limited as to which pins you can effectively tie the indicators to. This is due to the constraints of adjusting the actual pointers themselves. The adjustable brackets where you screw in the indicators can interfere with one another inhibiting certain indicator positions. For instance, you may not be able to use your top and bottom pins with a 5 pin sight. You could however, use the middle and bottom pins.

• SetupI have set up dozens of sliding sights but getting this whole system perfect took me a few tries. Below is a quick video outlining what I learned that should save you some serious time. Suffice it to say this system is a bit more complicated to set up than a typical adjustable sight.

SHOULD YOU USE IT?

Absolutely! Once set up, the Black Gold Dual Indicator System is fantastic. After using it exclusively for the last few months, I can say it is the only sight I have ever used where I don’t feel like I am giving anything up. If you shoot regularly and can engrain use of the system in your mind so that it is automatic, I can’t imagine a better all-around sight for both hunting and 3D archery. Realistically, you have nothing to lose. If you find that it is not for you, just remove the second indicator and you still have a bulletproof Black Gold bow sight.

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