Firenock

For anyone who has met or spoken with Dorge Huang from Firenock, you know what a fire and passion he has for archery and technology.  With that said, it’s no wonder that the Firenock is far and away the most advanced, and complicated, of the systems tested.  However, that technology does come at a price. 

A 3 pack of Firenocks will set you back $56, while a single nock costs $22.  However, it is worth noting that all Firenocks include practice nocks with match weights so you don’t have to wear out the battery in your hunting units.  The same cannot be said for most of their competitors.  Additionally, if your battery does run dead you can replace it relatively easily, which again you can't do with some of the competing models.

When using the Firenock, be sure to read all of the instructions first!

So what are you paying for when you buy a $22 nock?  Instead of a manual switch or simple electric circuit, the Firenock actually uses a very small 24K gold plated hermetically sealed circuit board to control and power the light.  We’re talking about the same type of circuit board that’s found in military ballistics.  Yeah, that means missiles.  Because the Firenock requires a significant “G” force to activate it, there’s no chance of accidental activation.  The nock can only be turned on when launched from your bow, which means there's no chance of accidental activation while not in use.

A fully assembled Firenock.  Here you can see the circuitry that powers this advanced lighted nock system.

Due to the nature of its design, and the hundreds of possible configurations available, the Firenock requires a little bit of work before it can be used.  There are nearly a limitless combination of nock colors, circuit types, and even battery types to choose from.  If you wish to change nock colors, circuit types or battery types there may be some assembly required.  For some models, you must also glue a small stopper into your arrow shaft to prevent the battery from flying forward upon impact.  While this isn’t difficult work, it is certainly much more than a simple “plug and play” type design. 

Additionally, Firenock does recommend that for those of us using CX arrows with nock collars that we glue the collars down in order to prevent damage to the nock.  Since I already had mine glued down from the Lumenok test, I didn't have to do any additional work this time.

At just over 26 grains, the Firenock is in the middle of the pack when it comes to weight.

Once you have your Firenock assembled and installed, shooting it is a breeze.  My Firenocks performed flawlessly each and every time I shot them.  When it comes to turning them off, the Firenock has a unique shock system that requires you to drop it on a hard surface from about a foot or so.  While this works great shooting in my backyard and bouncing it off my deck boards, I sometimes struggled to find a flat, hard surface to bounce it on while in the field.

Brightness of the Firenock was on average with the rest of the nocks tested.   Slightly above that of the Tracer and Laser Eye, but not quite as bright as the Lumenok or Nockturnal.  This was tested using the standard "S" nock with the "BL" battery. 

The bottom Firenock is a  "Target" model, which automatically turns off after 17 seconds.  It worked just fine when I shot it.  This system comes in handy for target archers who want to see where their arrow impacted, but don't want to give competing archers a spot to aim at.

My overall impression of the Firenock is that this unit isn’t for everyone.  As Dorge himself would say "The Firenock is the Mercedes S Class of lighted nocks." For the guys who love the absolute best performance, reliability and the ability to mix & match just about any color combination possible, and experiment with different circuit types, this is certainly your nock.  Without question it is the most technologically advanced of all the lighted nocks on the market today.  Although some archers may find the variety of nocks, circuitry and battery choices a bit overwhelming.

Price: 2 – At over $20 for a single nock, you don’t want to lose these!
Ease of Use:4 – While it does require some assembly, once they’re installed they turn off very easily
Reliability: 5 – worked every time, no problems turning them off or on
Brightness: 3 – average brightness
Weight:  3 – the 2nd heaviest nock at 26.2 grains

Overall: 3.4/5

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