We are blessed to have SEB and other very good, high quality rests available. After watching a video where a guy copied a T-Rex rest and posted the process on another forum, well, it gave me the opportunity to see how that particular rest design is different from the standard gib setup that SEB and Farley have used for a long time. Don't get me wrong here, they have both made a very good high quality rest for a long time but I was impressed by the internal design of the T-Rex rest. Bottom line, after talking to people that I trust, that had experience with both, I just ordered a new Raptor rest by Rod Brakhage of Oklahoma, USA, the designer of the original T-Rex rests.
I'll post my results as to my overall satisfaction with it when I get it in, which is only about 4 weeks from the time I ordered it. I'm certainly excited to see something a little bit different that looks to be a well engineered piece. I don't think you can go wrong with a SEB and he has a new Neo-X model that has some of the same features over and above the Neo, that the Raptor has. Both appear to be the latest and greatest of their respective products. Rod has been exceptional to do business with so far. If nothing else, it's a design that I think looks like a step in the right direction over an exceptionally good rest in the SEB. I like the "frictionless" linear bearing design and how it adjusts..it just made sense when I saw the video bbut I also like his top design, which Seb also offers now, a similar design in regard to it having some ability to rotate. I own two Seb rests currently, a Mini and a Neo. The quickly obvious benefits of the mini are weight, they fold up for transport, they are stable, in spite of being a lot lighter than the Neo or the Max.. and the top can rotate, which if nothing else, makes it a lot easier to set up in alignment with the rear bag. That's pretty important! It's really my biggest knock on the Neo. It's just a little tough to get the front and rear rests aligned just right so they don't bind up with one another. The Mini, the Raptor and the new Neo-X have this feature but it is lacking from the NEO and Max.
Anyway, not playing favorites here but I'm happy to see what appears to be another very good front rest option that happens to be made in USA, fwiw. I'll post my opinion of the new Raptor once I have it and get cozy with it. The Raptor has a couple of different top options. I ordered two..his felt lined with his I think proprietary bags that ride on the outer edges of the bottom of the stock as well as his IBS/NBRSA legal sandbag top. I'll play with both and see how they perform. My rest is one of the first coming that also incorporates a roller top just by reversing the felt blocks(check website). His website doesn't have this update posted yet but it is essentially the felt top and the roller top, in one..just by reversing the two blocks. Again, just check his site and you'll get a better idea of what I'm talking about, at least until he updates his web page soon.
This is coming from someone who has a couple of prototypes that are different from either the SEB or the Rodzilla coax designs. I've had the basic design and prototypes done for a while and they are very good, but the Rodzilla caught my eye as possibly being the best design to date, so I will be writing him a check very soon. At the very least, I'm excited to see how it stacks up with an already very good and proven commodity with Seb. Again, I'm excited about my latest purchase and I hope it's as good as the reviews I've heard on the previous models. I'll be one of the first to try the Raptor model but he has already had a few out there being tested for a while now, so I'm confident that what I get will be a refined and finished product...Let's hope so.
