Lumenok Lighted Nocks and Crossbow Bolts

What Lumenok makes for bowhunters

On this site, Lumenok covers two product types, and the grid above filters by both:

• Nocks: lighted arrow nocks for compound and other vertical bows, and lighted crossbow nocks
• Crossbow bolts: carbon bolts sold with a Lumenok already installed

That's the whole hunting lineup here. The maker's own site also lists bowfishing gear, apparel, a fishing line and a golf putting aid. This site doesn't list those, so they're not in the grid.

A lighted nock does one job. It's the plastic piece at the back of the arrow that clips onto the string, with a small LED and battery inside. After the shot it glows, so you can follow the arrow's flight and find it afterward. The lighted nocks page covers the type across brands, and the nocks page covers the plain ones.

How a Lumenok switches on and off

Lumenok doesn't use a switch you press. The maker's FAQ explains the circuit: the nock lights when it sits fully seated against the electrically conductive end of a carbon or aluminum shaft. Wiggle the nock and it loses contact, so the light goes out and the arrow can ride in the quiver dark. When you shoot, the nock seats again and lights. The maker says it stays on for up to 40 hours or until you pull the arrow.

Here's what actually changes because of that design:

• The shaft is part of the circuit. If the end of the shaft is dirty, glued or coated, the circuit doesn't close.
• The end has to be square. A crooked cut means the nock doesn't seat flat against it.
• Material matters. The maker says carbon composite shafts and shafts wrapped in fiberglass may not conduct well enough.
• Testing is easy. The FAQ says you can touch the nock's metal contacts with a paper clip and it should light. The X is tested at its shoulder contact and battery shell.

Think of it like a flashlight with the battery cap a quarter-turn loose. The parts are fine. The contact isn't. When a Lumenok won't light, the FAQ's first suspect is the shaft end, and cleaning it is the first fix.

Lumenok arrow nocks: the letter is the size

The single most useful fact on this page: the letter in the name is the fit. Lumenok's nock selector lines them up by the shaft's inside diameter (ID), the hole at the back of the arrow:

Shaft inside diameter	Lumenok nock
.246 in	GT
.244 to .245 in (about 6.5 mm)	S
.232 in (6 mm)	H
.204 in (5 mm)	X
.165 to .166 in (4 mm)	H with the H nock adapter

That table is what people mean by the "Lumenok size chart." The selector also lets you pick vertical bow or crossbow, then your arrow maker and model. The maker notes that arrow companies don't share their model naming, so it can't list every shaft. Look up your shaft's ID from its maker first.

GT and S: the standard-diameter nocks

These two fit the larger hunting shafts, and they're one thousandth of an inch apart on paper. In practice, one thousandth decides whether the nock seats or rattles. The Amazon listings in the grid name the S as "Signature" or "SL1," with the fit size in the listing. The maker's FAQ says the standard Lumenok fits most carbon and aluminum shafts that take nocks made for standard ICS sizes.

Quick math on why that matters: a .245 nock in a .246 shaft is off by a thousandth of an inch, less than the thickness of a sheet of printer paper. On a plain nock that's a loose fit. On a Lumenok it can also mean a nock that doesn't seat against the shaft end, and the light depends on that contact. So read the number, not the color.

H: small-diameter shafts and the micro adapter

The H fits .232-inch shafts. The maker's FAQ names two Easton small-diameter shaft models as fits. For micro-diameter shafts in the .165 range, Lumenok sells an H nock adapter, sold separately on its site. The H listings in the grid show fit sizes a thousandth or two apart, so check the exact listing against your shaft.

X: the narrowest Lumenok

The X fits .204-inch shafts. The maker's FAQ says it fits arrows that accept H-I-T components (shafts where the point slides inside the shaft). The X listings come in several colors, and one of them is the Burt Coyote X, named for the company behind Lumenok. That listing doesn't show a fit size in the grid, so confirm it's the X you need before you order.

Colors

The grid's light color field shows green, red, orange, an "HD orange" and pink. Color is a personal call. Pick the one you can see best against the ground cover where you hunt. Lumenok's site says a portion of every pink Lumenok sold goes to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Lumenok crossbow nocks and the nock-end question

Crossbow nocks are where Lumenok's lineup gets wide. On the maker's site, the crossbow nocks are coded by the bolt they fit, and each comes in an end style. The listings in the grid show four styles:

• Crescent: a curved groove, as on the 2219 Crescent
• Half moon: a shallow groove, as on the Gold Tip Moon
• Flat: no groove, as on the Gold Tip Flat and the Easton/Beman Flat
• Capture: deep ears that clip onto the string, as on the Parker Red Hot

The crossbow listings in the grid name auto-on-release activation. Some name the bolt they're built for (Gold Tip, Easton/Beman, Parker, 2219 aluminum), and the capture nock lists a .300 fit size.

Picking the end is not a style choice. Bowhunter's crossbow series says the right nock depends on your crossbow, and that a half-moon nock loaded at the wrong rotation can keep the bow from firing. It also warns that the wrong nock type could void your crossbow's warranty. Your owner's manual names the nock end it wants. Use that one.

Then match the nock to the bolt itself. Lumenok codes its crossbow nocks by the bolt they're built for, the same way the arrow nocks are sized by shaft ID. The crossbow page covers bow types across brands.

Lumen-Arrow and Pink Moon crossbow bolts

If you'd rather skip the nock swap entirely, Lumenok sells carbon crossbow bolts with the lighted nock installed. The grid shows two families:

• Lumen-Arrow: carbon bolts in 20-inch and 22-inch lengths, with capture, flat or crescent nocks depending on the listing
• Pink Moon: 20-inch and 22-inch bolts with a pink lighted nock, sold in 3-packs

The listings give grain weights for some of the Lumen-Arrow packs, and as you'd expect, the 22-inch bolt is the heavier of the two. Not every listing gives a weight or shaft material, and the grid shows a dash where it doesn't.

Bolt length isn't a preference either. Use the bolt length and weight your crossbow's owner's manual lists, and pick the nock end it names. The maker's own site also offers a build-your-own bolt option and Barnett Headhunter bolts fitted with Lumenoks. More on lengths and weights across brands is on the crossbow bolts page, and a ranked list is on best crossbow bolts.

How to choose within the Lumenok lineup

Start with your shaft, not the catalog

Find your shaft's inside diameter from its maker. Then match it to the letter in the table above. If you shoot a crossbow, add the nock end from your owner's manual. That's two facts, and they settle most of the choice before you look at a single listing.

Buy one 3-pack first

My one opinion on this page: test a single 3-pack in your actual arrows before you buy the season's supply. The reason is in the maker's own FAQ. The light depends on a clean, square, conductive shaft end, and some composite shafts may not conduct well enough. Three nocks will tell you whether your shafts and Lumenoks get along. Twelve nocks will tell you the same thing, at four times the cost. (The physical therapist in me also likes a small trial before a big commitment. Ask any knee.)

Then shoot them before the season

A lighted nock carries a battery and an LED where a plain nock carries nothing, and the listings in the grid don't give nock weights. If you tuned your setup around plain nocks, shoot a few lighted ones with field points before the season and check where they hit. The hunting arrows page explains how arrow balance changes flight, and the best lighted nocks list compares brands.

Then pick the color

Last, and only last. Put one nock of each color you're considering in your yard at dusk and see which one you find first. Your eyes vote; the catalog doesn't.

Setup and care the maker explains

A few habits keep a Lumenok working, all from the maker's own pages:

• Clean the shaft end before the first install. The FAQ says resins, glues and coatings block the circuit.
• Square the end. Lumenok sells the F.A.S.T., a fletched arrow squaring tool, for this job.
• Test before you install. The paper-clip test takes ten seconds at the kitchen table.
• Turn it off with a wiggle, or with the Lumenok Extinguisher, which grips the shaft and the nock so the nock keeps the same rotation from shot to shot. It doubles as an arrow puller.
• Keep the light off in the quiver. Every hour it glows in the truck is an hour it doesn't have at dusk.

The maker also sells a cork battery stop kit among its accessories.

Keep broadheads covered or in a quiver hood while you work on the nock end of a hunting arrow, and handle the arrow by the shaft.

Lighted nocks and hunting rules

For years a few states didn't allow lighted nocks for bowhunting. The Archery Trade Association reported that Idaho became the last of the 50 states to permit them. That doesn't mean every hunt follows the same list. Special seasons and managed hunts can carry their own rules, so check your state wildlife agency before opening day.

Who's behind Lumenok

Lumenok calls itself the original lighted nock company. Its about page tells the story: Curtis Price, president of The Burt Coyote Company, missed a buck in 1998 and wanted a nock he could track after the shot. His brother Eric suggested an LED and a battery. After 17 prototypes and four years, the design was patented in 2002, and Price later left his job as a union electrician to run the company full time.

Danny read that last part twice. He's a union electrician too, and he now calls lighted nocks "trade work." (He doesn't shoot a bow. This has not slowed him down.)

This page doesn't cover a company founding year or where Lumenoks are made.

Shaft ID, nock end, then color. Write the first two on the arrow tube in marker, and the third can be whatever makes you happy at dusk.