whats the absolute most quiet string silencers you can find?
im partial to bow hush puppies...i think they are a great product...
Hard to beat Hush Puppies from Terry Green's daughters. Terry's one of the moderators here, in case you need to know.
If you get Traditional Bowhunter Magazine, there's an article by Paul Fender in the latest edition doing a rundown on them and the tradeoffs between silence and arrow speed in fps.
I've got the beaver fur silencers on my flatbow and they are very silent, plus they look cool
I like fur. Makes my bow dead quiet, looks cool and if i do my job i have a ready supply
wooly whispers!!! quiet, dont rob energy, and the right price.
I've found wooly whispers hard to beat as well.
QuoteOriginally posted by ishoot4thrills:
Hard to beat Hush Puppies from Terry Green's daughters. Terry's one of the moderators here, in case you need to know.
I agree, I like the hush puppies, they work great for me as well! I have also used fur, looks cool, but the hush puppies are much quieter on my bows!
Musk Ox Silencers....very nice product.
(http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa102/Redriderxx/4411.jpg)
I AGREE WITH RED BOAR. HAVE MUSK OX ON TWO OF MY BOWS. THEY DO A GOOD JOB AND LOOK GREAT TOO
chunk of limbsaver
Musk Ox do a fantastic job. Have them on my Dale Dye and it quieted that bow down completely.
catwhiskers, they don't mind getting wet and don't pick up burrs and such.
Read the article in TBM about catwhiskers!!! I kind of figured they were too heavy before I read the article.
Bowmania
I really like a bowhush/hushpuppy, or a bowhush/beaver ball combination. I cut my own beaver balls from tanned hides that I buy from a local fur shop. $50 gets me more than 100 pairs of silencers. Each bow and string that I build has them already installed. My 56" bows come with bowhush too. JD
Read the article in TBM about catwhiskers... with a open mind! Don't believe everything you read, including me, try them for your self. Catwhiskers are the absolute best in string silencers in my opinion like mentioned above they never pick up burrs or weight from moisture and last till the sting needs replaced. You can trim them down to the size you need and you should because it takes very little silencer to work on a well tuned bow. If you do put them on full length sure they are over kill and heavy and will rob preformance. One normal length rubber catwhisker is enough to make atleast two maybe three silencers. What we don't know from the article is how they was installed, full length tied in a knot, served on full length or cut to length and put between strands and trimmed to the exact length needed. Although it was a pretty decent article and I enjoyed reading it I hate how some folks jump to a "scientfic" conclusion without the science and then it becomes fact from then on.
Hush puppies have proven to be a very good product for quieting a bow. Bow hush is wonderful for recurve string slap. I have settled on 1/2 catwhisker tied on then trimmed to 1 inch either side of the tie as it can be wet where I hunt. Although the puppies were quieter some bow performance was lost especially when you add water. A while back I did a lot of experimenting with the chrono, my ears and different silencers vs bare string.
what about on a longbow? any difference?
I have always used and sold the heavy duty whiskers. I personally won't use anything else. Easy to install, never worry about added weight when wet and THEY WORK.
I'm partial to cat whiskers because they'll always be quiet no matter the conditions. Although I like the looks of beaver balls a lot more.
I trim my cat whiskers to be smaller, like this, so that they don't effect speed (not that I'm good enough to shoot the difference from the few feet per second that they cost me anyways).
(http://rmsgear.com/Images/catwhiskers.JPG)
There is a lot more to making your bow quiet than string silencing material. I have found that when everything else is wrong cat whiskers will help the most to make your bow quiet. They are easy to slide up and down to get the perfect spot, plus you can trim to size etc.
When everything else is perfect-brace height, nock height, nock tightness, arrow weight, string type and number of strands etc. it takes very little to get your set up quiet as that proverbial mouse. A little fur, yarn or rubber-they all work equally well at that point.
How are you tying the cat whiskers on? I have a hard time tolding them and trying to tie them in. I can't get a tight knot and hold them so they end up too loose half the time.
Currently looking at a pair of silencers made of musk ox wool. 6 times as expensive as cat whiskers. Not that the price matters, but, has anyone tried these?
That article in TBM was a little limited--didn't discuss many of the options out there. For my money, I see little difference between the Hushpuppies, wooly whiskers and musk ox silencers. They all do a great job if placed in the 'sweet spot' on the string. Trial and error will reveal to each what that is. I always start 12" from the loops on either end and move them at 1/2" intervals toward the center serving until the sound is deadened. The various fur strip silencers also work well, but they're harder to move when tuning.
Excalibur Buzz Busters. Made out of fleece.
Light,easy to use, makes the bow very quiet and doesn´t absorb moisture. I would add a picture, but I dont know how to do.
Yeah I read in TBM how catwiskers killed speed and though something was amiss. I have a chrono and never saw a loss of speed using trimmed rubber catwiskers tied on with serving thread. Would have been nice to see a picture of them mounted on the string as tested as that would have answered a few questions.
Had a Widow PLV that no matter what I did I couldn't get it quiet, that was until I slapped a set of rubber Cat Whiskers on it. The way I saw it was so what if I lost a foot or two in speed, it didn't sound like a .22 every time I shot it. It was a good trade off as far as I was concerned.
I've been using rubber cat whiskers exclusively for a long time. I like them because they're cheap, easy, weatherproof, don't pick up burrs, and they work. If they cost me 3-4 fps I really don't see that as an issue at all. If that 3-4 fps makes the difference between getting an animal or not, I just flat out didn't do my job anyway.
Always used cat whiskers but string leeches work great too. If they can quiet one of those" vertical crossbows" they can quiet any Trad Bow. Easy to install too. Unstring bow, pick a spot, open your string up, insert and restring your bow.
Bentpole, Ive had problems with my FF stings cutting the string leeches in half, some even after 20 -30 shots. They do a good job, and dont hurt speed, while they last...what am I doing wrong ? I install them the same way you do and have tried different brands/types. But all have been cut in a relativly short time. I shoot a 60# TC with an 8 strand, 8125. I love the string Im shooting so really dont want to change it.
Champ38, How many twists do you have in your string? No experience with leeches, but would guess if a string is twisted alot, could be cutting in half. Rap a rubberband around your finger real tight, get the picture?
You may try tying on the outside with dental floss or a very small wire tie. Good shootin, Steve
I have Hush Puppies on several of my bows and have always been happy with their performance. I"ve also used Cat Whiskers and Wooly Whispers with some success. If I'm buying, I'm probably buying Hush Puppies to help the CEO and CFO get to college. They are both born and bred TradGangers. :thumbsup: :clapper:
I like the Musk Ox but I recentlt bought some Buffalo silencers (I guess Buff hair) I may try them out.
Anyone else ever try these??
Bill
My new musk ox silencers are really awesome. Practically no sound at all, not to mention reduced shock and vibration.
Whiskers.
A $5 skein of Merino wool from Wallyworld makes a boat load of silencers. Last 6 jumpy Georgia deer haven't moved until the arrow hit from my home made longbow. Current set has 2 seasons, a lot of backyard shooting and several 3D shoots on them and still look good.
I can't beat that value.