What string silencer works best for you? Thanks
Bow hush and hush puppies without a doubt!
Bow hush and hush puppies. :thumbsup:
I use rubber whiskers. Waterproof, burr proof, and easily adjusted.(I havent tried bowhush or hushpuppies yet)
On recurves Bowhush with cat whiskers. Longbows, cat whiskers.
Same as vermonster13. Cat whiskers on my longbows, recurves bowhush with cat whiskers.
I love furry "beaver balls" they just look COOL!!! Bow Hush and Wooly Whispers work GREAT!!! But hands down I have to say that the rubber "cat-whiskers" have always worked the best for me!!!!! :thumbsup:
Bow hush hush puppies and beaver balls. Some where there are some UPSET beavers! LOL!
The only silencer that works as good as Hush Puppies are String Leeches, but they don't last at all. Hush Pups rock and they last as long as your string does.
I steal some of my wife's yarn and make a couple of puff balls. They seem to do the trick. But when a bow is tuned right, you don't need much to silence them! :-) ;) :thumbsup:
On my longbows I started off with the leeches, whiskers then found the Hush Puppies and never looked back!
Puff balls from yarn(wool or otherwise) and catwhiskers work very well. I can't say one is better than the other, but both are good. String leeches are also good but like Steve O said, they don't last long on a flemish string.
Ones that are properly placed - far more important then what they are made of.
JMO
Hush Puppy yarn type "puffs" are what I've found to be the best for quieting any bow I've owned.
Rubber whiskers do silence some, but I don't care for the "rubber rattle" sound that's replaces the twang of the bowstring.
I tried Wooly Whispers, cat whiskers, and beaver fur on my curve and the fur was hands down the best. I don't know if they are beaver balls size because they are some I got with the bow that were cut from a hide so they could be a little larger. The fur appeared to have the least effect on bow performance based on bare shafting. On the LB's I typically only need about a half strip of cat whiskers. I like cat whiskers best when they work because I can pick them up just about anywhere when I need them.
Hush puppies and bow hush. Just recently tweaking some arrows with high FOC and greater weight but needed 55-60 lb to get them there reasonably. Martin Vision 55@28 was always loud but installed hush puppies and went to a 10 strand TS-1 and it's quiet as a mouse. Did the same for Martin Hunter 60lb@28 except added bowhush on the strings and it is also very quiet. Lost a little speed but just put a thinner pad on and the arrow goes where I look. I'll be ordering more when I get my new Welch recurve.
Bow hush and hush puppies, no comparison imho. Skinny string really brought the noise down too.
I like the beaver balls,or muskrat for string silencers and not for any other reason!
I recycle old bowstrings. Cut them into 4" lengths and untwist them. I put 30 strands 10" from either end. The residual wax keeps them from absorbing water. Learned it from Dan Quillian.
Beaver balls for me..Havent tried to many others
Cat whiskers tied on with zip ties...
I buy wool yarn and make my own. Also I just bought a bunch of the old rubber cat whiskers.
Buzz busters. Make your bow pretty silent, very light and dont absorb water.
I use beaver balls, but cat whiskers seem to work the best as far as silencing the bow noise.
i guess it would also depend on what your shooting too. i have an osage self bow, which i use beaver balls silencers. the bow is absalutly quiet. ive tried the same on a k-mag, they didnt work so good, bow was still noisy to me, which was probably my fault , lack of experience tuning a modern glass backed recurve. ive never tried any other products so i really cant say
Thanks everyone, you have been most helpful.
overall best silencer and lightest weight of them all for me is 10-20strands of bowstring material just like don stokes said.
i read about it in an old article dan quillian wrote.
i dont leave the wax in mine. in fact, i take it out by running the string material under hot water for about 30 seconds. the string material really puffs out good and a quick twang will get rid of any water (couldnt imagine a little water affecting a close shot anyway if you are worried about waterproofing).
all string materials work well (especially when de-waxed). i just use whatever string material i have on hand.
i will add that the material with wax left on resists burrs and snags more.
I prefer String Leeches, I get 5-6 months out of them Nothing Sticks to them easy on easy off, waterproof. However I like the LOOK of beaver balls and wool, but they dont seem to work as well for quieting the bow noise. It really does depend on the bow and how well it's tuned
musk ox wool from 3 rivers. A little expensive but they work great and they look cool !!!!!
I do the wool yarn thing! works like a charm, got the idea from my tradgang brothers. I think I got a spool of wool yarn for about 6 bucks, and itll last forever!! Jason
I used yarn for years, but had two problems. It absorbs water, which may not affect your shooting, but I didn't like getting sprayed with water when I shot. Likewise, it picks up "hitchhikers" like beggar's lice. I had some of them hit me in the eye when I shot and they popped off. Don't have that problem with recycled bow strings.
Ryan, I didn't know Dan published on that.
Small section of catwiskers...did the wool for a while, but it holds water and burrs.
Never understood leaving the wiskers full length they wobble around and just work better shorter imo.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y15/kevgsp/Turkey%20season%202009/IMG_0485.jpg)
i've personally found that those little foam ear "puffs" make the best string silencers money can buy!!! it's simple, you just ball em' up and stick one in you left ear, one in the right and PRESTO!!!!! .........other than that, hush puppies are darn good too!!! just kiddin' around fellows...heh-heh].
Wool pompoms at the 1/3 points to cut out even harmonics and the 1/4 points to cut out the odd harmonics.
Then a layer of wool wrapped around the string where it contacts the limb - recurve bow.
I bought some thick, wool yarn at the store and cut it into 2 1/2" pieces, 5 per "ball" and put them at 12" and 18" from each end of string for a total of 4 per string. They work well and don't seem to affect the arrow speed too much.
Steve
I use wiskers on one and beaver on the other. I like the look of beaver.
I like to use the super string leaches that are made for crossbows. They preform the same as the regular string leaches but they don't wear out nearly as quickly. I couple these with beaver fur silencers, only because I like the way the beaver balls look.
I am surprised that no one mentioned heavy arrows. They quiet a bow without adding weight to the string.
String leaches work for me. I have some Super String Leaches to try out on my next string.
I have an Elburg LB with fur silencers at 1/4 pts. on a fast flight string. Still noisy with vibration that shook the arrows loose in my bow quiver. Just added 2 wool yarn puffs at 1 inch lower positions than the fur silencers, for a total of 4 on the string...arrows stay in quiver now, and more quiet by a subjective 65% now. Just sounds 2/3 quieter now!
sorry gentleman but i got to buck the tiger on this one ,,,
as what i prefer to call a traditional archer / hunter i keep my bows , arrows and methods as traditional as possible , giving up ALL cams and pulleys in the late 80s i went to a osage self bow , arthritis in the elbows and wrists lets me know when I'm getting just to much string shock and vibration , one of the only silencers I've found is natural fur , but not just any fur will work , the thickest and best comes from upper north america in winter, biggest factor is the placement, for me each bow is different. that you will have to determine on each bow for your shooting style.
I prefer beaver but have tried a few other species , mama got tired of me trying to swipe a piece from her fur coat ( wouldn't recommend this by the way ) so i had to go online to get mine , recently i found some on **** and ordered a set , I've tried some of the others they sell on there but this one suited me and went back and purchased sets for most of the bows i shoot on a regular basis , I'm not going to promote the manufacturer here but if you want to know just mail me through here.
so in short what do i prefer ,, the best beaver fur you can find and proper placement of the fur.
thanks yall for letting me voice my opinion
LOST IN THE WOODS
Piece of rubber inner tube 1/2"x2" long. Overhand knot pull tight...trim...cheap,slide up and down, they work. All the young guys cringe cause they dont look cool. Oh well.
Wool puffs quiet the bow and affect performance the least but they pick up burrs and absorb water. Cat whiskers are water and burr proof but you need to be careful not to put too many on and cut them short because they can greatly affect performance. I found that out through bare shaft tuning. Going from a bare string to 2 full whiskers on the same bow, I had to change from 2018's to 1916's.
I experimented for over a year and a half and I found that the product I was 'working on' was the best for me. Bow Hush and Hush Puppies.
I hear a lot about 'water'...but water gathers not only on the silencers, but the string, feathers, shaft, broadhead, bow limbs, shooting glove. When it rains the silencers aren't the only thing to get wet, or effect the performance of your equipment...everything is effected, and folks should account for all that as well when their equipment. You will get 'sprayed' even if you have no silencers, and your arrow will be slower regardless.
Yeah, Rubber will absorb water cause it is porous, and it will also 'collect' water just like any other silencer. Rubber also weighs more than wool when both are dry...least the wool puffs I use by far.
I liked the wool's effect so much I put my little girls in buiz....Not just 'any wool'...but Wool from New Zealand that has more crimp and I use a longer staple than what is sold in stores.
BTW...the Bow Hush Hero pic page is about half done...and thanks to all who contributed to that. Also, I will be updating the 'About the Owners' page soon as well as some of you will not believe how much they have grown since that 1st pic of them with the yarn spools.
Also, I'd like to thank all those that have been our customers over the years. And thanks for sharing your successes with me and my gals. :notworthy:
Bow Hush and Hush Puppies (http://www.bowhush.com)
bow hush puppies.... all i use.
Traditional bowhunter mag did a test on this question. They found the rubber cat whiskers to be the most effective at sound dampening and added padding on the limbs where the string hits for recurves.
-Charlie
IMHO silence all starts with the skinny string. Minimal silencing material needed after that.
Wool yarn, it works great and it's cheap! 6 bucks and it's hard telling how many a fella could get out of a bundle!! Jason
I used wool yarn from the grocery store on one of my bows, but recently I switched to 35 strands of old B-50. I think the old recycled bowstring actually does a better job than the yarn.
Brett
I've used beaver balls and they seem to work well. I ordered a couple pairs of the hush puppies a week or two ago. I am anxious to see how well they work.
I've always used the catwhiskers, they work
well plus I can tie a lot of Chernobyls and Sneaky Petes with them.
Hush Puppies and beaver strips. I have also used wool from the craft stores but it does not work as well as Bowhush.
Rubber cat whiskers. Buy it as "skirting" material from someplace like Jann's Netcraft and you'll get 5.5 feet of it for a little over a dollar.
Beaver balls.
There were some serious problems with the piece in Trad Bowhunter. Most of the conclusions make no sense whatsoever.
After some research I too chose to order a few sets of "Hush Puppies" a few weeks ago. Still nothing in the mail though...
Going to a skinny string with tapered/padded loops and 10 strands of yarn on 1/4 points. Very quiet shooting bow is the result.
The little rubber Limb Saver Silencers. They don't slow me down, they're quiet, and they're water proof.
has anybody else tried the beaver fur strips from hairy beaver ? , although not waterproof they took the zing out of my old longbow , had em on for 3 months now , still holding up good.
Been using beaver silencers for years with no problems. most of the time i can use them on new strings when the string is replaced.
I had beaver and it didnt work near as well! the wool made a big differance! jmo! Jason
Super String Leech - Holds up much better than origional string leech. Easy installation/replacement.
I have always used beaver fur silencers. Just got some hushpuppies and put them on. WOW!! The bow is much quieter now. Too early to tell about durability etc., but definately quieter.
I use "Quiet Wool Bow String Silencers" (lama wool), it works great for me.
Now, I use mainly longbows way more quieter than recurves.
And also heavy arrows.
Phil
Cat whiskers work for me.
Cat whiskers for me
Hush puppies are my favorite. Wooly Whispers are next. Despite what the studies might show,I just do not care for cat whiskers. If I have a particularly noisy recurve, I'll use a combination of hush puppies and bow hush. Works everytime. :wavey:
Big honkin' puff balls made of wool yarn. The bigger the better. My son practically has a pair of sheep on his string. :-D
They're magic and cheap.
Puff balls of wool, but even more important is the spacing. The best silencers aren't very affective unless they are positioned properly.
Ive been trying different types lately. I started off using Hush puppies a few years ago, and recently tried mink on a new bow. I absolutely love the look of the mink, but I gotta say the Hush Pups just plane work better. Yes, they pick up burrs, and yes they hold a little water, but I dont think they would affect a shot THAT much to cause a miss at traditional ranges. I dont want to start a battle, its just my opinion. If Im shooting at a range that I would worry what about the effects of weather would have on my shot, then I'll wait for a better opportunity. I always consider the elements at the time of release.
I also tried beaver and ox, but the Hush pups worked out the best. I awaiting another string in the mail from LBR, and will try cat whiskers for the first time. I have this really cool zip tie cutting tool that cuts small ties while putting adjustable tension on. Make a real clean cut with zero overhang on the tie.
Kind regards
Cat wiskers-- trimmed down to 1 1/2" and about 1/3 less the volume of wisker bundle you usually seen.--- Reason for this mod. is that all string silencers create a lot of Air drag -which creates a very signifcant loss power/performance-more than you might expect.--My long dist cast trials indicated about a 20% less dist. cast, w/ the ave. string silencer set up. I went w/ the "abbreivated" wisker and found that w/ this set-up the Bow is about 95% as quiet as it is with the full amt. and size, BUT the bow is not ROBBED of any signifcant PERFORMANCE. I do not use pad the limbs-- increasing the brace height takes care of this. - with the added benefits that higher brace ht. usually means better arrow flight.