Anybody have experience with skinny strings on Recurves? I built an 8 strand and 6 strand D-97 string for my #46 Black Onyx with Black Max limbs. After putting on Bowhush and Hush Puppies I really haven't noticed any performance gains or quietness. (coming from a 14 strand D-97) I didn't expect any major performance increases and have never chronoed the bow so it might be too subtle to notice but I had hoped it might be a tad quieter.
Anyone else with a similar story?
From my experiences the smaller you go with strings the faster the arrow goes and the louder the noise will be.
I have experienced big performance gains over B-50 dacron strings. My skinny strings are SBD strings, and I am very impressed by the speed I get from the SBD 6-strand strings. I have SBD make my strings with their recurve wraps and string silencers, and that is well worth the extra cost for the quietness I get --they really quiet things down a bunch. When the brace height is right my recurves get "spooky" quiet with the SBD skinny strings.
Joe
I tried an 8 strand SBD string on a Predator and did not gain much in speed (1fps). It was a purdy string though!
Mike
I put a SBD skinny string on my BW wasn't looking for speed but got exactly what I wanted.
A quiter bow.
doug77
I'll try the 6 and see what I get.
Been shooting a SBD 8 strand on a widow all year and have been impressed. Just got a new Morrison and it came with a SBD 8 strand string. I really never thought a string could make much difference but I was suprised!
I have never really cared for a skinny string. That was until recently when I received a new to me Fedora xcellerator that came with a SBD 8 strand string. I am really impressed with this string my bow is absolutely quiet and quick. Silent but deadly.
I think you will find that opinion vary widely. I purchased a 6 stand skinny string for my 56 lb BW. Yes it was quieter than the 12 strand FF, however I felt very uncomfortable using the string for hunting. My bows take to much abuse, and I did not want to constantly be fretting over my string. It wasn't realistic for me.
I have been most pleased with Dacron, yes it's slower than FF, but using my 52 lb kota bow, I buried a telephone pole of a cedar shaft to the fletching this fall on a deer. It made me a believer. That's my experience.
I have been very pleased with the 'skinny' strings on my bows-more quiet with way less silencing material, and bowyers are getting with it too. A&H, Ron LaClair, and Morrison, and perhaps others too, send out their bows with 6 and 8 strand strings.
I am been very pleased mee too using skinny string that made quiet my Black Widows and Blacktails.For your poundage 6 strand is enough,remember to pad the loops up to 14 strand.
Put a 10 strand D97 on my dads Widow Curve, padded to 16 from Chad @ Champion Strings, MAN WHAT A DIFFERENCE !! Quieter than its ever been in 22 years !!!
I don't know about speed, but every bow I have put a SBD sting on has been quieter without question.
you'll need to experiment a bit, but for the most part, most folks are getting quieter bows with skinnier strings. sometimes there's a perception of more speed and flatter trajectories - i get that, too, but for longer distances (35 and up) where i will rarely take a shot at big game.
i use 8 strands of dyneema on a 55# longbow, and some folks go down to 6 strands.
with modern hmpe fibers, most strands are at least 100# in true tensile strength, some are closer to 120# per strand.
i use the very safe formula of 12 times a bow's holding weight. so, for a 55# bow that equals 660#, or a string with enuf strands to hold that much weight.
8 strands of dyneema'02 equals at least 800# tensile strength. lots to spare. life is good. my bow and i are happy campers. :D
What xtrema said!
"Skinny" is not the hole answer to quite. Try 450+ or like Rob said dyneema for a skinny string.
I think it really depends on the bow, I have had some that made big differences, but others not so much. Inb most cases though, it did help quiet things down pretty good.
I'm not a fan of skinny bowstrings. The safety factor for me. Accidentally cut 2 strands on a 12 strand string and I'm not worried. But, cut 2 strands on a 6 strand skinny string and that makes me highly nervous.
If you cut any, I'd be nervous. that's why I always carry a back-up on me.