Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Southern Sam on February 23, 2011, 03:53:00 PM
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Thinkin awfully hard about trying one of SBD skinny strings on my Widow. I have done the searches on here and it seems alot of folks like them, but not alot of feedback from some of the guys that shoot Widows. Have you tried them and what do you think?
Thanks, Sam
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Not a widow but I do have a 6 strand sbd on My thunderchild and love it. Can't beat the service you will!! I would say they would work great on your bows but contact sbd strings apps is they have or have had a widow to play with there strings.
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Love there strings that's all ill use now. The craftmanship is top notch.
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I like the skinny strings on widows.I have used mostly 8 strand Astroflight,ultra cam and D-10.
They worked excellant on a PA 111 and PTFX.Better than the stock strong IMO.Quieter to my ear and nicer shooting.
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Sam, I don't have a Widow myself but I have sold our stock SBD strings to a number of Widow shooters. Never had a complaint and one I recall in particular was absolutely thrilled with the improvements the SBD gave him. I seem to remember noise was the biggest improvement he mentioned, but it's been a while. :thumbsup:
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Good stuff guys, Keep it coming. I spoke to Pierre about them a few days ago and will need to get him a measurement so the twists will be minimal to add or take away for my brace height. I would like to hear more comments if anybody has any. That 6 strand will look a lot different than what I'm use to. Lol. Thanks!
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i have a skinny fast flight string on my 66" hybrid and like it alot. the bowyer made it
i just order a 8 strand SBD for my beeler since they get great reviews. cant wait until it comes
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I dont like skinny strings as much on my fingers.
I prefer good old fashion fat stretchy string. It may be slower but gives my arrow time to think in transit. :laughing:
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quote:
Originally posted by Cyclic-Rivers:
gives my arrow time to think in transit. :knothead:
Im a fan of the 6 strand skinnies that SBD makes on lower poundage bows. Anything over #45 and Im looking for more strands. Im going to give his 8 strand a whirl on a inbound #55 bow soon.
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Sam, My BW PCH has an SBD string on it and I'm pretty impressed with how much quieter it is over the stock string from BW. I need to order another one and a couple for my PSA.
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I recently traded for a bow that came with two very skinny strings. I don't know how many strands but they must have been 6 or 8?
Frankly, I was afraid of them. How could those strings not break? I have an unopened "Bikini" string that was shipped with my Predator Anniversary but I'm afraid to use it.
I think I'll call the folks that make the fibers and let them talk me into it.
I'm using 12-strand Astro on my FF bows now.
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Had a SBD Skinny on a 50# PSR, it completely took the "loud" out of the bow.
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I believe I'll place my order and give one a try. Thanks for all the help guys!
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Me and my buddy both shoot SBD's on widows and mine is 68# @ 28" but I draw 30" so 70+ pounds and I won't shoot another string if I can help it... the are swift, silent, and deadly; we are kinda similar in that regard!
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I wasn't a fan of skinny strings till Oliverstacey built a couple for me.
I'll never go back to the old bulky strings again!!
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ya i really cant stand big strings. i like the skinny string on my fingers. i release better with them.
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I have 2 new strings coming from SBD, one for my Super Shrew and one for My Pronghorn. Looking forward to shooting them.
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I shoot 6 and 8 strands on my longbow and recurve. Get great results.
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I shoot 8 strand 450+ padded loops made by OliverStacy, awesome string. skinny string...shoot one, you will know what im talkin about.
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I put a 6 strand SBD padded loop on my 45# Voodoo last week and absolutely love it! Whisper quiet!
I also ordered an 8 str for my 53# MA Widow. I haven't really had time to play w/ it much yet, but noticed that i'm not going to like the cat whiskers I had installed. they're too long for my taste and have that "slap" noise coming from them. I like whiskers if they are doubled and tied in a tight 1" ball.....
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I have had a SBD string with the silencers and loop wraps on my PSA3 for about a year now and it has done great. I like skinny strings and since buying the SBD I have started making my own. This SBD string is still good but it will be replaced with one of my skinny strings only because I like making strings and now I know how to do it. I would say, if you don't make your own strings, the SBD strings are an excellent product well worth the money. And to address your compatability question on a BW I say YES they work great and are quieter.
Bill
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I like the skinny string on my A&H,only problem I'm having is my new nocks are too loose.thinking of wraping dental floss on serving to snug my nocks a bit.Has anyone had to do this and will the floss hold up?
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Is Oliverstacey the same as SBD?
Are these skinny strings (SBD?)as durable as say 12-strand Astro FF?
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IF you have a properly made skinny string made for your bow, chances are better than not the bow will outprefrom in all aspects as compared to before. But it has to be made correctly and it's not a one size fits all. Thats why alot of string makers hate it IMHO.
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Originally posted by Bowwild:
Is Oliverstacey the same as SBD?
Nope we’re different people…never me the people from SBD but I’m sure they’re nice people!
I like skinny strings on certain bows of mine but not all…I have several longbows and they all have “low” strand count strings, but they’re still somewhat larger in diameter. What I mean with that is they’re 8-strand padded to 12 BCY 450+ strings…the individual stands of 450+ are .019” in diameter compared to .016” for D-10 and D-97. You can make a low strand count string and still have it larger in diameter…I will not shoot anything else on a longbow, simply amazing material in my eyes!
I’ve made several of the above strings for recurve shooters and they all have given me great feedback on them…they all seem to really like the feel and the sound associated with them. I have a couple recurves and I’m going to test the material on my 60” Kota Kill-um and 62” WhisperStik Mojo in the next month as one of these will be my turkey set-up.
If you make a 6 or 8 strand padded D-10/D-97 string I recommend double serving them with a combo of .018 braided 62XS first and then either another layer of the .018/.021 62XS or .019/.021 Halo depending on desired nock fit. I can single serve an 8 strand padded 450+ string and people find that a plus…not all but most.
I guess it’s a thing a person needs to try and see if they like the feel and sound of the finished string.
Hope this helps!
Thanks,
Josh
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I just got SBD's (6) on a 43 recurve and 49 lb - they are nice workmanship. It does take a little getting used to looking at, and if you bump the string it makes a higher pitched twang, but it is at least as quiet at the shot (especially on my recurve with yarn wrap), and to my untrained self seemed a bit faster and crisper. The serving and loops (built up) are about the same size as my old 14 strand.
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Several weeks ago I purchased a skinny string for my recurve. Let me first say that the string is of excellent quality and the SBD customer service is outstanding. However, having said that, let me also add that I am still not convinced. My bow is rather loud and has a very noticeable "twang" when I shoot with that string. Even so, I am not yet ready to give up on it and go back to my old "fat" string. I'm going to first play with the brace height a bit to see if I can get rid of that annoying "twang".
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Yep, cant have the string twang goin on!! It drives me crazy. This is very good info guys, I really appreciate the responses given. I'm taking all this into consideration. Seems more good than bad as of now.
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I had the same "twang" from a FF string I bought from a local archery shop.
Josh's strings don't have that twang, must be due to the padded loops?? Add some cat whiskers for silencers and my St. Joe is dead quiet.
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This is a useful thread. I almost ordered two "skinny" strings last night, but held off, for now.
Untill recently I wasn't even willing to shoot fast flight "fat" strings. However, when a bowyer advised shooting a FF model bow with FF strings would add 5-8 FPS, which is like adding 5 pounds to my draw weight (without the risk of over-bow form issues)I became very interested. I shoot recurves in the 45-48# range. If I can get a little performance boost out of the bow by my choice in strings I'm interested IF:
1. I don't increase the risk of a dry-fire.
2. The bow doesn't become distractingly loud.
A lot of thoughtful people here believe in the value of these skinny strings so I'm going to pay attention.
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i've been using padded endless low strand count hmpe strings for decades. no, not for 'speed', for consistency.
'skinny strings' require the use of hmpe (you know, 'fast flight', 'dyneema', '450+', etc) and not polyester (you know, 'dacron', 'b50', etc.) simply because the typical hmpe strand will exceed 100# of tensile strength and the best dacron will be 50# (but usually less).
at most, a good and way overly safe tensile strength bowstring formula is 12 x the bow's holding weight. some folks go down to 10 or even 5 x the holding weight.
a 43# bow (12sx43# = 516#) needs a minimum of 12 strands of dacron polyester (12Sx45# = 540#). that holding weight would also be fine at 10 dacron strands (10Sx45# = 450#). or 6 strands of hmpe polyethylene (6Sx100# = 600#). add to the mix the durability factor, so low count hmpe strings might be better served by adding two more strands to the count (8Sx100# = 800#).
for my 55# longbows i use my own 8 strand d'02 endless strings exclusively. each loop is padded with 4 strands of dacron and i use #4 nylon for the loop padding and .019" halo spectra center serving (man, is that stuff tuff!). 12sx55# = 660# (the tensile strength that needs to be met). 8Sx100# = 800# (the tensile strength of 8 strands of d'02). 800#! even with only 8 strands that's a heckuva strong bowstring!
i just replaced a nearly 3 year old skinny string on one of my longbows. it was used for 5 hunts, drug through the bush and swamps, three dead hogs, and many many hundreds of arrows pushed by it. save for a slight unravel of the halo center serving, the string is in great shape and i'll save it for a back up.
imo, a side benefit of low strand count hmpe bowstrings is that you do get some 'string spring' simply because yer cutting down the typical mega high tensile strength strand count down by 50% (8 strands versus 12 strands). however, the creep and continued stretch of hmpe is severely limited.
so, to recap - i believe that 'skinny strings' offer the following benefits ...
* consistent low to no stretch/creep
* some measure of elasticity on release that's good for the bow
* low noise on release
try one, give it a good workout.
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I recently ordered a 8 strand SBD string from Braveheart for my 64" 48# Blacktail. I installed the string last weekend and saw a increase in horsepower right away. The bow was quick before but now it just may well be the fastest bow I have ever owned. Up to this point, a Border Black Douglas TD wore that crown for a long time. I don't notice any increase in noise, rather a slightly different pitch on the loose. I installed 1/2 of one hush puppy at the two 1/4 marks on the string. Seems like a good combo. Arrow nocks fit great on the serving. I have yet to find a flaw with making the switch to skinny strings.
JL
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Originally posted by JL:
... I installed 1/2 of one hush puppy at the two 1/4 marks on the string. Seems like a good combo. ...
that's what i do, too - just one hush puppy for the entire string. don't need a whole lotta silencing with low strand count strings, and the less silencer weight lowers the string mass weight a bunch.
i don't wanna get into the business of 'string speed', but for the very most part there is typically an increase of somewhere between 1 and 5 fps with skinny strings. whether or not that's perceived is another matter, and speed is not really why you wanna use a skinny string.
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YES! Now I'm getting fired up! I've learned more about this "skinny" thing this morning than I ever hoped to know. Great, objective iformation.
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After reading all this I think I'm going to order two of them form my takedown. One for my 45 and 55 but think I'll get 8 strand for both.
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I have an 8 strand D-10 SBD on my Widow CHX and it went from a loud, I need to sell this bow, recurve to a "Holy Crap" this thing is quiet as most longbows recurve. Night and day difference. Don't know if the speed went up or not and don't care, silence was what I was after and I found it and it is sweet.
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My PSA V is fairly quiet, but gaining a few FPS and silencing it more cant hurt nothin!! I'm not really concerned about the speed as Rob stated, more the stability of the string and quietness is what I'm lookin for. Very educational post Rob, thanks!
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I just ordered mine from SBD. I ended up with a 6 strand string with the acrylic silencers. I didnt get the recurve wraps since everybody has been saying they are so quiet to begin with. Now the waiting begins!!
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I also ordered one from SBD for my 50# psax.We shall see.
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Has anyone shot through a chrono and documented faster speed?
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I prefer "stock" Black Widow strings on my PTF. I tried a skinny string and it didn't seem any different as far as speed. Any difference in speed, as Rob said, was not percieved. My PTF is quiet, anyway, with BW strings. The skinny string had a twang to it. so I took it off.
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I guess im the opposite i see no advantage of FF. I like the b-50 on my Hill bows. :dunno: To each his own.Fat strings look cool!!!!!!!!
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"Has anyone shot through a chrono and documented faster speed?"
Yes,I have but has been awhile and I don't remember the exact numbers but something like Rob talked about,5 fps or less.It varies from bow to bow also.
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I notice that most are using these strings on 45 to 55 pound bows. will the strings handle heavy weight bows?
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Originally posted by duncan idaho:
I notice that most are using these strings on 45 to 55 pound bows. will the strings handle heavy weight bows?
From what Pierre has told me and what all I've read about the 8-10 strand strings will work just fine on heavy weight bows.
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Sam,
Thanks for the reply. I have a Tall Tines coming and i am going to order a couple of "skinny" strings for it and another recurve.
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An SBD eight strand is specified by SBD for bows up to about 60# or so...a 10 strand should be more than sufficient for just about any bow you're man enough to shoot. :archer2:
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I'm shooting a 8 strand skinny string in the Tradganger paper league.Can't find any negatives.
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Do you have to have pholenic tips to use the SBD strings?
Would antler tips work with SBD strings?
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Originally posted by Dixie Bowman:
Do you have to have pholenic tips to use the SBD strings?
Would antler tips work with SBD strings?
SBD makes both dacron and hmpe bowstrings.
if yer bow is rated to handle modern fiber hmpe (polyethylene) bowstrings, yer good to go for that stuff, else you should be using dacron (polyester). check with yer bow's manufacturer or bowyer. if it's a recent build bow, it should be able to handle hmpe fiber.
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Just as Rob stated----
"check with yer bow's manufacturer or bowyer"
No point in taking a chance.
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SBD = Some Bad Dudes....cause they make some bad azz strings!
Great strings and great service! :D :cool:
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got my 8 strand SBD a few days ago. great qaulity and really mad my bow dead quiet and the arrows are flying a little flatter now. i like it. going to order another for my other bow
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I see some people don't like skinny strings because it hurts their fingers. If the serving is built to fit your nocks properly what is the difference between skinny strings and thicker strings. The serving will be the same size so it should feel the same. Also, different string material stands have different thicknesses. 9 strands of one type of string equals 12 strands of a different material so the number of stands does not always tell the sing thickness.
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I was skeptical about the hype I was reading about skinny strings and decided to try one myself. I made a 8 strand astro flight flemish string padded to 16 (I know that is more than padding than is really needed, but wanted to err on the safe side). I double served it with #4 nylon under ff braided .022 serving. The bow became a whole lot quieter and seems to have gained a few fps. Do not have a chronograph, but it sure seems faster and the arrows were showing just a tad soft in their flight after the change. Tried a little stiffer shaft and it flew great. I'm not the brightest crayon in the box, but I do not understand why it is quieter with fewer strands. I think that this bow will always have a skinny string on it from now on.
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Got another one of Josh's 8 strand D10 strings on the way now. Good stuff.
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Originally posted by duncan idaho:
I notice that most are using these strings on 45 to 55 pound bows. will the strings handle heavy weight bows?
what do you mean by 'heavy weight bows'? 65#? 75#?
sure, why not. we're talking high tensile strength hmpe, not wimpy polyester. let's do the math on a 70# stick bow that's rated to handle modern string fibers ...
at 10x the bow's holding weight, the string should be capable of 700# of tensile strength - a very safe number.
what's yer current dacron strand count - 16 strands? 16 strands B50 x 50#/strand = 800# tensile strength. a more than safe number.
lets use 10 strands of hmpe x 100#/strand = 1000# tensile strength. an overly safe number.
no problem at all with a 10 strand padded loop hmpe bowstring. in fact, no problem at all dropping the count down to 8 strands for an 800# tensile strength string.
don't forget - the current dacron/polyester string fiber offerings from browning and bcy are slightly overly rated and will typically break under 50# of load (this includes bcy's b55). almost all same diameter hmpe offerings will break well in excess of a 100# load, typically closer to 120#. more than safe.
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Yes, I was referring to 75# to 82# recurves. Thanks for the response.