I have a 55lb recurve with FF string and beaver balls. I am just wondering if all other tuning is equal what silencer do you feel is the quietest?
Id say yarn or cat whiskers
Muskox wool ball are great quite, water proof, light, etc. but they can caught burrs.
can use bow hush silencers or wool/acrylic and wrap yarn or wool around string near nocks or use rubber whiska's and if not wrap string..use a piece of velcro where string contacts curve of limbs..many different choices to use and do..most important thing is to play with brace height before installing anything..get it close to quiet as you can and then install your choice of material and you will see and HEAR the difference
I like cat whiskers, but most any silencer is effective if you tune properly.
A couple weeks ago I was dealing with my Wallace being noisier than I liked with the beaver on it so I went down to the local sporting goods store and they had Tarantulas in stock and I had used them in the past on both compounds and recurves. I switched them out and the difference was night and day.
I like wool. Mine happens to be Jacobs.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/Stumpkiller/DSCN0210.jpg)
I just make my own out of wool yarn and then add two of those small limb saver string silencers... That makes for a pretty quite bow.
Bow hush and hush puppies! Available here from the gang. Works great!
I like wool puffs the most.
Hush puppies!!
Cat whiskers here because we have so many burrs. Wool puffs are great silencers, but one day in the woods where I hunt and the bottom one is just a blob of burrs.
Another approach would be to buy a SB string with silencencers already installed.
Thanks for pointing out Bow Hush and Hush Puppies. I am looking also and plan to give them a try.
good advice guys, Thanks for all the posts. I am new and it really helps to hear what other ppl are using.
Can't go wrong with Hush Puppies I've had great results with them , Fred
Check out the How To Resources section here on Tradgang. Apex Predator has a tutorial on how to make your own acrylic/wool puffs and string wrap silencers from yarn. I make my own now thanks to his tutorial, they work excellent and look good too.
I recently read a "tidbit" that suggested placing one silencer at 1/4 string length and one at 1/3 string length. Those correspond to the frequencies at which a string will resonate. It made a tremendous amount of sense to do this.
I had been shooting FF w/ beaver fur. I grabbed a new string and installed cat whiskers as stated above. My bow has never been this quiet.
Hope this helps.
homebru
I have been making my own for years from old inter tubes out of bicycle tires. I cut them about 1/8" wide and trim. One tire will last a lifetime. I learn about this method of silencer making here on this forum, plus they work great.
One consideration in choosing silencers is the weather conditions where you hunt. If your area gets lots of rain or rain and snow mixed, fur or wool can be a problem in those conditions. Once saturated or saturated and then frozen, these materials can have a great effect on a bows performance. If you hunt wet, rubber silencers such as whiskers, spiders, etc., are well worth consideratin.
I would vote for the Bow Hush and Hush Puppies as well.
I have used regular yarn, wool yarn, beaver balls, cat whiskers and hush puppies. I liked the look of the soft wool craft store silencers (just about any color you want) and beaver balls if they're done right, but hush puppies wool is Much more durable and i think quieter. They're my top choice for wool.
With that said, those ugly old cat whiskers are weather proof and can be notably quieter than any of the other options. A few yard sales gave me a lifetime supply! I've seen some people carefully serve them onto the string and trim them down to an inch, and if you're gonna go that route, just use the bow hush wool. If i really want quiet i take the cat whiskers and tie them in a big knot on the string. Ain't pretty, but it works :)
I really like wool wraps on the end of my string on a recurve. The velcro idea seems great, i dont like sticking things to my bow.
I prefer yarn wool puffs for both of my recurves.
The wool is actually 80% acrylic and 20% wool.
Chuck @ Two Tracks make the best, his own home grown wool pad silences.want hold moisture like a puff
QuoteOriginally posted by Downtime:
I have been making my own for years from old inter tubes out of bicycle tires. I cut them about 1/8" wide and trim. One tire will last a lifetime. I learn about this method of silencer making here on this forum, plus they work great.
Good Idea there Downtime!! I bet they work great. I'll have to remember this In the future. As for me I've used tarantulas and cat whiskers. Both have worked excellent for me.
One of the best is shooting an appropriate weight in your arrows.
Double post... opps
I've been using Bow Hush and Hush Puppies for several years on my recurves. My longbows are all equipped with Hush Puppies. Good products and TG sponsors. :archer2:
I'm gonna try the innertube trick Downtime, seems like it could be fun to play with different shapes
When you said, one @ a 1/3 & the 2nd @ 1/4 of the string length, does that mean two on top & two of the same on the bottom or four in total?
JL :archer2:
I notice the BW boys like the setup like that two on top and two on the bottom, just didn't know at what distance they were tied.
JL