What are some good string options for a Black Widow PSA? Should I just order one from Widow, or are after market strings better? Coming from the compound world, we usually replaced factory strings, but not sure with stick bows....
The new widow that a buddy of mine bought came with a factory string made of D97 with 2 sets of their spider silencers installed. While it was a well made string, it was more strands than necessary and was crazy loud without both sets of those silencers which is overkill and unnecessary IMO. I believe that you would benefit greatly from a smaller diameter string, made of a different material, from a competent string maker.....and there are many on this site. Champion Custom, SBD, and Oliverstacy just to name a few.
Take care,
Jason
I've been very pleased with Silent But Deadly strings. I've had strings from 5-6 makers now and won't be shopping for another vendor after trying Pierre's strings.
My SBD string made me buy new arrows as it weakened the spines of my existing arrows, which was a little expensive so I just waited to install it when I needed a new batch of arrows anyway. What I really like about it though is that it seems more quiet than the others and the serving seems to wear well. I've had other strings that sounded like a piano or had the serving wear down very quickly. These aren't problems for me with my SBD string and that is what really sold me on them. The minor performance boost in speed was just a bonus.
How do I contact SBD?
Rick ****** makes some fine strings!
Why was the last name censored on my last post?
gunfixrjoe...probably because they / he is not a sponsor here...you can however PM the OP with the info if you want and it shouldn't be censored. PM to jkm97
SBD is a sponsor here.
I have SBD strings on all of my fastflight recurves.
I highly recommend the 6-strand ULTRA string from SBD. The performance is incredible. My recurve with 53# limbs and SBD string shoots faster than it did with 63# limbs and conventional string. I am impressed by that kind of performance.
Sounds impressive for sure...
I've shot a lot of different strings, most mentioned earlier. Ricks strings are the best I've found. There is extremely little stretch which is important to me he's a great guy to deal with and I don't have to wait a month or so for my delivery.
Very happy with my service. It's best to call him the first time you order. The way he measures strings is different. But very precise.
I get a kick out of the censorship on the last name. It's like the name that cannot be said hahaha
QuoteOriginally posted by jkm97:
How do I contact SBD?
http://www.sbdbowstrings.com/
Great strings, did wonders for the PCH I had. Have made my Mohawks virtually silent.
Eric
SBD
Lefties R Us also makes great strings. They are a sponsor here.
I had Allen Shafer from lefties are us make me a string for my PSA this last march. String is ultracam and I had him put 4 small cat whisker type silencers on. Im very happy with it and I had the string in a couple of days. Allen is a great guy to deal with.
Lefties r Us strings are as good as the come with a fast turnaround.
Been shooting my new SBD string about a week and love it
SBD
Aftermarket is the only way to go. Chad at Champion and SBD.
Don't forget Oliverstacey. Most of the sponsor stringmakers have posts in the sponsor classifieds. You will be impressed with the strings from any of them.
I have been shooting a 12 strand XS2 string from Lefties R Us. Works great on my recurve. Avoid going too low in strand count though. 8 strand of D10 creeps quite a bit on my 45# bow but it could be the high temperatures here.
Allen makes all my strings. Good price, fast delivery, and excellent quality.
I like the six strand SBD, but plan on buying some new arrows to go with it.
First few shots are a little nerve racking, pulling back such a tiny string :)
FWIW...Ken Beck offered a challenge...a year-long, I think, for anyone to bring in a string that showed a significant performance increase vs. the BW stock string (14 strand Dynaflight '97).
I think you only had to show a 2 or 4 fps improvement? If you could, you got a free BW bow. However, if you couldn't, you had to buy a BW bow at regular price. Nobody took the challenge. Take what you will from that. Contact BW for full details on the challenge.
I've replaced a few "factory" BW strings, and mine are quieter--I think because I pad the loops.
I've experimented with "skinny" strings, haven't seen any real benefits to them. I don't like the increased stretch/creep, or the decreased durability. I didn't get into this game for 2-4 fps anyway, if you can even get that after building up the center serving.
I'm not advertising here--still not taking orders, probably won't be for a good while yet. Just calling it like I see it.
Chad
An improvement to me is a Quieter string. FPS not so much. I have noticed less creep in skinny D10 and ultracam strings than any D97 string I have ever tried. They do seem to be a little less durable as long as you keep wax on them it hasn't been a real problem for me.
QuoteOriginally posted by LBR:
FWIW...Ken Beck offered a challenge...a year-long, I think, for anyone to bring in a string that showed a significant performance increase vs. the BW stock string (14 strand Dynaflight '97).
I think you only had to show a 2 or 4 fps improvement? If you could, you got a free BW bow. However, if you couldn't, you had to buy a BW bow at regular price. Nobody took the challenge. Take what you will from that. Contact BW for full details on the challenge.
I've replaced a few "factory" BW strings, and mine are quieter--I think because I pad the loops.
I've experimented with "skinny" strings, haven't seen any real benefits to them. I don't like the increased stretch/creep, or the decreased durability. I didn't get into this game for 2-4 fps anyway, if you can even get that after building up the center serving.
I'm not advertising here--still not taking orders, probably won't be for a good while yet. Just calling it like I see it.
Chad
Thanks for the info.
My curiosity was peeked, so I did a google search, and after a little sorting I found and read on the blackwidow forum where a guy actually went there and met the challenge. The most impressive thing to me was that he shot the same speed with his string as the stock d97, but did it with a 50gr heavier arrow.
Could you post a link? I'd love to read the details.
Me too
Sorry, had to google it again.
https://www.google.com/search?q=skinny+strings&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Thats the google search
SBD are awsome strings I have them on both my PSAX's. I went with the 10 strand D10. You won't be disappointed.
"Let me summarize: PHYSICS is PHYSICS is PHYSICS.... and you can't get around it." - a quote from Ken Beck
I followed a long thread about Beck and the faster string reference his challenge, and found the topic interesting as I've thought about upping my dinosaur B-50 Hill bow to a more modern low-stretch string. I've been satisfied to date with my low-tech approach but at times have felt I was being left in the dust. Then again, when I looked at Ken's numbers, I began to think that my old school stuff cannot be that far behind as most all stick bows just aren't but so fast anyway. So I decided to compare Ken's numbers with my Hill bow and was surprised to find how well my low-tech Hill performs compared to Beck's posted BW figures.
His BW specs were 57.5# @ 30" w/ 9gpp 517.5gr clocking 196 fps with his string. My Hill specs are 67.5# @ 27.5" w/ approx 9.5gpp 640gr+ clocking around 183 fps with my 14strand B-50 which is pretty typical of Hills being 115 plus bow weight. The numbers on the ballistic calculator were such:
Out the gate the BW is running 196 fps with 44ft-lbs KE and .449lb-sec Momentum, my Hill is running 183 fps with 47ft-lbs KE and .517lb-sec Momentum. At 30 yards the BW is running 180 fps with 37ft-lbs KE and .414lb-sec Momentum with a - 47" drop, my Hill is running 172 fps with 42ft-lbs KE and .493lb-sec Momentum with a - 50" drop. At 80 yards my Hill has as much KE and more Momentum than the BW has at 30 yards, being 37ft-lbs KE and .459lb-sec Momentum for the Hill at 80 yards.
I know I may gain a few fps if I go to a faster string, but when I looked at the numbers it made me wonder if chasing speed with a hunting stick bow truly amounts to much if any gain once the rubber meets the road. I think it all boils down to the fact that most stick bows just are not that fast when it comes to archery tackle used for hunting.
Best:)
Using HMPE materials isn't about gaining any speed, at least for me. It's about durability and stability.
Saw one a referance to the challenge, but didn't see the details on the challenge itself...but I didn't read the whole thing either. Maybe later.
https://blackwidowbows.com/index.php?route=forum/post&path=1048
Scroll half way down to a post by maxhunter.
Thanks! Ok, looked it over. The last statement on the thread sums it up for me.
"If the speed issue was true then Ken Beck would have been out alot of bows based on his challenge of a couple years back."
I can't even get a noticeable noise difference with my bows, as long as I tune them properly. I don't shoot super heavy arrows--around 9.5 gpp--and have gotten lots of comments on how quiet my bow is with 14 strands of Dynaflight '97. Going to do more tinkering with 8190 and see what strand count works best for me with it--I'm guessing somewhere between 14 and 20 (very small diameter material).
Chad
Ken was right. Physics is physics. A lower strand count string will be lighter but the increased stretch can cancels out any weight benefits. I believe there is an optimal range of strand count on a string that performs best for each draw weight. Go below that and you stop seeing any speed increase due to stretch. Go above that and you start loosing speed due to unnecessary weight. You don't want to put a 24 strand rope on a 20# bow or the other way round.
Allen Shafer has built all my strings for the past 5 or 6 years. Good strings built by a good guy and his service can't be beat.
What billy shipp said x2 ...
I finally decided to make my own..that way i can make em the way I want them..I can match the string to the bow..match colors..if I want the loops smaller or larger..twists tighter..so be it..takes alittle to get started but not that hard and actually kinda fun..I reccomend TJ Conrads book..The Traditional Bowhunters Handbook..walk u thru the whole process..show u how to make a string board and the works..lots of other cool stuff too..it helped me a bunch when I first got into traditional archery..
BnA has it. Learn to make your own and then you can tweak to your hearts content. Rather simple and allows you to easily change configurations to get what you find as the "best" performance out of a particular bow and your shooting style/form.
SBD!
QuoteOriginally posted by Daddy Bear:
"Let me summarize: PHYSICS is PHYSICS is PHYSICS.... and you can't get around it." - a quote from Ken Beck
.....My Hill specs are 67.5# @ 27.5" w/ approx 9.5gpp 640gr+ clocking around 183 fps with my 14strand B-50 which is pretty typical of Hill bows...
Best:)
There Is something wrong in your numbers.
" typical" performance out of a Hill bow/ Dacron string on controled trial on shooting machine Is 160-165 fps for 10 gpp and 28" DL. that´s giving an interpolated speed at 9.5 gpp around 165-170 fps.
From a standard Hill bow 183 fps Is the speed you will get below 8 gpp.
Switching from Dacron to modern string, assuming both string are equally well made you will gain around 4 fps. Main gain Is much about vibrations and string stability.