Ok, I have had several sbd's and know that they are considerably quieter than my factory strings.  

My dilemma is this.  I am currently shooting a stock 16 strand widow string with spiders.  Is there a way that I can get this string as quiet as say a 10 strand custom stacey or sbd.  I do not want to start over with my shafts.  My widow is shooting straight and everything is spined right.  I know if I change strings that I am gonna at least buy 2 so I will have a back up, and probly gonna end up spending more money than I want re-tuning my bow because I will need new arrows if I need to cut anything.  Mine are already as short as I can go for broadhead clearance.

Ok, has anyone proven a method for silencing the 16 stranders equal to the smaller strand strings?

Thanks in advance.

A few things I would do first:

1. Dump the widow spiders, they've never worked on any BW I've shot or owned.
2. Remove your string from the bow, lay it flat and measure the length, end of loop to end of loop.
3. Divide that length by 4.
4. Measure that distance from the end of the loops down the string and mark that spot with a Sharpie pen. This is where you will place the silencers.
5. Purchase a few sets of silencers from Bow Hush and install them where you've marked the string.

This and a heavy arrow will get you a long way down the quiet bow road.

My .02 worth,
Danny

The best thing that has worked on my Widows, other than what Danny has mentioned, is I use Cat Wiskers on my Widows. I love and use Bow Hush on every other bow but Cat Wiskers on Widows. I do wrap my string ends with Terry's wool on Widows.  

If it was me though, I would get rid of the 16 strand string if I planned on using that bow very much. Getting the same performance "and" quiet out of a 16 stands vs an 8 strand is not going to happen very easily.

A pair of home made yarn wool puffs works better than cat whiskers in my opinion. My "ears" tell me so since I've used both and prefer puffs.

I'm not a fan of the Widow spider silencers either. I use whiskers on most of my bows (all brands).  However, I think the quietest bow I have is a Super Wildcat made by Brandon Stahl that came with wool puffs on the string.

Funny thing, these wool puffs were very common back in the late 60's and early 70's when I last shot recurves. I don't know why I haven't turned to them more than I have.

I used to use catwhisker but have changed  to wool puffs.. On my 58" PSA i used wool yarn wrap from the loops to the end of the twist and 2 puff walls.. it was super quiet

Wool is a great silencing material. You could de tune the SBD strings by raising the brace height till the arrows fly the same as they did with the fat widow string.

I appreciate all of the advice.  I will try and silence the 16 strand first since I don't want to change my arrows.  I am shooting about a 675 gpp arrow.  I have never shot an sbd on a widow.  I will have to go at least 10 strand or bigger because most string guys say it must be 10 or bigger on  anything larger than 55lbs.  Hopefully can silence with the wool. If not then I will get a pierre or stacey string for the bow.

i know mounting things on the limbs are not for everyone, but i just tried the stiktamers. they seem to quiet string noise some too. not to expensive and worth a try. i like them so far.

I just got the stiktamers also, put them on my
howatt hunter and I was impressed. Three Rivers
has them and they are pretty cheap for what they do.

Wool puffs as mentioned and wrap the Y yoke of the string loop down past the string grooves with wool yarn..Also if you shoot split do a tie on nocking point above and below the arrow nock...There is a picture demostration on how easy it is to do all these things mentioned on the Know How section here on Tradgang....Keefer's

I've tried everything except a Bowhush, and I have some of those on the way now to take care of a little low "thump" as my string slaps the recurve. Not sure if I can get it any quieter than it already is but I figure why not? I shoot 14 strand D-97, I'm not sure it matters. But the best thing that works for me is plain ol' wool puff balls placed right where Ric O said.

The STIKTAMERS DO WORK WELL!  nothind else on my curves.

Sell your widow and get a Shawnee! !!bahahaha

QuoteOriginally posted by Spurs:
...or stacey string for the bow.

Josh made me a 450+ skinny string and it is just a fantastic string and string material. I could tell right away that it was quieter. It has a "softer" feel on release which I really like.

bow hush and hush puppy string silencers.  it will make your string dead quiet and looks great too.

Ok gonna try wool.  Been to hobby lobby, and two fabric stores in town and no one has wool yarn?  Where do you guys get it.

And Dave,  as for Shawnee been there done that, would gladly go back, it would have to gain about 4lbs to ever get my consideration over a widow.

Got mine at  a place called Miichaels a few hours ago..I had 100% fishermens wool yarn in a heather color and just took it back and got Lion's brand yarn with 20% wool and 80 % arcrylic... Does the same thing and I got the charcoal with a bigger roundness...If you want some send me a p.m. and I'll be happy to help ya...God Bless, Keefer's <><

Thanks Keefer, I took a trip to wal mart today and bought the same stuff on clearance for 2.50.  I never new that you could make a widow this quiet.  It's awesome.  Thanks for the help.

Best thing for a Widow recurve, a skinny string, took me 20 years to realize this, they are loud, but what a difference this string made paired up with some wool puffs ... B/W 's a Bow co. not much on the strings though ... Good Luck ...