I have seen it mentioned on several different posts that Black glass out performs others. I have a Holm-Made River Runner with Black glass that I just love and it shoots well. My new limbs for my Silvertip are being built with Black Glass also. Has anyone done testing to prove this or is it a seat of the pants thing. Is brown or gray glass not as good performers? Or is this just an old wives tale. I'll admit, clear glass with some cool lams is really nice to look at!! I guess I'm just curious!!  

I have seen Jason "Kanati" Kendall post thoughts along those lines, and he knows alot about bow performance.  Incidentally, my Kanati has black glass and smokes an arrow.  To me, clear glass is beautiful but black just looks all business!

The way I see it. If the black glass and the clear glass are the same thickness, they should perform the same with regards to arrow speed.

I think that in the old days the solid color glasses such as black, brown, Grayling green and others out performed the clear glass. Now a days most high performance bows are made with clear glass. I think the makers of the fiberglass have got it now to where the different glass colors perform the same.

Yes, it's true.  Has something to do with stiffness to weight ratio or something along those lines I forget exactly now. It's no magic bullet but in otherwise identical bows the black glass will usually be a hair faster.

I've heard than rumor batted around and around. Don't know for sure if anyone has ever set out to either prove or disprove it. However, Jack Howard tested everything that he used in building his marvelous Jet and Gamemaster bows. If you look at them, if you can get past the beautiful rosewood risers in the Jets, you'll see they were backed with black glass.

Danny

I had talked with one bowyer that mentioned this. He stated the clear glass the "weave" only goes one way. Where as the black, brown, etc glass has a weave that goes two different directions giving it better performing properties. Maybe so; maybe not...

If there is any difference, I would bet the extra speed for the black versus clear would be so small as to be virtually undetectable unless a machine release and an accurate chronograph were used. I say go for what you like, and I personally would not sacrifice the beauty of exotic wood veneers under clear glass for the tiny bit of extra speed that MIGHT POSSIBLY exist with black glass. But there is nothing wrong with black glass, either.

Allan

I agree with Pokerdaddy. I like the look of black glass -- all business.

Yep black is a bit stiffer. Probably need a chrono to see the difference.

the target guys would notice after long days in the sun, that the darker glass actually would start to loose performance and the lighter glass would not.

There is no weave in the glass, black, brown, clear. It is all uni directional except glass with scrim which is not woven either. Not a performance thing.
Just something else to talk about more than anything. I have always found myself ignoring colored glass in lieu of clear over exotic.

Remember, when you compare,  you must compare two identical bows except the color of the glass. The least difference in design, bow specs, or even shooter is enough to make a bigger difference than any color glass could.

bigjim

Back in the 80s   SOME of the bowyers then were saying  that GREY  glass was faster than other colors and Green  a close second!      Have older bows with both . Never saw the difference  and don't believe there really was one .   LOVE the looks of both Grey and Green glass  though .

Interesting stuff.....I like the colored glass for it's no nonsense look for a hunting bow. I guess it's all in the eye of the archer....LOL! Thanks for the input!!   ron w

QuoteOriginally posted by deaddoc4444:
Back in the 80s   SOME of the bowyers then were saying  that GREY  glass was faster than other colors and Green  a close second!      Have older bows with both . Never saw the difference  and don't believe there really was one .   LOVE the looks of both Grey and Green glass  though .

That's what I've heard grey and white were supposed to be the fastest.

To tell you the truth it sounds like the typical "what makes the best bow lamination bamboo, maple, yew or osage" type question everyone has and opinion even the people without one  :D

David Quinn told me that he once built identical bows, same weight, length, etc, shot them from a shooting machine of sorts, with release, and every time, the black glass was on average, 8fps faster. Remember, David was a mechanical engineer by trade, just got into building bows to make an affordalbe entry level bow that would compete. He also did it more than once, and another buddy or two did the same thing, 6-8 fps faster every time with identical specs. He also stated that he had far fewer issues with black glass, than clear, never mentioned the other colors.

I know one thing.
The old D.H. Hunters with black glass limbs kick butt.

John

Archers with more time and equipment will have to settle this-just know every scratch on black glass shows-clear does not. Roy

You know what they say, and it's true! "Once you go black, you never go back!"

... mike ...  :D  ...

It's a great rumor to start if one finds oneself with too much black glass on one's hands, and your clear glass came in all streaky.

Killdeer