Ok guys so I've been stuck in the house this week, weather is cold and windy.  I've played with a dynamic spine calculator until I know every possible arrow combination that should work with my bow.  I've noticed that when you enter a 6 strand Fast Flight string over a say 12 strand is makes your bow a little quicker and will change the spine a couple pounds.  So my question is: is there any con's to a skinny 6 strand string over say a 10-12 strand?

I'm curious as well.  I've been looking into 6 strand strings.

If you double serve, pad under the serving, etc. then you are adding a lot of the weight you saved (which isn't a lot to begin with) right back to the most crucial point on the string.  

If you just build up the nock point, it can be harder to get a good release.  One or the other is required to get a decent nock fit.

Your serving is much more likely to slip, especially if you use a large diameter serving vs. double serving with a small diameter.  There's just not enough surface area for it to grip.  Slick servings like Halo are the most likely to slip.

According to machine tests and Olympic archers, small diameter strings are less consistent and less stable.  I haven't met anyone who shoots a bow accurately for a living that uses them.  Realistically though, most of us can't shoot well enough to notice much if any difference there.

Low strand counts will stretch more, creep more, and wear out faster.  I've tinkered with them off and on for 20 years and have found little to no gain vs. a comparable string with a few more strands.  That's just me.  Your results may vary.

Depending on what you mean by "Fast Flight", that could be super tiny, or just a little small.  6 strands of original Fast Flight (BCY's 652 Spectra) would be very small.  6 strands of Mercury would be tiny.  6 strands of 450+ would just be a little small, but nowhere near as small at those two.

No offense to anyone who likes or makes them.  I can and have made them, and have shot them a lot.  That's just the results I've gotten with them.  The best way to find out if you will like them or not is to try one.

Chad

I never went to extremes but never noticed much difference in speed or anything else by reducing strands. Maybe target bows are different. Durability, finger comfort and nock fit are important for a hunting bow.
Not to hijack...
Chad,
I know you like BCY-X. How many stands do you usually use for fit on classic nocks with .030 Halo?  I have switched to classic nock and am trying to get the nock fit correct without padding the serving. I used up a good amount of string experimenting!
Tedd

Even 10 strand FF strings are a pain to get the nocks to fit snug. 6 strand would be much worse. A quality 10 strand string over a faster string would be better.

The only string I've ever had break on me was a 6 strand BCY 10 string I was shooting with a 45# bow.  That is only an anecdotal example of one occurrence, of course, but that is the last 6 strand string I intend to make!

QuoteOriginally posted by Tedd:
I never went to extremes but never noticed much difference in speed or anything else by reducing strands. Maybe target bows are different. Durability, finger comfort and nock fit are important for a hunting bow.
Not to hijack...
Chad,
I know you like BCY-X. How many stands do you usually use for fit on classic nocks with .030 Halo?  I have switched to classic nock and am trying to get the nock fit correct without padding the serving. I used up a good amount of string experimenting!
Tedd

IT would be around 18

QuoteOriginally posted by KyRidgeRunner:
Ok guys so I've been stuck in the house this week, weather is cold and windy.  I've played with a dynamic spine calculator until I know every possible arrow combination that should work with my bow.  I've noticed that when you enter a 6 strand Fast Flight string over a say 12 strand is makes your bow a little quicker and will change the spine a couple pounds.  So my question is: is there any con's to a skinny 6 strand string over say a 10-12 strand?

Not all 6 strand strings are the same size.  

For example: a 6 Strand X would be close to 3 strands of D97 or D10.  A 6 Strand Mercury would be like 3/4 strands of X, etc.  The diameter of the material must be considered.  A 6 strand D97/D10 is very close to 10 strands of BCY X.  


When I first began to make strings, I would play around with different strand count strings and actually made 6 strand X strings to test.  I could serve them, but I had to double serve it with sx .021.  The serving would slip and slide, but you could help that by waxing the string in that are well, but it would eventually slip.  


There are a lot of rational thoughts we can use to come to rational decisions about skinny strings, just a few of the obvious.

- they're obviously skinnier.
- they weigh less
- more weight on an individual strand, which     could lead to more stretching.  I say COULD because it depends on the material, weather, etc.

And i'm sure i'm missing a few other.  Nock fit really isn't that big of a deal because the string maker can make a nock fit, that's their job.

For classic nocks, I use 20 strands (loops padded to 24 with Flemish) and .024 Halo or .025 62XS.  With .030 Halo...should be 16-18.

Yes. Nocks don't fit snugly (sometimes arrows pop loose) and more painful on the fingers. I found my skinny FF to be downright painful even after a dozen arrows.

I personally don't care for strings under 12 strands for the all the reasons listed above.

Thanks for all the responses guys.   I believe I'll just order another 12 strand when the time comes!  This one seems to be doing well, just making sure that I wasn't missing out on something with the 6 strands.

LBR is a good resource I see no reason to have a string fail.

I had a Hill Style LB that the skinny string worked well with. It cut down a lot of the "thump" and added some performance to the bow. I did not realize that much difference with my Bear TD's. I have since moved on to Chad's BCY X strings. I find the AZ. heat does not effect them as much.

What LBR said.

The skinniest string I make is a 12 strand 8125G. It's what I like to use. Anything smaller than that gets unstable. I've tried lower strand counts and smaller strings, but I've never liked the results.

With .030 Halo it would be a 15 strand 3 bundle or 16 strand 2 bundle with BCY X. I've built that string set up.

More stretch. I personally like a thick string since it's easier to get a clean release with (does not dig in nearly as much as a skinny string) and it will not stretch on you.

If you want a little more fps just drop the arrow weight slightly.

I'm too ruff and my terrain is too thick hunting hogs.....so I never went down the skinny string road.  Just my preference to have a string more durable if a stand or two gets cut and/or badly fraid....

QuoteOriginally posted by forestdweller:
More stretch. I personally like a thick string since it's easier to get a clean release with (does not dig in nearly as much as a skinny string)

Okay,
I've heard this several times and I don't understand this logic. How would it matter when the serving is served to
The same size on both?  (Not intended in the least bit rude, geniunely wondering)

A GT nock served string is a GT served string no matter how many strands it's made of.