After market strings?

[Ringneck]

Allen makes all my strings. Good price, fast delivery, and excellent quality.

[bowless]

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  

[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

[Will Cocke 2]

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.

[jkm97]

Originally 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.

[BowDiddle]

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.

[LBR]

Could you post a link?  I'd love to read the details.

[jkm97]

Me too

[BowDiddle]

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

[DennyK]

SBD are awsome strings I have them on both my PSAX's. I went with the 10 strand D10. You won't be disappointed.

[Daddy Bear]

"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:)

[LBR]

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.

[Ringneck]

https://blackwidowbows.com/index.php?route=forum/post&path=1048

Scroll half way down to a post by maxhunter.

[LBR]

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

[Nativestranger]

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.

[billy shipp]

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.

[elkken]

What billy shipp said x2 ...

[Broke N Arrow]

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..

[Bobby Urban]

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.

[T-Bowhunter]

SBD!