padding the string grooves on a widow?

[Joe2Crow]

Hey Gang,
I recently picked up a psav that was so loud when I shot it that I jumped the string!  I have braced it at 8.75" and found an aluminum  shaft that bareshafts like a dart and weighs just over 10 gpi. I replaced the factory string with a bikini string from Allen Shaffer that helped a lot. It is now at an acceptable noise level.  I love how the bow shoots but would like to get it a little quieter and am considering padding the string grooves with the soft side of some velcro strips.  Has anyone else tried this already?  What were the results?  Is there any chance of harming the limbs by doing this? Thanks in advance for your help.  Jeff

[Tony Z]

Give Bow Hush a try. Tony Z.

[tim roberts]

Before adding something on the limb, I would order a set of the Bow Hush, see their banner atop the shooters forum page, this is a simple and proven method to quiet recurves.
Thanks,

[A.S.]

Jeff, I'm glad my string helped out. Just be aware, adding anything else to the string will probably require re-tuning. I use a strip of moleskin on my limb grooves. It seems to help out quite a bit.

Allen

[Terry Green]

That's exactly why I came up with Bow Hush.

[Wannabe1]

Yes, listen to Terry! Bow Hush is the way to go for silencing that annoying string slap.  

[Dave Lay]

I use basic moleskin bought at Wally World  or stick on Velcro with great results I prefer the moleskin ,  with a similiar string and brace to yours my PSA is very quiet

[The Whittler]

Bow hush and a bow quiver might help.

[shag08]

Bow Hush and Hush Puppies was the only combination I found to make my Widow recurve quiet. It's easy to install and worth every penny.

[JRY309]

On a BW SAV I had,I made up a padded loop 8 strand D97 and put on bow hush and whoolie wisps.I was as quiet as my longbows.I got comments on how quiet it was at the club.

[BigJim]

I just hate to see the string groove silencers on bows. They might help, but they alter the way the string lays...and they look real ghetto    to me anyway. The bow hush will do a great job... Another solution is to not wax that portion of the string...ever. It won't hurt a thing and once most of the wax is out of it, the string will be softer and won't make all that racket when it slaps.

bigjim

[DaveT1963]

I'll have to admit owning a black widow was a dream of mine for decades.... but now that I own a PSA I am disappointed with the noise.  In fact every BW recurve I have ever heard was noisey?  And there seems to be a ton of posts asking how to quiet them down?

I have fooled with brace height, heavy arrows and Bow Hush/hush puppies and wool silencers - all helped but it is still louder by far then my Bruin recurve with no silencers.... certainly a lot louder than any longbow I have ever owned?

Could it be this particular bow?

[LBR]

Is your bow tillered for split and you are shooting 3-under, or vice-versa?

I've had a few come to me for help getting them quiet--each of them left happy.  I used 12 strands of Dynaflight '97, padded loops, and cat whisker silencers.  Lots of tuning, silencer adjustment, and proper nock fit made the big differences.

Haven't set one up with BCY-X yet, but on every other bow I've tried it's been quieter.

[term]

Sbd string and sticktamers sold by BW. The difference was amazing.  I have and have had a ton of BW they will all soon have both things on them. Good luck

[Joe2Crow]

I am not the original owner of the bow but he said it was tillered for split finger and that's how I shoot it.

I agree with daveT1963, I believe the design of the bw recurve is inherently louder than most recurves. I don't doubt that they can be made quieter, but it seems like you have to work harder at it than other recurves. And for the record, the only bow as quiet as a longbow is a longbow. Lol. Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

[rraming]

Try the Stiktamers Black Widow has one their website.

I have a PMA and it is not loud using one whisker on each end 12" down from limb contact (shooting 10 grains per lb) no louder than Predator anyway. I have other bows that make less noise as well.

I have only read about the Stiktamers, I have never tried them myself.

[Arctic Hunter]

I padded the limb tips on my PSA with no issues and it seems to help. Also twisted up a string with BCY-X and padded the loops with B-50, then added cat whiskers. It's made the bow much quieter.

[Keith Langford]

Big Jim is on the money, in fact Bob Lee strips the wax out of the ends of all their strings with acetone, JJ say's the string grooves are their for a reason, makes sense to me, and who's gonna argue with Mr. Lee

[Tedd]

I have been using commercial grade velcro on my pch. It works fine. I never noticed a difference in the shooting with or without it. But now you have me worried! You think it alters how the string comes home? Mine usually gets a grove in it pretty quickly anyhow.
I made my own bow hush wrap once out of yarn once. It must have been the wrong stuff because it didn't do anything for silencing.
I guess I'll have to order some and try it.
How do you like the stick tamers?
Tedd

[MO Bow]

I've only ever used Wooly Whispers on my BW...2 on top, 2 on bottom.  

The difference between your bows may not be loudness, but different frequency.  A higher pitch may actually sound louder...especially since it's right next to your head/face.